The 4th of July is a fantastic time to be in and around the Fredericksburg area.  The rich Revolutionary War history and Fredericksburg’s part in masterminding and securing America’s freedom makes this our own special holiday.  If you are looking for something to do this weekend, here is a list I’ve compiled.

Stafford County

“The Complete History of America” Musical performed at the Riverside Dinner Theater. 

Friday, July 2- Sunday, July 4  (6:30pm dinner seating)  Tickets:  $42

www.rsdinnertheater.com/dt/upcomingspecialevents_2.aspx

Fabulous 4th of July at Ferry Farm

Saturday, July 3  (10am-5pm)  small admission fee

Interact on an 18th century farm while farm workers perform daily tasks around George Washington’s childhood farm.  Learn how the Patawomeck Indian tribe functioned in the 16oos.  Enjoy crafts, games, and live music.  Food vendors will be on site.  Trolleys will be running from the Fredericksburg City street festival, as parking is limited at Ferry Farm.

www.ferryfarm.org/events.html

Stars and Stripes Weekend at Potomac Point Winery

Wine tours and wine tastings will take place all weekend long at regular fees.  The band Blackstone will be playing on Sunday from 1-5pm.  A special July 4th menu is available for purchase. 

Saturday, July 2  (11am-9:30pm)       Sunday, July 3  (11am-6pm)

Spotsylvania County

Independence Day Kickoff Celebration – at Lake Anna Winery

The vineyard will feature live music, lite appetizers, and wine sold by the glass.  The $10 admission includes a winery tour and a souvenir wine glass. 

Friday, July 2 (6-10pm)

www.lawinery.com

Stars and Stripes Spotsylvania Spectacular

A fun event for all age groups.  Come and enjoy pony rides, moonbounces, a petting zoo, a tour of the historic Spotsylvania Courthouse and 1855 jail, and much more.  There will be 3 stages playing Bluegrass music, and the night is finished with a huge fireworks display!  Vendors will be on site for food and drink sales.

Saturday, July 3   (3-10pm)

www.spotsylvania.va.us/

Fredericksburg City

33rd Annual Rappahannock River Raft Race sponsored by the Fredericksburg Jaycees

Come watch this very entertaining and traditional Fredericksburg event.  Prizes will be awarded in several categories.  The race starts at 11:30am at the Port of Falmouth Park on River Road in Stafford and will end at approximately 4pm at the City Docks on Sophia Street.  If you are interested in participating please contact the Fredericksburg Jaycees at fburgjayceescdvp@gmail.com.  Entry fees do apply. 

Saturday, July 3

Fredericksburg City Heritage Festival

The always fun Heritage Festival will take place over two days this year since July 4th falls on a Sunday.  The traditional street festival will be on Saturday, July 3 from (10am-4pm).  The Heritage Day Parade will begin at 9:30am on Carolina Street and is still looking for entries for this year’s parade.  The parade is limited to bikes, strollers, wagons, and walking. 

Heritage Festival 5 Mile – Saturday, July 3 (7:45am) at the Fredericksburg Visitor’s Center on Caroline Street    Registration is $20 pre-race day and $25 race day  Cash prizes will be given to the top 3 male and top 3 female runners.  http://www.racetimingunlimited.org/raceinfo/HF10Info.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

The fireworks will take place on Sunday, July 4 at Pratt Park. Music will begin at 8pm and fireworks will begin at dusk.  The Frederickbsburg Jaycees will be on hand selling glow-in-the-dark jewelry to help make the celebration even more exciting.   Be sure to bring your own refreshments and blankets and chairs to the fireworks display.   

Heritage Day Festival and 5 Mile Run – Saturday, July 3

Fireworks – Sunday, July 4

I spent last Saturday covering a tea party rally in Stafford. I expected that there would be a lot of signs and flag-waving as seen at every other tea party and I was not disappointed in that regard. I wanted to try and get an overall shot that didn’t misrepresent how many or how few people showed up. The reporter and I took an informal count and estimated 200-300 people. In order to get the overall I put a 14mm on the camera and held it above my head with a monopod and came up with these two frames. While it doesn’t show the entire crowd, many of whom were off to the side, at least it didn’t make it look like 10 people showed up.

