GAINSWave Therapy in McLean, VA

Parks are the heart and soul of any neighborhood, and offer a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle of life. From the many outdoor activities at Lewinsville Park to the natural beauty of Turkey Run Park, these parks in McLean, VA offer a wide variety of options. Whether you’re looking for a great dog park for your furry friend, or somewhere to have a relaxing picnic, there’s a good chance you’ll find what you’re looking for nearby your new home or apartment in McLean. Let’s explore the great parks in McLean, VA together.

#1: Lewinsville Park

Lewinsville Park offers a variety of amenities, including athletic fields, tennis courts, a playground, and a nature trail. The park also hosts community events and classes throughout the year, so it’s no wonder it’s one of the most popular parks in McLean.

Amenities: Multipurpose fields, Basketball courts, Tennis courts

Address: 1659 Chain Bridge Rd. McLean, VA 22101

#2: Turkey Run Park

Turkey Run Park is a nature lover’s paradise, featuring hiking trails, a scenic picnic area, and a stream. The park is located within the George Washington Memorial Parkway and provides access to the Potomac River.

Amenities: Picnic area, Wildlife watching, Hiking trails, Restrooms

Address: Turkey Run Loop Rd. McLean, VA 22101

#3: Bryn Mawr Park

Bryn Mawr Park is a small neighborhood park with a playground and picnic area, nestled in a quiet residential community. It’s a popular park in the area for those looking for a charming, quiet spot to play at.

Amenities: Picnic area, Playground

Address: 6700 Tennyson Dr. McLean, VA 22101

#4: Pimmit Run Stream Valley Park

This park in McLean is a natural oasis in an urban setting, with walking trails, benches, and a small playground. The park follows the Pimmit Run stream and offers a peaceful escape from the surrounding city.

Amenities: Walking trails

Address: 1955 Foxhall Rd. McLean, VA 22101

#5: Clemyjontri Park

Clemyjontri Park is a large, colorful playground that is designed to be accessible for people of all abilities. The park also features a carousel, a train, and several other attractions for its visitors to enjoy.

Amenities: Carousel, Train, Playground, Picnic area

Address: 6317 Georgetown Pike McLean, VA 22101

#6: McLean Central Park

McLean Central Park is a large community park that features a variety of athletic fields, a playground, a dog park, and a walking trail. The park also hosts concerts and events throughout the year, making it a popular spot for locals living in Mclean.

Amenities: Tennis courts, Playground, Walking trails, Basketball courts, Restrooms

Address: 1468 Dolley Madison Blvd. McLean, VA 22102

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See how the Presidents Day holiday will affect public parking, parks and recreation, libraries, and more around McLean.

MCLEAN, VA — Many workers and students in McLean will get a long weekend for Presidents Day on Monday, Feb. 20.

George Washington's birthday is Feb. 22, but the federally observed Presidents Day falls on the third Monday in February.

Government offices, schools and other services will be closed on Feb. 20, while other services like transit may have schedule changes.

Here’s a roundup of what’s open and what’s closed on Presidents Day in McLean:

Fairfax County government offices: Closed on Monday, Feb. 20.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Fairfax County Public Schools: Feb. 20 is a holiday.

Courts: The Fairfax County General District Court, Circuit Court, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court will be closed on Feb. 21.

Community centers: Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services facilities will be closed Feb. 18 to 20.

Fairfax Connector: On Feb. 21, Fairfax Connector will run holiday weekday service. All routes will have regular weekday service, except Routes 231, 232, 335, 393, 394, 395, 396, 432, 461, 494, 495, 599, 624, 634, 660, 697, 698, 699, 715, 722, 724 834 and 835 which will not run. For more information, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/connector.

George Washington's Mount Vernon: Open on all holidays and offering free admission Feb. 20 and 22.

Libraries: Fairfax County Public Library locations will be closed on Feb. 20.

