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Angela H. Eng northern virginia Vintage

Neon Nostalgia: Northern Virginia’s Vintage Signs

Americana Hotel, Arlington, VA. Photo by Matthew Eng/Offbeat NOVA.

By Angela H. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

I’ve always had an appreciation for all things retro and vintage, but as I grow older, the love deepens. To that end, I’ve always felt a stab of excitement any time I saw a vintage sign still standing. I love the sharp lines, the thoughtful color palettes, and the whimsy of a time gone by.

I knew there were several such signs still in Northern Virginia. One day, I decided to try and find as many as I could. My research yielded six signs. Matt and I took a driving tour one afternoon and photographed all of them, which are detailed below.

The Breezeway Motel | 10829 Fairfax Boulevard, Fairfax, VA
The Breezeway Motel is a mid-century modern relic in Fairfax City. It was built in three separate phases between 1950 and 1960. It is still in operation as a budget motel, but the land it sits on is slated for redevelopment in the near future.

The Lee High Inn | 9864 Fairfax Boulevard, Fairfax, VA
The Lee High Inn was formerly the Anchorage Motel, originally built in 1955. The motel’s nautical theme is still discernible in the motel’s sign and building structure. The Anchorage was sold sometime around 2015 and is still in operation as a budget motel.

The Majestic, Alexandria, VA. Photo by Matthew Eng/Offbeat NOVA

The Majestic | 911 King Street, Alexandria, VA
The Majestic first opened in 1932, at 622 King Street in Old Town Alexandria. It moved to the current location at 911 King Street in 1949. The restaurant operated until 1978 and remained closed until April 2001. Though it has changed hands since then, it remains open. The signs on the front of the building are reproductions, but the sign in the window is original.

The Virginia Lodge Motel | 6027 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA
The Virginia Lodge was built in 1952. It is a part of the Route 1 string of motels that had their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s and is one of the few that remain. It is currently still in operation as a budget motel.

The Americana Hotel | 1400 Richmond Highway, Arlington, VA
The Americana Hotel opened in 1963 and was one of the first hotels in Crystal City. It appeared in the 2009 political thriller State of Play. it closed in December 2020 and is in talks to be demolished for new apartments or condos.

Dixie Pig BBQ | 1225 Powhatan Street, Alexandria, VA
The original Dixie Pig BBQ opened in 1924 and was the first of several restaurants to open with that name. The restaurant with this sign opened at the intersection of Powhatan Street and Bashford Lane, Alexandria, in 1949. It was sold in 1984, but the sign remained. It is currently a Greek restaurant named Vaso’s Kitchen. The sign also appeared in the TV show The West Wing and the film Remember the Titans.

Did we miss any other vintage signs in Northern Virginia? Please let us know in the comments, and we will add them to this article!

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Offbeat Postscripts: Bright Light in a Dark Winter

Offbeat Postscripts is a series of short posts where we cover small topics of offbeat history in Northern Virginia. 

By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

Hello again. 

The absence of posts for Offbeat NOVA is 100% due to the purchase of a house and subsequent move during the month of November and the first half of December 2020. It’s been an exhausting month and a half, to say the least. Now that everything and everyone is settled in (for the most part), we can continue getting back creating. A Christmas miracle, indeed. 

In the week since the hysteria reached a necessary plateau, we kicked around several ideas about a Christmas-themed posting. A cursory search on the Internet about Christmas in Northern Virginia yielded more dark and macabre results at first: Christmas morning murders in Falls Church from 2015, and a murder-suicide pacts in Stephens City. There was also quite a bit of information about the Mt. Vernon Antique Center fire from three years ago in Fairfax County. None of that really spoke to us on the timeliness of the holidays season. In a year where the shitter has been perpetually full, we decided to focus on something a bit happier: Christmas lights. In the age of COVID, Christmas lights are a refreshing way to find happiness and joy from a safe and secure distance. 