Initially I preferred the first one; the guy was giving a speech called An Angry American, getting pretty worked up and gesturing a lot with his hands. We ended up running the second one, mostly because nearly every person I showed frame #1 to thought of a nazi salute. I wonder if that is because of their own feelings about this political movement or if it really does look like that?  I was concerned that using the first picture would be considered unfair or at least editorializing if readers saw the same thing. The idea of objectivity (and that discussion is worth an entire post on its own!) is drilled into your head in the newspaper world but I wonder if I went too far in the other direction and sanitized what actually was going on there out of some kind of political correctness. Was I unnecessarily concerned about this? Am I overthinking this? Which one would you have published?

A fortnightly MY FINAL rant, FL-S style.

Outahere!

And how great was that Viking Funeral?

YES FOLKS, Chris Guy and I have decided that the time has come to for us to leave our little village of Anatevka F2B.

You read that right. We’re outahere!

A certain Snarktress Supreme has been given the right-of-refusal to take over F2B. If she accepts the offer, then GREAT…F2B will begin anew. If not, that’s fine too and we’ll keep the site live for an extended period of time, then shut it down.

For the most part, authoring F2B has been a lot of fun. But two years is a long time to do any one thing, especially a blog. Plus, the process of coming up with Fortnightly Rant topics that are interesting (okay, that amuse me) has gotten harder and harder. Sometime over the past couple of months, writing them started to feel like…like…WORK.

Chris and I are moving on to new interests and involvements. Not sure what Chris will be doing, but sometime between mid-February and late March of 2010 I will publish my first book: it’s a green business executive career development book entitled Tailoring The Green Suit. Information about the book launch will be posted to my Sturdy Roots Blog and my company website.

Whether or not F2B continues, there will be from time-to-time another former Dem chair venting his spleen. Our friend Marc Broklawski has launched his new blog Leaving My Marc which I know will be a very good read. I encourage you all to bookmark it.

UPDATE Sunday 11/29: Marc has announced that Chris will be contributing blog posts to Leaving My Marc. THAT IS FANTASTIC NEWS!

Time has come today
Young hearts can go their way
Can’t put it off another day
I don’t care what others say
They say we don’t listen anyway
Time has come today
(Hey)

The rules have changed today (Hey)
I have no place to stay (Hey)
I’m thinking about the subway (Hey)
My love has flown away (Hey)
My tears have come and gone (Hey)
Oh my Lord, I have to roam (Hey)
I have no home (Hey)
I have no home (Hey)

Now the time has come (Time)
There’s no place to run (Time)
I might get burned up by the sun (Time)
But I had my fun (Time)

I’ve been loved and put aside (Time)
I’ve been crushed by the tumbling tide (Time)
And my soul has been psychedelicized (Time)
Now the time has come (Time)

There are things to realize (Time)

Time has come today (Time)

Time has come today (Time)

Now the time has come (Time)
There’s no place to run (Time)
I might get burned up by the sun (Time)
But I had my fun (Time)
I’ve been loved and put aside (Time)
I’ve been crushed by tumbling tide (Time)
And my soul has been psychedelicized (Time)
(Time)

Now the time has come (Time)
There are things to realize (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time has come today (Time)

So that’s it.

No parting shots. No bon mot.

I thank you all for your support and readership. F2B has been the hippest trip!

Now, to bring things full circle, a final h/t to Monty Python:

Her Majesty’s a pretty nice girl,
but she doesn’t have a lot to say;

Her Majesty’s a pretty nice girl,
but she changes from day to day;

I want to tell her that I love her a lot,
but I gotta get a bellyful of wine;

Her Majesty’s a pretty nice girl,
someday I’m going to make her mine (oh, yeah);

Someday I’m going to make her mine.