Metro: Metro will be open 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday, 7 a.m. to midnight on Sunday, and 5 a.m. to midnight on Monday. Blue, Orange and Silver Line trains will run every 15 minutes. On the Blue Line, single tracking will happen between Reagan National Airport and Braddock Road. Green Line trains will run every eight minutes. Red Line trains will run every seven to eight minutes between Glenmont and Van Ness and every 15 minutes between Van Ness and Shady Grove with single tracking between Friendship Heights and Medical Center. Yellow Line is not running through May 2023.

Post offices: Closed on Feb. 20.

Recreation centers: Fairfax County recreation centers are open regular hours on Feb. 20.

Trash and recycling: There is no trash collection change for Fairfax County collection customers on Feb. 20. Private collection customers should check with their hauler for any changes.

Trash and recycling centers: The Recycling and Disposal Centers at the I-66 Transfer Station (4618 West Ox Road) and the I-95 Landfill Complex (9850 Furnace Road) are open regular hours on Feb. 20.

Virginia DMV: All DMV customer service centers will be closed Feb. 20.

Forty-four percent of American adults grade their knowledge of personal finance with a C or lower and good financial skills are important in a time of high inflation.

WalletHub released its report on 2023’s Best & Worst Cities at Money Management.

The personal finance website compared more than 2,500 cities based on 10 key indicators of money-management skills. Data includes median credit score, average number of late payments and mortgage debt-to-income ratio.

Cupertino, Calif. is the best at managing money, followed by Lexington, Mass., Scarsdale, N.Y., Los Altos, Calif. and Chevy Chase, Md. McLean, Va. is no. 9.

The cities with the worst money management skills are Canton, Miss., Bastrop, La., Maple Heights, Ohio, Fairburn, Ga. and Ruston, La.

The lowest mortgage debt-to-income ratio is 121.14 percent in East St. Louis, Illinois, which is 8.9 times lower than in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, the city with the highest at 1,083.35 percent.

Student loan debt-to-income ratio is lowest in Deer Park, N.Y. at 6.95 percent, 14.2 times lower than in Carbondale, Illinois, where the ratio is the highest at 98.37 percent.

Mercer Island, Washington has the lowest share of residents delinquent on debt at .16 percent, 81.1 percent lower than in Jackson, Miss., where debt is 12.98 percent.

Experts provided WalletHub with their opinions on if financial skills should be a mandatory part of curriculum taught in high schools.

“In my opinion, yes. I think that high school students should be required to learn about topics that are part of a subject that we call ‘personal financial literacy.’ Things like establishing and maintaining a personal budget, viewing and monitoring a personal credit score, responsibly building and managing credit through the acquisition of loans and credit cards, and understanding how to create and achieve long-term wealth-building goals,” Dr. Scott Collins, an Associate Clinical Professor and Director of One-Year Master of Accounting (MAcc) Program at Pennsylvania State University, said.

Dr. Robert Haywood Scott III is a professor of Greenbaum/Ferguson/NJAR Endowed Chair in Real Estate Policy at Monmouth University, and he agrees.

“I think financial concepts could be covered and reinforced in a variety of classes, such as math, that makes it applicable to students. I once gave a presentation to a group of state advocates and educators advancing financial literacy in schools and during the question-and-answer session someone stated they were a superintendent and that she agreed we need more financial literacy in schools; however, she said it is very difficult finding qualified people to teach those concepts. She is right that it is not enough to put the material in the curriculum, you need qualified people who really understand personal finance to teach it. Those people do not necessarily need to be finance professionals. Many regular people have excellent money management skills. But students need access to these people,” Scott said.

According to Thomas Gilbert, an associate professor at the University of Washington, the most common mistake individuals make when managing money is that they don’t save enough and don’t start saving early enough.

“Saving for retirement should start with one’s first job, with an IRA account. When an employer offers a retirement program with matching, one should always take it and max it out every year. And the second related mistake, when people look at their investments in the stock market, is that they sell after the market falls and start buying after the market has risen. That is called trying to time the market and academic research has shown that even professional money managers cannot do it, so why do retail investors think they can? Most of us invest for the long run, so as the markets go up and down, the best advice is to not touch anything and keep saving, keep investing. Third, the average household has far too much faith in real estate as an investment: buying one’s home is not a sure bet, and net of all costs and interest and taxes, the annual rate of return on home purchases is much lower than people think. As the saying goes, do not put all your eggs in one basket,” Gilbert said.