An internet search on the craziest Christmas lights in the area brought me to one woman: Holly Zell. She is currently the web producer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Her original website, “Historical Tacky Christmas Lights,” began in 2003 as a database for the best and tastefully tacky Christmas lights in Northern Virginia. The site includes a map and addresses of the best lights, as well as suggested driving routes. This woman has remained a dedicated and organized purveyor of all things dealing with exterior illumination for nearly twenty years. She know runs “Holly’s Tacky Christmas Lights” over at FairfaxChristmasLights.com. Her LinkedIn page noted that the current website was part of her grad project at Strayer University as a showcase for scripting languages like PhP and MySQL. Whether intentional or not, the current site looks remarkably similar to the simplistic-yet-effective tripod site from sixteen years ago.

We found ourselves going back to the original site. Would the same addresses still have lights up, nearly two decades later? We took a look at the original 2004-2006 list and found the houses closest to our current neighborhood on the Fairfax County side of Alexandria. We were not disappointed. 

3912 Lincolnshire Street, Annandale, VA — LIGHTS

Of the four we checked, this one was by far the most extravagant. (Holly Zell/Offbeat NOVA Photo)

5811 Ash Drive, Springfield, VA — LIGHTS!

This one still has all of the “plastic fantastic” displays that we love. (Holly Zell/Offbeat NOVA Photo)

7704 Wilbur Court, Springfield, VA — LIGHTS!

This was the classiest of the four we checked. There are significantly LESS reindeer than from fifteen years ago. (Holly Zell/Offbeat NOVA Photo)

6283 Wills Street, Alexandria, VA — DARK

This was unfortunately dark this year. (Holly Zell/Offbeat NOVA Photo)

We didn’t make it to the Collingwood house in Alexandria to take a picture because it was getting late, but we already knew that a recent injury stopped the owner from putting on a display this year. If you want to see the famous Collingwood Lights in their majestic glory, Covering the Corridor (RIP) captured the magic from two years ago:

Know any other great places? Let us know in the comment section.

Check out the rest of the pictures/video on our Instagram page HERE. 

Happy Holidays. More Offbeat NOVA coming — stay tuned.

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Offbeat Postscripts: Thanksgiving in Quantico

Offbeat Postscripts is a series of short posts where we cover small topics of offbeat history in Northern Virginia.

Thanksgiving Cake, Guadalcanal, 1942 (USMC Archives/Flickr)

By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

Ah, yes. Thanksgiving. The unofficial start of the holiday season. For many of us in the United states, it is that time-honored day when friends and families come together to share stories and a wonderful meal. Political arguments are forcibly made. An invisible 38th Parallel of maturity is drawn once the kids table is set out downwind of the adults. Somebody’s uncle gets drunk. Everyone eats enough carbohydrates to easily pass out on the couch in the early evening while the opening credits to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory comes on the television screen for the children who ate their body weight in sugar-soaked pies. 

Magical.

Well, that was all before COVID. 2020 is a different year altogether, for a variety of reasons we don’t need to get into. With the pandemic reaching some of its highest numbers in Northern Virginia to date, hopefully most around the beltway will stay safe and hold their family meals in virtual form.

Even without COVID, there are some who do not have the option to head home to break bread with friends and family. For members of the United States military, having a meal at home is a luxury reserved for few individuals. The United States Marine Corps, an organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., but regionally centered thirty miles down I-95 in Quantico, have historically eaten their Thanksgiving dinners in locations all around the world in conditions we can only dream of. Whether it be on the tropical island of Guadalcanal in the Solomons in 1942, the frozen mountain landscapes of Chosin Reservoir in 1950, or the deserts of the Middle East, Marines have always made the best of whatever situation they encounter, especially during the holidays. They are the embodiment of their unofficial slogan,“Semper Gumby,” or “always flexible.”  

