Since 1988,
Out & About has informed our audience of entertainment options in Greater Wilmington through a monthly variety magazine. Today, that connection has expanded to include social networking, a weekly newsletter, and a comprehensive website. We also create, manage, and sponsor local events.
Cold, gray and bleak: It’s winter, so that means we’re all hibernating on the couch re-watching The Office on Netflix, right? Not quite.
In keeping with the theme of our Optimism Issue and championing the good things happening in Delaware, in partnership with Delaware Nature Society (DNS) we’re challenging the amateur and pro photographers among our readers to get outside and capture the beauty of the state in winter. Wildlife, winter walks, snowstorms, backyard scenes, landscapes or the frozen bay—just whip out the trusty smartphone or an actual camera and start capturing the natural wonders The First State has to offer in winter.
Then, from Feb 1-19, share your best shots with the hashtags #OandAwinter and #delnature for a chance to be featured on @outandaboutmagazine’s Instagram. Winning photos will appear in our 30th Anniversary March issue, plus one DNS household membership will be awarded,along with gift cards to Iron Hill and Penn Cinema movie tickets.
We’re looking for originality, high resolution photo quality, and most important, a photograph that conveys why this spot or this scene is special.
The contest is sponsored by Delaware Nature Society. One note: Out & About contributors are not eligible.
Iron Hill Brewery has for the first time in its 21-year history decided to place a year-round emphasis on canned crafts, and it plans to release at least one new can each month in 2018. It started with the introduction of the 2018 winter lineup on Jan. 11 with the release of cult favorite Rising Sun, a single-hopped IPA with Japanese Sorachi Ace hops. Two more canned brews will be added to the winter lineup in February: Bedotter, a traditional Belgian-style golden ale, on Friday, Feb. 9, and Ore House, a golden IPA, on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Delaware’s up-and-coming Brimming Horn Meadery introduced two limited-release meads late last month. Brimming Horn is a Scandinavian-style mead hall that features a tasting area where meads and ciders are on tap, and served in bottles, growlers and glasses.
Brimming Horn Meadery has collaborated with the post-metal group Junius for its latest effort, a bourbon barrel mead. Brimming Horn contacted Junius vocalist Joseph Martinez at the end of the group’s East Coast tour to initiate the partnership. The meads made by Brimming Horn are complex, which mirrors the compositions created by Junius, and that symmetry gave birth to the new mead, Eternal Rituals, named after the group’s latest album, Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light.
The new mead is made from North Dakota clover honey, a light floral with just a hint of spice. After the completion of the fermentation process, the mead was placed in bourbon barrels for more than three months. The barrels gave the mead subtle hints of caramel, vanilla, and a bit more spice.
Mead maker Jon Talkington is an avid fan of Junius and thought the collaboration would appeal to what he calls the “refined mead drinker as well as the sophisticated bourbon aficionado.” Find out for yourself if this metal-meets-mead marriage is as good as it sounds. Eternal Rituals is available at the Brimming Horn tasting room in Milton, and is also available online at vinoshipper.com and brimminghornmeadery.com. Act fast: only 180 bottles were produced.
Celebrate Mardi Gras a few days early at Arden Gild Hall with Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas on Friday, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m. Warning: The music will be infectiously danceable.
Over the last 30 years, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas have arguably proven themselves to be the premier zydeco band in the world. The musical genre, which evolved in southwest Louisiana from French Creole speakers, blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native people of Louisiana.
Bandleader Nathan Williams, Sr. is the recipient of the Clifton Chenier Lifetime Achievement Award. The band has won the Zydeco Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and also has earned Big Easy Awards for Best Zydeco Band.
Williams hails from the heart of Creole country, St. Martinsville, La. He moved to Lafayette to pursue his dream of playing zydeco and was mentored by two of the greats— Chenier and Buckwheat Zydeco.
The dance floor will be open for this show—and attendees are invited to wear Mardi Gras finery.
The Ministry of Caring is celebrating four decades of philanthropic service in the state with the release of the book 40 Years of Hope & Charity: Serving the Poor with Respect & Dignity. Written by robin brown, long-time reporter for the Wilmington News Journal, the book traces the growth of the Ministry from a single eight-bed shelter into a comprehensive network of services that have become fundamental to the state’s less fortunate. Brown brings great insight to the book, thanks to her 40-year career at the News Journal.
The 266-page hardcover sells for $30 with pickup at the Ministry office at 115 E. 14th St., Wilmington, or $35 with postal delivery. Order it by credit card at ministryofcaring.org. You can also order it from Amazon, although that will yield fewer proceeds to the Ministry of Caring.
By late 2018, Wilmington’s downtown will be enhanced by a 12,000-square-foot food hall housing eight chef-driven kitchens that will feature not just mid-Atlantic culinary dishes but a variety of cuisine from around the world. The food hall will be known as DE.CO (an abbreviation for “Delaware Collective”) and will be the first of its kind in the state.
