For the past year, the Turkish Coffee Lady has been the one-stop-shop for Turkish coffee and other delicacies inside the Tysons Corner Center mall. Tomorrow, for their anniversary celebration, the store will be hosting a Turkish holiday bazaar.

The event will run from noon-6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17 at the store on the ground level of the mall near the Lord and Taylor. The bazaar, styled after the marketplaces of Istanbul, will feature a variety of holiday gift items for sale.

Beyond just selling coffee, the Turkish Coffee Lady also offers group coffee and Turkish cuisine tastings and complimentary fortune readings, a tradition of Turkish coffee drinking.

Similarly, the bazaar activities are scheduled to highlight a variety of Turkish cultural activities. These will include a Turkish folk dance, calligraphy, face painting and more.

The Turkish Coffee Lady is a woman-owned business. A portion of the sales will be donated to the Washington Turkish Women Association, which aids Turkish children and schools.

Photo via Facebook

Maple Avenue can be famously slow to change, and it’s left Vienna with rampant vacancies in the middle of a region seeing a surge of new development.

But aerial photography shows this hasn’t always been the case. Throughout the last 65 years, Maple Avenue has undergone a radical transformation.

Critics of a new four-story Maple Avenue development said too much was changing in Vienna too quickly, but at least from the air, the only 20-year period where there’s been very little change along Maple Avenue was between 1997 and 2017.

The Maple Avenue of 1953 looked quite different than the Maple Avenue of 1976. Maple Avenue transformed from a handful of small properties surrounded by farmland into islands of commercial property surrounded by residential streets.

Between 1976 and 1997, the gaps between those islands of commercial property had become filled in with smaller stores.

But the 1997 Maple Avenue is virtually identical to the 2017 Maple Avenue.

One of the most high-profile developments in downtown Vienna’s recent history was the establishment of the Town Green and redevelopment along Church Street, which runs parallel to Maple Street. The changes made there were cited by Vienna Town Council members during hearings for the controversial development — which was ultimately approved — as examples of ways development can still fit with a small town feeling.

Past and Present is a Tysons Reporter series looking at locations in our area as they’ve changed over the last century. Check out our articles for Tysons Corner Mall and Tysons Galleria/Leesburg Pike

Barnes & Noble is expected to move into the Mosaic District, but a novel approach may have the store scaled down to a novella.

According to the Washington Business Journal, the Mosaic District’s Barnes & Noble will only be 8,630 square feet in size; substantially smaller than the typical store.

The smaller stores are part of a turnaround initiative for the company, which faces declining sales. Many of the new locations will be roughly half the size of most Barnes & Noble stores.

The scaled-down Mosaic District Barnes & Noble is scheduled to open at 2921 District Avenue, adjacent to the West Elm furniture and home accessories store, in June 2019.

The Barnes & Noble is part of a slate of new stores in the Mosaic District, including the recently opened Sundance and Erin Condren.

Photo via Google Maps

Tysons is working towards being a more bike friendly community, but as anyone who’s pedaled through the area could tell you, it’s not quite there yet.

The Fairfax County Bicycle Map ranks streets throughout the county on a “most comfortable” to “use caution” scale. Nearly all of Tysons is colored in the yellow “less comfortable” indicator.

Some of the major thoroughfares, like Westpark Drive, International Drive, and Leesburg Pike are all listed as “use caution,” though many of those streets are categorized as having bikeable sidewalks.

But on the periphery of Tysons proper, Nicole Wynands, Bicycle Program Manager for the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, said there are several neighborhoods and trails that are perfect for biking.

“The Pimmit Hills area of Tysons is the most bikeable neighborhood with calm residential streets and good internal connectivity,” said Wynands. “The Jones Branch Connector will open shortly to pedestrians and cyclists, connecting Pimmit Hills and the McLean Metro with downtown Tysons via a shared-use path.”

Whether that bike-ability lasts as the northern edge of the neighborhood faces redevelopment remains to be seen.

Wynands had additional Tysons area cycling suggestions.

“Another great residential cycling area is Tysons Green, west of Route 7, with a good connection to the W&OD Trail and a beautiful stream/valley trail (Foxstone Park & Waverly Park),” said Wynands, via email. “The Vesper Trail is in the final stages of construction and will connect Tysons Green to downtown Tysons.”

Some caution is still urged at the eastern end of Old Courthouse Road in Tysons Green. Earlier this week a man died crossing the street.

For those willing to brave bicycling through downtown Tysons, Wynands said there are a few corridors cyclists can ride on more comfortably.

• Greensboro Drive — The street parallel to Leesburg Pike that runs along The Boro development.
• Park Run — A street that runs from the Tysons Galleria Shopping Center to the Freddie Mac headquarters.
• Westbranch Drive — A street east of Tysons Galleria along the planned The Mile development, right past the Tysons Republik Coffee.

Caboose Commons, the Caboose Brewing Company’s second location, is holding its grand opening celebration in Merrifield (2918 Eskridge Road) this Sunday, Nov. 18.