But what do Marines eat stateside in Quantico? This year, the Clubs at Quantico and Crossroads Events Center is holding a special Thanksgiving brunch for families on base that want to have their meal taken care of. The menu includes all the trimmings, plus champagne for adults and even omelette station for those who shy away from the usual fare. Thinking about the hardships endured by Marines eating their special meal on the front lines, I find it hard to believe that there would be an omelette station back then. 

Luckily, vintage copies of Thanksgiving menus exist thanks to the diligent work of historians and archivists. There is a menu from a Thanksgiving dinner held by the First Signal Company in Quantico on Thanksgiving 1937 that speaks to what Marines ate long ago.

Thanksgiving in Quantico, 1937 (USMC Archives/Flickr)

Looking through the menu, there are several items that stick out as either unusual or a remixed version of what is classically placed on tables today. The first (and most obvious) is the roast young turkey, a smaller version to the much larger male version (roast tom turkey). Oyster dressing has an interesting connection to military history, specifically with the Navy and Marine Corps. Oyster dressing was a common menu item on U.S. Navy menus throughout the 1920s-1940s. It’s origins in America dates back to the 18th century when oysters were the most commonly eaten shellfish in America. Oysters were stuffed inside turkeys as an inexpensive source of protein. Other dressing options for similar menus during the time period included caper dressing or giblet gravy. Snowflaked potatoes were a special form of mashed potatoes made with sour cream and cream cheese. According to the New York Public Library website “What’s on the Menu,” snowflake potatoes were included in restaurant menus between 1928 and 1954. The mince pie, a British-inspired sweet fruit pie, were traditionally served to service members throughout the 1930s and 1940s at the start of the holiday season. The “hot rolls” were most likely a mimic of the famous parker house rolls, a staple across all military branches since the early twentieth century.  

There is one item missing from this 1937 menu that was often included during that time period: cigarettes or cigars served during the dessert course. 

Quantico Thanksgiving, 1938 (USMC Archives/Flickr)

The following year, Quantico served similar fare, but switched up the young turkey for the “roast Maryland turkey” with oyster dressing. From what I have gathered, a “Maryland turkey” is cooked and served with roasting vegetables. Some other menus found on the NYPL website have the turkey served among the cold dishes. The mince pie was swapped for the marble cake, a far better choice. 

If you are interested in tracing the culinary history of Marines and Thanksgiving, the USMC Archives Flickr page is an excellent resource. I also did something similar in a different life for U.S. Navy menus (of course, not specific to Northern Virginia) back in 2014 for the Naval Historical Foundation. 

Happy Thanksgiving from Offbeat NOVA. Wear a mask.

…and wherever you are Chesty Puller….goodnight!

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Offbeat Postscripts: Not so Pleasantville in Northern Virginia

Offbeat Postscripts is a series of short posts where we cover small topics of offbeat history in Northern Virginia.

Confederate monument removal in Alexandria, now completely gone (Offbeat NOVA Photo)

By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

There was another march/protest yesterday. 

For the DMV region, that’s nothing new. There is always somebody protesting something, especially in Washington, D.C. The 1963 Million Man March during the Civil Rights era, however, made making your voice heard and proving a point en masse a popular concept with national media attention. Much like the women’s suffrage movement growing from Seneca Falls to the steps of the White House decades earlier, the noise and activism started by a few noteworthy individuals grew to a collective effort of a large segment of the population.

Most recently, there have been a wave of protests, marches, and demonstrations in response to the Donald J. Trump presidency. In a grand wave of irony, they are marching for the same exact things they did previously: women’s rights, racial equality, and the unnecessary violence that stems from poor policy making. 

And then there was the march yesterday: The Million MAGA March. In completely unoriginal fashion, the organizers literally took one of the most important names in Civil Rights history, the Million Man March, and added “MAGA” to it.  Over a week after the 2020 election was called in favor of Joe Biden, Trump supporters flocked to the aptly named Freedom Plaza near the White House to protest the election results in support of the ideologue watching from his television. It’s like they are still yelling at people for sitting at a lunch counter. The lunch counter is just a lot longer with more seats. 

