It is getting colder and pretty soon we will be in the throes of another D.C. winter. In between watching people abandon their cars and rush to the supermarket for bread, milk, and toilet paper, I like to go ice-skating at local outdoor rinks. There is a handful in the area and they are starting to open up for the 2005-06 season.

While the popular National Sculpture Garden ice rink does not open for a few weeks, other rinks are schedule to open the first week in November. Outdooriceskating.com has information about rinks in Pentagon Row in Arlington; Reston Town Center; and Glen Burnie, Md. In College Park, Herbert Wells Ice Rink is already open. There are also rinks in Bethesda, Kentlands, and Columbia, but I could not find sites for them.

If you prefer to skate indoors, check out these rinks:

DISTRICT
Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena

VIRGINIA
Fairfax Ice Arena
Mount Vernon Ice Arena

MARYLAND
Maryland Rinks – marylandiceskating.com