On Friday, Sept. 25, Bill Daly opened Crooked Beat Records for three hours, 4 to 7 p.m., in a two-story townhouse at 2101B Mount Vernon Avenue. Neighbors told ALXnow the space had been vacant for more than a decade. In a video posted that week, Daly described it this way: "It's like the Twilight Zone, same colors, same atmosphere," according to ALXnow's report on the reopening.
A second record store had opened across the street about two weeks earlier.
That makes this Del Ray's first holiday season with a small music district at the 2000 and 2100 blocks of the Avenue. Between 2003A and 2101B Mount Vernon Avenue there are now two record shops and a taproom, all in spaces that held something else, or nothing, a year ago. The neighborhood's December events still run along the whole Avenue. What changed this year is that a string of stops sits close together in one short run of street numbers, and three of them are new.
How the 2000 Block Changed Between August and September
The changes came quickly, within about five weeks.
Crooked Run Fermentation went first. It moved into the former Dolce & Bean space at 2003A Mount Vernon Avenue, and ALXnow reported a planned Aug. 28 opening. City records show the outdoor-dining permit for the address was approved Aug. 13. Crooked Run's Del Ray page now lists the location as open and describes a bar, snacks and outdoor seating.
Mobius Records came next, at 2016 Mount Vernon Avenue. It is a Neighborhood Restaurant Group project in the former Mulberry Lane Play Café, and it shares the space with Shorty's Deluxe, a sandwich shop. ALXnow reported a Saturday, Sept. 12 opening. Mobius's site lists new and used music, CDs and tapes, merchandise, accessories and work by local artists, along with a calendar of shows.
Crooked Beat followed on Sept. 25. It already had history in the area. The store first opened in 1997 in Raleigh, North Carolina, spent seven years in Old Town North, and came to Del Ray in 2023 in a basement shop at 2417 Mount Vernon Avenue. Flooding in January closed that location, and the store left it in May. The new shop is a 950-square-foot space in the 2100 block.
The two stores were not set up as rivals. Michael Babin, a principal at Neighborhood Restaurant Group, told ALXnow earlier this year that Daly supported Mobius opening because it would make Del Ray more of a destination for people shopping for records, as ALXnow recounted in its September story. The idea of a destination is what links this block to the December calendar.
What Each Stop Offers When You Walk In
| Address | Business | What it is | Former occupant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003A Mount Vernon Ave. | Crooked Run Fermentation | Taproom with a bar, snacks and outdoor seating | Dolce & Bean |
| 2016 Mount Vernon Ave. | Mobius Records with Shorty's Deluxe | New and used music, CDs and tapes, local artists; sandwich shop in the same space | Mulberry Lane Play Café |
| 2101B Mount Vernon Ave. | Crooked Beat Records | New and used vinyl, including local and regional artists | Vacant townhouse |
The two record stores are stocked differently. Crooked Beat carries new and used vinyl and features local and regional artists. Mobius covers more formats, including CDs and tapes, and sells merchandise and accessories as well as records.
Hours matter for planning a December visit. Crooked Beat's site posts these hours:
- Monday, 1 to 7 p.m.
- Tuesday and Wednesday, closed
- Thursday and Friday, noon to 7 p.m.
- Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
The Saturday hours run past the end of every daytime Saturday market on the Avenue. On Dec. 12 that includes the Candy Cane Bar Crawl, which wraps up at 6 p.m.
Mobius also hosts shows away from its own counter. On its calendar for Thursday, Nov. 12, is a NØ MAN record-release show at No. 9 Lounge, also on Mount Vernon Avenue.
Live music may also come to the 1900 block. Del Ray Farmhouse Market and Garden at 1913 Mount Vernon Avenue applied for a special-use permit for outdoor live entertainment with a small stage. The Zebra reported that the Planning Commission recommended approval 6–0, and the request went on City Council's Sept. 19 docket.
The Avenue's Calendar From Mid-November Through December
With the new stops in place, the Del Ray Business Association's event calendar has more places to send people. These are the dates still ahead on publish day:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Del Ray Vintage & Flea Market | Mount Vernon and Bellefonte Avenues |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Gustave Art & Craft Market | Gustave Jardin, 2213 Mount Vernon Ave. |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | City Holiday Tree Lighting, 6 to 8 p.m. | Waterfront Park, Old Town |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | 51st Annual Alexandria Turkey Trot | Starts and ends at George Washington Middle School |
| Dec. 4 to 20 | Del Ray Artisans' 31st Annual Fine Art & Fine Craft Holiday Market | 2704 Mount Vernon Ave. |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 6 p.m. | Del Ray Holiday Season Kick-Off | Pat Miller Neighborhood Square |
| Thu., Dec. 10, 6 to 9 p.m. | Shops of Del Ray Holiday Sip & Shop | Along Mount Vernon Avenue |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Vintage & Flea Market; 11th Annual Candy Cane Bar Crawl | Mount Vernon and Bellefonte; along the Avenue |
The Del Ray Farmers' Market runs underneath all of it. It is open year-round on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square, at Oxford and Mount Vernon Avenues, with dates on every Saturday through Dec. 26. The Vintage & Flea Market usually runs on second Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with more than 50 vendors at three spots along the Avenue.
The City's tree lighting at Waterfront Park on Nov. 21 is a separate event from Del Ray's. That puts the Old Town and Del Ray lightings on different weekends, two weeks apart.
Dec. 6, When the Avenue Lights Up
On Sunday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m., Del Ray's Holiday Season Kick-Off lights the Christmas tree and the Menorah at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square. Afterward, according to the DRBA's event listing, shops display hand-painted holiday windows and Mount Vernon Avenue is lined with thousands of luminarias in honor of the late Nancy Dunning.
Dec. 6 is a Sunday, so Crooked Beat's posted Sunday hours end at 6 p.m., the same time the lighting starts. If the record stores are part of your plan, go to the 2000 block that afternoon and walk down to the square for the lighting at 6.
The weekend before has a lot going on as well. The Del Ray Artisans Holiday Market opens Dec. 4 at 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue. Its hours are 6 to 9 p.m. on Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Three groups of artists rotate through on the first three December weekends, so the work on display changes from one weekend to the next.
Saturday, Dec. 12, Hour by Hour
The new block makes the biggest difference on Dec. 12, because nearly every recurring Avenue event lands on that one Saturday. The posted hours fit together like this:
- 8 a.m. The farmers market opens at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square and runs until noon.
- 9 a.m. The Vintage & Flea Market opens at Mount Vernon and Bellefonte Avenues, and the Artisans Holiday Market opens its doors at 2704.
- 11:30 a.m. Crooked Beat opens at 2101B.
- 12:30 p.m. The 11th Annual Del Ray Candy Cane Bar Crawl begins along Mount Vernon Avenue and runs until 6 p.m.
- 2 p.m. The flea market closes.
- 5 p.m. The Artisans market closes for the day.
- 7 p.m. Crooked Beat closes, the last of the posted Saturday hours.
Two days before, on Thursday, Dec. 10, the Shops of Del Ray Holiday Sip & Shop runs along the Avenue from 6 to 9 p.m. That week's Saturday crawl and Thursday shopping night now share the Avenue with three businesses between 2003A and 2101B Mount Vernon Avenue that were not open last December.
Gurdeep Mangat follows how Del Ray's storefronts change, from the former Dolce & Bean space to the townhouse at 2101B. If you're thinking about how a block like this affects the homes around it, or you'd like a neighborhood-level read before the spring market, Gurdeep Mangat offers a complimentary consultation.
