Unbelievably, the tiny island in the middle of Occoquan Bay (known as Holiday Island, Dogue Island, Smoot Island, or Rock Island) has turned up for sale! The county assessment? $2,500 The list price? $477,000 ouch! Here is the virtual tour, courtesy of MRIS.

For some unknown reason, the address of the island is 15751 Featherstone Road. The island is 1/4 acre and zoned A-1 (agricultural) but you could probably talk Corey Stewart into rezoning the island for commercial office space.

Correction: A previous version of this story included photographs of Conrad Island.

Back from an awesome trip to Costa Rica, which included surfing in Tamarindo and Nosara. Costa Rica is an amazingly beautiful country that does a fantastic job promoting the environment and eco-tourism. The beaches are beautiful, the fruits are juicy, and the roads are dirt (with gigantic potholes).

I would love to see some of the Tico spirit come to Occoquan.

Summer is officially over but the spirit must live on. This weekend features a classic battle between two events along the Potomac river. One is old, one is new. Both will probably be a good time. The conditions on the ground will be a little bit sloppy with rain on Saturday afternoon.

The 2009 Occoquan Fall Arts & Crafts Show begins on Saturday, September 26 at 10AM and runs through Sunday at 5PM. This is an all-ages event held twice per year in the streets of Occoquan. The fair of craftsmen and merchants is usually entertaining and crowded. Carnival food abounds. You can buy fried Oreos and shoelace french fries and then finish it off with a banana split. The craft show website has details.

Das Best Oktoberfest also takes place on Saturday 28 nautical miles north at National Harbor. The events runs from 2PM – 8PM on Saturday. The main attraction is “beer, brats & bands”. Tickets are $30 at the door and they include a souvenir tasting mug and 6 beer tokens. There is a beer belly competition and classic local band Love Seed Mama Jump will rock out on stage at 2PM.

This is a tough call but personally, I think Das Best Oktoberfest is the way to go. There are a couple of reasons why. First, shopping in the rain is a drag whereas drinking six german beers in the rain sounds like it could be fun. Also, National Harbor has excellent marina services. Its fairly easy to make a reservation and the staff is on point. One the other hand, there really is no way to reach the craft fair by boat. Perhaps the town should consider an effort to monetize the fallow Gas Light docks on craft fair weekends. Have a fun and safe weekend!

If you’ve been to Tim’s Rivershore in Dumfires, you’ll love this story!

Last week, David Yount walked into Tim’s at 2:15 p.m on Wednesday afternoon. He was drunk and carrying a .40-caliber handgun in plain view so the bartender refused to serve him.

Moments later, the rejected patron walked outside and fired four to seven rounds at a nearby flock of ducks. The mother duck was killed and it was all caught on video by a woman at the restaurant.

Police were unable to apprehend him at the time but two hours later he was arrested when he crashed his car into Powell’s Creek in Woodbridge. In the end, he was charged with a DUI and reckless handling of a firearm.

Insidenova.com first reported this story.