The project was born out of a collaboration between developers The Buccini/Pollin Group and Seawall Development, who are hoping to capitalize on what has been a successful trend of food halls emerging in major cities. They believe the project will play a major role in the continued revitalization of Wilmington’s downtown area.y late 2018, Wilmington’s downtown will be enhanced by a 12,000-square-foot food hall housing eight chef-driven kitchens that will feature not just mid-Atlantic culinary dishes but a variety of cuisine from around the world. The food hall will be known as DE.CO (an abbreviation for “Delaware Collective”) and will be the first of its kind in the state.
DE.CO will be located in the DuPont Building at 10th and Orange streets. In addition to the new food hall, the $150 million in renovations will include retail shops and artisan boutiques. The developers are hoping the project will make the building a major community hub.
The DE.CO food hall is currently accepting applications. Interested chefs should contact Peter DiPrinzio at peter@seawalldevelopment.com.
Although I’m new to the acai bowl experience, I couldn’t be more excited about a new “superfood” juice bar now open in our area. Located in the Shops of Limestone Hills, Raw Essential offers local, organic, cold-pressed juices, superfood bowls and fresh smoothies. The products are not only fresh and delicious, but make you feel amazing! rawessential.com.
— Matthew Loeb, Creative Director & Production Manager
London Fog at Drip Café
Traditional Earl Grey Tea is frothily reinvented at Drip Café in Hockessin in the form of a steaming mug of London Fog. The hot beverage incorporates milk and Drip Café’s vanilla syrup into the tea. While I’m not typically a fan of sweet drinks, this tasty concoction has won me over and I can’t wait to go back. (Which is probably when I’ll order the caramel apple pancakes O&A Graphic Designer Tyler Mitchell is always raving about!)
— Krista Connor, Senior Editor & Media Manager
The Valley Spirit Never Dies – MEGA
From rescued and refurbished parts of the band, The House, the Delaware five-piece called MEGA delivers an adventurous sense of introspection on its debut, The Valley Spirit Never Dies.
Kicking off with the energetic, pop-friendly “Winnie Cooper,” MEGA whisks listeners away on a road trip that offers a surprising variety of soundscapes. The journey features midnight escapes (“Oh No!”), cultural diversions (“Tetris”) and rearview-mirror regrets (“I Don’t Want to Get Married”).
Postcard highlights include “The Chromaticy,” a psychedelic lullaby lifted by lush vocal arrangements, and the humble finale, “The Cardinal,” a lovely folky ditty seemingly custom-fit for a future Wes Anderson film.
Catch MEGA during their Record Release Party on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 1984 with Arrows, Canyon and Worth. More at Mega.Bandcamp.com.
— Jim Miller, Director of Publications
Exodus Escape Rooms
close up key vintage on isolate white with clipping path.
Exodus Escape Rooms, with locations in Wilmington, Newark and Rehoboth Beach, is among Delaware’s leading escape room providers. Escape rooms require a group of people to solve a mystery within a limited timeframe in order to successfully escape the room they are locked in. It’s immensely immersive as you search for clues that are based on an intriguing theme within a room that’s packed with surprises.
My wife and I visited the Marsh Road location of Exodus recently and the experience was a collaborative struggle that we talked about for hours afterward. We were tasked with finding a serial killer, which is just one of the many themes Exodus employs to keep you fully engaged for an hour or more.
January brings educational, entertaining activities to the Brandywine Zoo. The schedule includes “Career & Animal Science Workshop: Animal Training” on Saturday, Jan. 20, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m., for ages 12 and up. This workshop will include a training demonstration with one of the zoo animals and its trainer. Fee: $10 for non-members, $8 for members. On Sunday, Jan. 28, from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., kids ages 7 and older can enjoy the “Animal Enrichment Workshop.” Learn about the kinds of enrichment the zoo uses to engage animals’ minds. Fees: $12 for non-members, $10 for members.
618 MKT, a new 15-unit apartment building at 2 E. Seventh St., is now accepting applicants. The open concept studio and one-bedroom apartments boast modern finishes and features, and residents will never go hungry, with Italian restaurant Arde Osteria on the first floor of the building.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 5 highlighted the resurrection of the original Queen Anne-style building façade dating back to 1895.
Firefly Music Festival, the East Coast’s largest music and camping festival, is returning to The Woodlands in Dover for the seventh year on June 14-17. Headliners are Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Arctic Monkeys, and The Killers, and the lineup also features ODESZA, Lil Wayne, Logic, Martin Garrix, SZA, alt-J, Portugal. The Man, Foster the People, MGMT, Mike D (DJ set) and more.
General Admission and VIP pass options go on sale Friday, Jan. 12, at 10 a.m. ET through FireflyFestival.com. Special one-day pricing will be available on Jan. 12 only, with General Admission passes start at $269.
Lodging packages will also be available for purchase through a new user experience and filtering system on FireflyFestival.com.
Firefly is once again partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for the seventh consecutive year and various initiatives will benefit their Music Gives to St. Jude Kids program.
The Valley Spirit Never Dies – MEGA