 Is he still out there? Picture by frogDNA, Creative Commons License Imagine that you’ve been transported back to 1970. It would look both strangely similar and different from today. You certainly wouldn’t be seeing cell phones or cybertrucks, but you would see still people wearing bell-bottoms, pornstar moustaches, and feathered hair (but all unironically back then). If you turned on the radio, you’d hear I’ll be There by The Jackson Five, Layla by Derek and the Dominos, and Lola by The Kinks, not on an oldies station, but on the American Top 40 hosted by Casey Kasem (which also started this same year). Now picture yourself parked in a nice car in a remote location in the woods outside of Washington, DC. It's almost Halloween, and you and your main squeeze are parked right next to a small bridge. It’s very dark. Your car engine is running, maybe to keep the car warm enough for any disco-era shenanigans you have planned, or maybe – and more innocently – you just want to keep the radio on so you can hear that wild new song by The Carpenters. It seems like a nice night regardless.  Underneath the infamous Bunny Man bridge But alas, your sexy 70's tranquility is then traumatically disturbed. You can’t believe your eyes. Are you losing your mind? Out of the darkness, you both see a grown man wearing a bunny suit. They guy is hopping mad (see what I did there?), literally frothing at the mouth in anger, and screaming at you. As he gets closer you can make out the word “trespassing” in his unhinged tirade, but little else. Then, as if he was a dwarf from Lord of the Rings, he lobs an axe through your window, shattering it into a million shards. Terrified, you jam on the accelerator and bolt out of there as quickly as your non-unleaded gas can take you. You've just met the Bunny Man.  Is this the axe???? This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Image by KeeferC (2004). Before the internet, stories like this might stay purely regional. It would be far more difficult for “Slender Man” and other tales to grab hold of the public consciousness without online forums. Back in the 1970s, strange stories like this got passed along and elaborated upon through word of mouth, some eventually becoming “urban legends”. Not surprisingly, there quickly became several variations of "The Bunny Man" bandied about at teenage sleepovers or to help pass the time in junior high Algebra classes. He became even more threatening as time went. Just a few years later, hushed whispers – usually made across the teenage frequencies – gave him an origin story. The Bunny Man was now an escaped mental patient and psychopath. The gentleman was responsible for several deaths in the area, sometimes hanging them upside down from the bridge in similar fashion to what the Italians did to Benito Mussolini and his mistress at the end of World War II. Along with murder, The Bunny Man also was said to have a penchant for animal mutilation. Just heaving axes into car windows was just so 1970…  Shot of the famous bridge. What lagomorphic dangers lurk in the surrounding forests? We must say that this is a great story that one of us even heard while living on the other side of the country. It’s got just about everything a good urban legend needs and is, franky, just a lot of fun to think about. But, as is well-known, skeptics and researchers generally take all the fun out of everything. Such is the case with this rascally rabbit. Most of the stories associated with the Bunny Man are apparently pure bunk. The only one with any truth to it is the introductory story. For those of you interested in a more reasonable, less fun take on the matter than the Bunny Man stringing up dead bodies all over Fairfax County, please read this: https://research.fairfaxcounty.gov/local-history/bunnyman However, if we’re being honest, we much prefer the legend. It's kind of fun to imagine that the Bunny Man is still out there, wearing a fur suit matted with the blood of his victims, fantasizing about all the delicious vengeance he'd like to mete out on those dastardly people who dared to trespass near his precious bridge. He may very well be sharpening his axe and giggling to himself as we type this paltry prose... Travel Tips: If you want to visit this easy to miss one lane bridge in Clifton VA, you would never guess how close you are to DC. For all of its association with malevolent ax-wielding tomfoolery, it’s a lovely place nestled between open fields, babbling brooks, and some pretty opulent mansions. It’s truly a beautiful area, but we could imagine it taking on more of a Blair Witch vibe at night.  Beyond the bridge, this part of Virginia is very pretty and includes many small historic towns, wineries, breweries, and farm markets. Back in the good old days before facebook, cell phones, and Love Island, there was still wine. However, it didn’t come in glass bottles, fancy cans, or even cheap cardboard boxes. That beautiful beverage of Bacchus used to be stored in large clay jars sealed with tree sap!! This not only kept the bugs (and children?) out, but also imparted a strong taste to every single sip. Since it was always there, it presumably wasn’t any more noticeable than oakiness would be today, just one of many flavors which imparts interesting character.  A bottle of inexpensive Greek retsina (yellow liquid) enjoyed at an AirBnB in Athens along with other fine, Greek wine. Yes, that is what you think it is in the background (upper right). To the modern degenerate, though, the taste of pine sap in your fancy grape juice can be surprising at best, and ghastly at worst. Palates differ, though. Pine and wine remain a popular combination in one of the best wine regions of the world: Greece. The Greek people still produce and drink wine that tastes like the good old days. They call it retsina and it is produced by many vineyards. We like it, but it’s not for everyone. Making matters worse, the Greeks are smart enough to keep the good stuff for themselves. Therefore, much of the wine exported to the US and UK can be of pretty low quality. As a result, that first cheap bottle you drink could leave a bad first impression. It would be akin to meeting a supermodel, but only after she accidentally took PCP and went on a 48-hour cavalcade of drinking and fighting across the many dive bars of Kansas City with no time to shower, fix her makeup, or even properly accessorize. Just like retsina, you might want to give her another chance.  Mediterranean Cellars’ tasting room is located in Warrenton, VA. It boasts multi-generational and decades of wine making experience. Our proper favorite wines are the retsina and chambourcin, but the ports and chardonnay are also worth a taste. So where can you get some good retsina in the states? You can try the imported section of your favorite wine store. If you are ever on the East Coast of the US, you could even try something a bit more local. The only wineries we are aware of which produce a good domestic retsina are Mediterranean Cellars and Molon Labe vineyard. Both are located in Virginia of all places. Both also have very good quality wine, but we prefer Mediterranean Cellars a wee bit more. They produce a white retsina called rechina. Having been there many times, we have it on good authority that the wise people of Mediterranean Cellars import their pine sap directly from Athens, so you will not be tasting the trees of Arlington or Richmond, but only the actual Greek stuff. This makes sense, as the founders of the vineyard hailed from the same land that gave us Homer, Heraclitus, and John Stamos. Now, if you are a bit of a wine snob, try to bracket your snootiness and give this interesting drink a shot. Some part of you out there must be bored tasting the same old Chardonnays and Pinot Grigios, so you should give it a try. You could even turn it into a quick meal by enjoying your retsina with some fresh bread, Greek feta, walnuts, raspberries, and dates.  Mediterranean Cellars’ flagship rechina (i.e., retsina) made with real Athenian pine resin. Tasting notes
Unlike traditional Greek retsina, Mediterranean Cellars’ rechina is far lighter on the pine. The judicious use of resin is more perfume-y and less overpowering, so it’s more accessible to a less adventurous palette. It tastes of:
Interestingly, this seems to get better and more complex as it gets warm. You can drink it cold, of course, but we prefer it closer to room temperature. Better yet, you could split the difference by pouring yourself a big cold glass and drink it slowly for a strange and rewarding taste experience. If you can, grab a bottle of the 2010 vintage before it sells out, as it is particularly good. |
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