I know that some of us come to this bulletin board for the inside scoop on events and goings on, but when I ran across 3 new flavors of Ben & Jerry's at Giant last night, I thought that there was something missing.

Let's share some inside info on what's up, what's neat, what's useful.

As for those Ben & Jerry's flavors, our family recommends:

 Nutty Waffle Cone (Vanilla Malt Ice Cream with Fudge-Dipped Waffle Cone Pieces, Fudge-Covered Peanuts & Fudge Swirls); and

 Coffee Hazelnut Swirl (Coffee Ice Cream Loaded with Espresso Fudge-Covered Hazelnuts & Swirls of Coffee Rum Fudge).

-- Michael Berney (mlberney@aol.com), March 02, 2000

Answers

I don't know the exact date but it's usually mid-late March: I recommend keeping an eye out for the Smithsonian's annual kite flying day down by the Washington Monument. I've been twice and it's great. Some people bring simple kites, others are huge and elaborate, whatever - everyone feels free to fly and have a good time.

-- Elly Shaw-Belblidia (mirinor@aol.com), March 02, 2000.

We stopped in at the Wine Harvest the evening before last thinking it was "Chili Tuesday" (the one day of the week when you can get chili there) and found ourselves celebrating "Fat Tuesday," instead. It was a wonderfully festive evening, with New Orleans R&B and Cajun music, beaded necklaces handed out freely to customers, and seafood gumbo and red beans and rice with sausage. We just could not let this go without a mention. If you were not there, you missed something special.

-- Vic & Mary Macdonald (vmacdona@his.com), March 13, 2000.

The Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival is this weekend--May 20 and 21; 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Reston Town Center. If you are unfamiliar with this arts festival, it is a wonderful event, and well worth the drive to Reston. It is much smaller than the Sugarloaf Arts and Crafts Fair, and, from what several of the artists have told me, the judging to get in is tougher.

Directions: take 495 to the Dulles Toll Road (Rt. 267) Exit Reston Parkway, right on Reston Parkway, to left at 3rd light onto New Dominion Drive.

-- Mary N. Macdonald (mnmacd@his.com), May 15, 2000.