Elizabeth Byrne - Arlington Virginia Real Estate

The Eden Center - Falls Church, VA

If you've never been to Eden Center, located in Falls Church, Virginia, you should visit soon. This vibrant Vietnamese shopping center has been founded over 40 years ago, and offers close to 120 stores.

One of the most characteristic features, the Eden Center Clock Tower, is an exact replica of downtown Saigon. It was built as a reminder of the home for the thousands of immigrants who settled in the Washington DC area after the Vietnam War ended in 1975.

Today, the Eden Center is the largest Vietnamese-American Community on the East Coast. Eden Center continues to grow and support Asian community. Among events organized by the Eden Center community are annual Tet Festival (the Vietnamese Lunar New Year) and Moon Festival (Mid-Autumn).

This is a place where you can spend the whole afternoon, shopping and tasting delcious foods. There are cafes, bakeries, grocery stores, electronics shops, beauty and hair salons, jewlery stores, over thirty restaurants, and other delightful stores. For more information on the Eden Center, click here.

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The Eden Center
6751 Wilson Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044

For those of you who enjoy museums, this weekend offers a great opportunity to visit some of the most popular museums in Washington, DC, free of charge.

Dupont-Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend offers free activities for all ages, including museum exhibitions, live music, food, demonstrations such as quilt making and sheep shearing, walking and biking tours.

Free shuttle buses are provided to help you get from one museum to another. The list of participating museums include:

Anderson House: Offers tours of the Beaux Arts mansion and its garden. (10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday)

Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center: Features live music on both days. (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 12-4 p.m. Sunday)

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, National Historic Site: Home to the National Council of Negro Women will host a jazz garden reception with craft activities for ages 8-12. (10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday)

Meridian International Center: Offers guided tours of its exhibition on the prints and drawings of Mozart's time. (10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday)

The Phillips Collection: "A Portrait of My Community", an art exhibit by students at D.C. public schools is on exhibit. (10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday)

The Textile Museum: Offers sheep-shearing demonstrations on Saturday and exhibits textile work by local students. (10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday)

Woodrow Wilson House: Kicks off the 150th anniversary of Wilson's birth with an exhibition of vintage cars on Saturday. Tour the exhibits and gardens on both days. (10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday).

This will be another fun weekend in DC area. Get ready for the 31st Annual Washington Folk Festival. The purpose of this event is to show the diversity of traditional music in the Washington area. You will find out what is going on in the folk communities of the area.

All musicians, storytellers, dancers, and craftspeople live in the the greater Washington metropolitan area. They will present the public with the folk music, dance, and craft traditions that are part of the greater Washington area.

The Festival will include over 450 performers on seven stages: a participatory dance program in the Spanish Ballroom, a storytelling stage, and music for family audiences. Local artisans will demonstrate and exhibit their crafts.

Date: Saturday, June 4 and June 5, 2011.

Time: 12 Noon - 7 PM

Where: Glen Echo Park, MD (map)

The festival is FREE to the public.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Another Hot Day at the Zoo

Another hot day around Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC area, the temperature in high 90s. It has been unusually hot in our area this past week.

Many local residents, like this elephant, have been looking for ways to cool off. The new pool at the Washington Zoo looked very tempting.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. - Nathan Hale

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. - John F. Kennedy

As America celebrates Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in our nation's wars. - John M. McHugh