Stepping into the HistoryMobile offers much more than a reprieve from the humid fairgrounds – it transports viewers to a tumultuous time in Virginia’s past, and reminds residents about how their state endured the Civil War.

The initial room sets the scene, as a wavering voice comes on the loud speaker, and is quickly followed by gunshots. The speaker is reading an actual letter a Civil War soldier wrote in his final minutes. Fairgoers who checked out the HistoryMobile this week called that room an instant favorite.

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Probably the hardest part of 6-year-old Daryl Pope’s day at the Arlington County Fair was trying to maneuver the Euro Bubble. The “ride,” introduced this year, is what a hamster would use to exercise if it lived under water – or at least in a pool.

Daryl gingerly stepped into the deflated plastic sphere. Two fair workers zipped it up and inflated the bubble with a large hose. With one shove off the platform, Daryl – now inside the bubble – floated out into the shallow pool.

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Brutus showed his smaller piglet pals who’s boss at the Arlington County Fair on Thursday.

Piglet racing – a popular draw at the annual event – allows the 17-week-old Brutus to showcase his running, trotting and swimming skills.

“Pig racing has become such a huge phenomena,” said Ken Freile, from Sue Wee Flying Pig Racing.

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For Tammy Mann, accepting the position of president and CEO of The Campagna Center, allowed her career to come full circle.

Mann, a Fairfax – and former Alexandria – resident, officially began her new job on Monday. She comes to the center with a background in psychology and experience in dealing with policy surrounding early education.

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The dating scene just got a little tamer thanks to the introduction of the smartphone app Gender Zoo.

Say it’s a typical Saturday night and you’re headed to the Clarendon Ballrom for a night on the town. If you’re like much of the metro-area population, you’re probably going to meet up with friends and maybe, just maybe, if you’re lucky, talk to someone you find attractive and interesting who has potential date-ability.

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While most metro-area residents avoid taking their cars to work and opt for public transportation, John Davis takes things a step further, and for good cause.

Since February, Davis, a conservationist and co-founder of the Wildlands Network, has been making his way from the Florida Keys to Washington, D.C., snaking his way through national parks, mountain trails, waterways and roads. He’s hiked, biked and paddled through everything from wetlands to prairies to pine forests. This week he was pleasantly surprised to find the many bike paths leading into the district. He passed through Georgetown on Thursday.

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As the localized food movement picks up steam, city dwellers have to get creative in order to jump on board. Luckily, the D.C. region is fairly ahead of the curve when it comes to one component that provides fresh, local produce – the farmers’ market.

These markets are so prolific both inside and just outside the district that even tiny Georgetown has two of its own – the Georgetown Farmers Market and the Glover Park-Burleith Farmers’ Market.

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