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By Eliza Berkon, Lynn Norusis, Rachael Keeney and Stefanie Gans
Penny tastings at Tarara Winery
Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.-noon
I love wine, but tastings and bottle-buying can really add up. That’s why others on a budget will appreciate an opportunity to taste six Tarara Winery wines for only 1 cent. Not 1 cent each, but 1 cent total. On this weekend’s list: 2015 Viogner, 2012 #SocialSecret White, 2013 Nevaeh White, 2013 Winemaker’s Select Bin #12, 2015 Long Bomb Edition 9 and a 2012 Nevaeh Red. You can make a day of it by eating a packed lunch or a cheese and charcuterie board (for purchase) in the bistro area, or take in Sugarloaf Mountain views from the 21+ deck. –RK // 13648 Tarara Lane, Leesburg
Hot Chocolate and S’mores Night at Dolce & Bean
Wednesdays
Though this month is trending warmer than most Februarys, I can still get into a night of hot chocolate and s’mores. -SG // Dolce & Bean: 2003 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria
One fish, two fish … and some creatures from the forest
Saturday, 2-3:30 p.m.
Our high school principal read us Oh, the Places You’ll Go soon before our graduation, and I suspect she wasn’t the first school administrator to do it. But, however cliched the story may be, Dr. Seuss was no snooze. Today, I read his words to my small children, and they giggle and offer questions the whole way through. Honoring the wordsmith’s birthday with stories and visits with local animals is truly something to treasure. –EB // Hidden Oaks Nature Center: 7701 Royce St., Annandale
Understanding the man behind Big Brother
Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
1984 was on almost every high school reading list, and just a year ago it was brought into the mainstream again with copies selling out all over just after Donald Trump’s inauguration. While the dystopian story brought to life the character of Big Brother that is often mentioned in today’s society, the story of the author is one just as intriguing. During the on-going Great Lives series, Michael Sheldon discusses the life of George Orwell, from a volunteer soldier in the Spanish Civil War who was shot in the neck by a sniper bullet to his completion of 1984 just before he died at 46 years old from tuberculosis. -LN // UMW Dodd Auditorium: Fredericksburg