Dr. Claire Rosenfield, Assistant Teaching Professor and Assistant Area Director of Finance at the University of Kansas, said individuals overlook their opportunity costs.

“Sometimes trained financial professionals pitch to existing and prospective investors using select performance metrics in absence of any benchmarks,” Rosenfield said. “We see people make occasional splurges, like on technology upgrades, or daily splurges, like on coffee habits, without serious consideration of how else they could spend their money to extract more benefit from it. People frequently ignore the foregone benefit of extra compounding periods gained by starting to save earlier in their adulthood rather than later. People also commonly overlook the true cost of early-adulthood indebtedness, which can have detrimental lifestyle effects for at least a decade and then erode the possibility of capitalizing on compounded savings that could have otherwise taken place.”

Scott said that for individuals with extra money, they should find high-interest savings account for an emergency fund.

“With emergency funds, I am less concerned with interest earned than accessibility; however, if someone has some flexibility there are excellent rates on a variety of certificates of deposits (CDs). If there is a small possibility you might need the money earlier than the CD’s maturity date, then look for shorter-term CDs and/or ones that will not penalize you for early withdrawal. If you absolutely do not need the money, then Roth IRAs are a great investment option for many people. And for those with children, 529 savings plans can make sense. Everyone’s financial situation is different, which is why educating yourself is so valuable. Finding legitimate sources of information, knowing your financial reality, and seeking advice from many sources are how all of us can make better financial decisions,” Scott said.

A period of high inflation presents challenges for individuals to protect their purchasing power.

However, if they have invested in assets that could be repriced higher to catch up with inflation (e.g., raising the rent on investment property; stocks of companies that can raise prices without hurting demand for their goods or services) or can demand much higher wages because of their skills/expertise, then they could better insulate themselves from the ill effects of inflation,” Alice Tsang, CFA, Professor of Finance at the Taylor University, said.

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.

View all posts by Rebecca Barnabi

Good news in NoVA this week includes Candytopia to sweeten Tysons, costumed students read children's books and best small towns to visit.

VIRGINIA — This week's good news stories in Virginia include costumed students reading books to children at Alexandria's Charles Barrett Elementary School, Candytopia bringing delicious fun to Tysons Corner Center, and a 10-year-old actor and hockey player meeting Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin.

Plus, read about a Broadway star conducting a workshop with students at Marshall High School's Statesmen Theatre, a McLean native opening a new smoothie shop in his hometown, some best small towns in the U.S. to visit, and the Town of Vienna and the City of Falls Church battling to win the Mayors Fitness Challenge.

Here are some of this week's good news headlines:

Tysons Corner Center shoppers will get the taste of the sweet life as a new candy experience opens in mid-March. Candytopia will have 14 interactive experiences as well as photo opps and tastes of candy favorites. The 16,000-square-foot space will be open for a limited time starting in mid-March through May. Some of the Candytopia experiences at Tysons Corner Center will include a candy art gallery, candy confetti room, marshmallow pit and candy samples.

Children at Alexandria's Charles Barrett Elementary School were in for a treat Thursday as costumed students read books to them for Read Across America Day. Read Across America is a nationwide event to encourage love of reading. It also falls on the birthday of Dr. Seuss, the popular children's book author.

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A look of surprise appeared on 10-year-old Keivonn Woodard's face as he entered the room and saw Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. Woodard, a deaf Prince George's County, Maryland, native who acts on the HBO series "The Last of Us," is also an aspiring hockey player. A forward on the Bowie Bruins, Woodard was named one of the Capitals Youth Hockey Rising Stars recognized for making strides for Black hockey players.

South Block, an acai bowl, smoothie and juice shop, will be opening a new location on Monday, March 6 in the Chesterbrook Shopping Center in McLean. Amir Mostafavi, CEO and founder of South Block, grew up in McLean, where is parents owned and operated Box Office Video in the Langley Shopping Center for more than 20 years.