Are you sitting or standing?

Despite the misgivings of Trump supporters, change has happened. Joe Biden will be the 46th president. After January 20, 2021, the government can officially begin to undo all of the harm the previous administration has done to large segments of the population in the United States. That being said, the activism of many have already made changes, especially with regards to the removal of the racist effigies of the Confederacy that feature so prominently in the state of Virginia. 

Changing the Lee High School in Springfield to John Lewis (Offbeat NOVA Photo)

Monuments are coming down all around in Northern Virginia. Fairfax County. Loudon County. Alexandria. Symbols of hate are being removed. The Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield turned into John R. Lewis High School this summer. JEB Stuart Park is now called Justice Park. The Washington-Lee High School is now called the Washington-Liberty High School. The Fairfax High School mascot is a lion, not a rebel. It’s not removing history. It’s correcting a mistake. As a student of history by trade and profession, you can’t kid a kidder. 

Thinking about everything that is going on, one of the things that pops in my head regularly is the film Pleasantville. In the film, the two protagonists are transported to a seemingly idyllic small midwest town set within a tv show, only to realize that their lives in black and what are anything but perfect. 

(Pleasantville/New Line Cinema)

Slowly, citizens in the town slowly gain “color” as they come to dramatic realizations and new emotions and world views. Naturally, the townspeople react by rioting by destroying property, burning books, and harassing the “colored” people in the streets. They were angry, violent, and self-centered. Yet despite that emotion, there is no realization; no change in perception. They remain in black and white. 

It’s been less than one hundred years since the Klu Klux Klan marched in a parade on the same streets where MAGA hopefuls did yesterday. Let that sink in. The irony would be dripping if it wasn’t so sad and terrifying. So where can we improve?

Many places in Northern Virginia. In case you were wondering where, I’ve come up with a list for you. If we just focus on removing the racist remains of the Confederacy, here is a list to start with: 

GENERAL

  • Jefferson Davis Highway (various)
  • Lee Highway in Fairfax and Arlington 
  • Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, Chantilly

PLACES

Alexandria:

  • Lee District Rec Center
  • Matthew Maury Elementary School

Manassass:

  • Stonewall Jackson Volunteer Fire and Rescue Dept.

Fairfax:

  • Lanier Middle School
  • Lees Corner Elementary
  • Mosby Woods Elementary School

Springfield:

  • Sangster Elementary

ROADS

Alexandria:

  • Beauregard Street
  • Bragg Street
  • Braxton Place
  • Breckinridge Place
  • Chambliss Street
  • Dearing Street
  • Donelson Street
  • Early Street
  • Floyd Street
  • French Street
  • Frost Street
  • Gordon Street
  • Hardee Place
  • Hume Avenue
  • Imboden Street
  • Iverson Street
  • Jackson Place
  • Janney’s Lane
  • Jordan Street
  • Jubal Avenue
  • Lee Street
  • Longstreet Lane
  • Maury Lane
  • Pegram Street
  • Quantrell Avenue
  • Reynolds Street
  • Rosser Street
  • Van Dorn Street
  • Wheeler Avenue

Annandale:

  • John Marr Drive
  • Lanier Street
  • Rebel Drive

Centreville:

  • Confederate Ridge Lane
  • General Lee Drive

Chantilly:

  • Mosby Highway
  • Old Lee Road

Fairfax:

  • Confederate Lane
  • Mosby Woods Drive
  • Old Lee Highway
  • Pickett Road
  • Rebel Run

Manassas:

  • Beauregard Avenue
  • Lee Avenue

We’re in the middle of a historical moment, and one day the existence of these roads and monuments will be an offbeat coda to a long-standing fight to eradicate symbols of hate and racism. Like the MAGA march, they will exist as a footnote to an embarrassing moment in our history. 

One day soon. Here’s my favorite quote from Pleasantville:

“There are some places that the road doesn’t go in a circle. There are some places where the road keeps going.”