The grand opening celebrations will run all day, from 6 a.m.-11 p.m., with live music from local band Some People Call Me Maurice from 1-4 p.m.

Breakfast will run from 7 a.m.-11 a.m., then lunch and dinner from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Caboose Commons’ dining focuses on locally sourced and mostly healthy options. The restaurant offers a variety of dairy free, gluten free, and nut free options, as well as vegetarian options.

Beer, wine, cider, coffee and tea will also be served throughout the day. The Caboose Commons drink menu includes a variety of ales and IPAs.

The cafe and brewery has been open since September 29 for a “house warming” period. The first location, Caboose Brewing, is located in Vienna.

Wolf Trap’s Annual Holiday Sing-A-Long returns on Saturday, Dec. 1.

The sing-a-long in Wolf Trap’s Filene Center is a free event, though toy donations are encouraged. New, unwrapped toys can be dropped off at the entrance for Toys for Tots.

Parking at Wolf Trap is free but limited, so attendees should arrive early to park.

The concert features a performance by the United States Marine Band and a sing-a-long of Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs.

Attendees are encouraged to bring bells and candles to participate in the “jing-a-long” performed for Jingle Bells and a candlelight processional during Silent Night.

The event starts at 4 p.m. and will run for two hours. Gates to the lawn and in-house seating open one hour before showtime.

Also that evening, Red Baraat will be performing at The Barns at 8 p.m. The group features a combination of eclectic styles, mainly Indian bhangra music but with influences from jazz to hip-hop. Tickets to that show are $30 in advance or $35 at the door.

The next day (Dec. 2), fiddler Eileen Ivers will also be performing Christmas music at The Barnes at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets range from $27 for rear orchestra and balcony to $32 for prime seats.

Photo via Facebook

Erin Condren, a stationary and supplies store, had a soft-launch yesterday (Wednesday) for the company’s new Mosaic District location.

The store at 2905 District Ave is the first East Coast location for the chain, which started in 2004 in as a note card business. Since then, the company has expanded to organizers and notebooks and opened brick-and-mortar locations, including a flagship store in Austin, Texas.

“It was great,” said Kelsey Anderson, the manager of the Mosaic District store. “It’s been fun, people have been walking by wondering when it was going to open.”

Anderson said the customers were a mix of those who were fans of the brand and those who were passing by and stopped in to check it out.

The official grand opening of the store won’t be until February when Condren herself — the company’s founder and namesake — will be out to celebrate the store’s opening. Anderson said it was decided to hold the grand opening after the holidays.

The store is currently looking for a part-time sales associate.

🥁Drumroll please…🥁 The #ECMosaicDistric Retail Store is officially OPEN! Come visit our stunning retail space in Fairfax, Virginia for a dose of color, inspiration & of course, ORGANIZATION! Fact: there's no happier place to do your holiday shopping. https://t.co/BDKOrPqWjH pic.twitter.com/3OyOfDCBoR

— Erin Condren Design (@ErinCondren) November 15, 2018

The man struck by a car near Vienna on Monday has died after two days in critical condition.

Fairfax County Police say Daniel Benson, a 77 year-old Vienna resident, was assisting his wife after she was involved in a separate crash at the intersection of Old Courthouse Road and Westwood Drive.

Benson was carrying items from his car over to hers when he was struck, first by a Chevrolet Cruze traveling westbound, then into the side of a Toyota Echo in the eastbound lane, according to FCPD.

Police say both drivers remained at the scene and cooperated with detectives. Neither speed nor alcohol is being considered a factor in the crash and no charges are expected to be filed.

On Tuesday, a tipster told Tysons Reporter that the victim “was crossing the street carrying a bag and umbrella and very unfortunately did not look either way.”

“The westbound car in front of me braked as he walked, and then he just kept walking across the median” and was struck by an oncoming vehicle, said the witness.

Photo via Google Maps

Despite some early morning setbacks, traffic around Tysons seems back to normal.

While there are road closures in other parts of the county, Fairfax County Police have reported no closures in the McLean Police District. As of 10 a.m. most roads through Tysons seem to be running smoothly — all things considered.

Police have warned that crashes are on the rise throughout Fairfax. Crashes have been reported near Merrifield, causing some congestion in the westbound lanes. A crash was also reported on Dulles Toll Road around 10:10 a.m., closing the north right lane and causing some congestion.

Earlier this morning, Twitter users reported express lanes near Tysons were closed and traffic was bumper to bumper.

@WTOPtraffic N Express Lanes exit to Baltimore/Tysons Corner closed! North bound Express Lane are bumper to bumper! pic.twitter.com/ViJMDU39Q5

— Nancy Parada (@louizze) November 15, 2018

Others warned that snow was sticking to the Beltway. Snow plows have since been spotted on traffic cameras working their way through Tysons streets.

Snow is sticking on the beltway and express lanes near Tysons Corner and no plows in sight. Awesome. @capitalweather @WTOP pic.twitter.com/75pozqPrX2

— Jess Jensen (@JessJensen1) November 15, 2018

Photo via Fairfax Police Department