As Marshall High School's Statesmen Theatre prepares for its spring musical "Xanadu," there was no one better to help than one of the musical's Broadway stars. Kerry Butler, who has played roles in Broadway musical premieres like "Hairspray," "Xanadu," "Mean Girls" and "Beetlejuice," visited the high school theater program on Feb. 17. Butler did a musical workshop with students after doing a similar workshop for Oakton High School's upcoming musical "Mean Girls."

Three Virginia communities have made the list of America's favorite small towns to visit. FamilyDestinationsGuide.com surveyed 3,000 families to pinpoint the top 150 towns across the country where they'd like to vacation this year.

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McLean High School is the first high school to turn "Claudio Quest," written by Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet, into reality.

|Updated Mon, Feb 13, 2023 at 1:43 pm ET

By Maryn Brown of Westfield High School

From 8-bit to HD, it's Game On! at McLean High School's imaginative production of "Claudio Quest."

McLean High School is the first high school to turn "Claudio Quest," written by Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet, into reality. "Claudio Quest" premiered in 2010 and in 2015, won six awards at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. With inspiration from the beloved Super Mario Bros game, the musical combines nostalgic visuals and sounds with lovable characters. The charm and creativity that make this absurd parody enjoyable are matched with hilarious one-liners, unrelenting expressiveness, and talented vocals from across the cast.

The story begins with Claudio, the hero, and his younger brother Luis. Princess Poinsettia has been captured once again by the preposterous purple platypus, Bruiser. Not to fear, for Claudio is here! Only this time, he isn't his usual heroic self. Luis must take on the role of Player One with the help of Poinsettia's unconventional younger sister, Fish. The three set off on another adventure to save the Eggplant Kingdom.

Nathan Bass played the gentle younger brother, Luis. Bass displayed a lovable character as well as impeccable vocal control in the songs "Player 2" and "Warp Tube" in which he shared a duet with Princess Fish, played by Miranda Simpson. Simpson was a consistent burst of energy throughout the performance. From the moment she cartwheeled on stage, it was clear she wasn't just any other princess. Their chemistry made for an endearing story of empowerment and courage.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Noah Chlan, as Claudio himself, masterfully took on the persona of the triumphant, yet tender, hero. The unlikely duo of Bruiser, Idil Erdoğan, and Poinsettia, Audrey Link, had the audiences roaring. The rich register of Erdogan's song "Platypus Heart" and the sweet soprano voice of Link encapsulated the contradictory feelings of Bruiser and the royal innocence of Poinsettia. The playful dynamic between the two and their strong vocals reigned supreme in the Eggplant Kingdom.

The cohesiveness of the ensemble of The Eggplants supported several musical numbers at Saturday's performance, such as "A or B," a clever song about difficult choices with difficult vocals. The, quite literally, unspoken heroes of the production were the two brothers controlling the game. As silent performers, Brooke Howard and Charlotte Carson used symbolic imagery and bold expressions to show the parallels between the virtual world and reality.

The coordination between the stage manager, Rebecca Sullivan, and the lighting, sound, and run crew further immersed the audience. Jolie Korfonta and Alex Elders's use of vibrant colored lights worked in tandem with the sound cues (Dillon Prestidge, Emma Springer, and Megan Wright) to create the video game setting.

The MHS set crew and special effects (Megan Wright, Ethan Jones, and Alessandro Martinat-Pillhaca) transported audiences to the pixelated world. Costumes (Izzy Boon, Anushka Parashar, Jane Shanks, and Kyra Taube) and make-up (Emery Graninger, Addie Harris, Maia Le, and Valentina Sedan) utilized bold hues to differentiate characters and add to the animated world.

The choreography was another unique aspect of this performance, Mira Bowen and Cami Diaz used the limited space to their advantage. Publicity for a show that is relatively unknown is crucial to its success, and Arielle Else, Idil Erdoğan, and Elizabeth Nourse did a fantastic job advertising. Kate Fontaine, Ian Massidda, and Nor Treibitz created intriguing props that the ensemble used at a professional standard.

"You cannot skip" out on McLean High School's retro production of "Claudio Quest."