It was the last blast of the summer - and time for everyone to take a break from work, school and chores to enjoy the community's annual Labor Day Celebration at the Riverfront Swim Club!

On a hot summer’s day, children splash in a memorial pool that commemorates the historic Battle of the Ironclads. In the background, wind turbines spin and traffic rushes by on the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel.

I got my first taste of what to expect when Homearama opens next month during the Dusty Boots open house last weekend. Although I’ve visited the homes before, Dusty Boots marked the first time I’d seen the inside of most of them and had the time to check out everything.

There’s still a month before the Homearama houses make their official debut to the public, but some of the homes already have buyers.

With a little more than a month until the official opening of Homearama, several of the featured houses have opened their doors to hundreds of visitors for a sneak preview this weekend.

Justin Kauflin, a jazz pianist from Virginia Beach, was in an eye doctor’s waiting room when he got the call that invited him to join the elite ranks of jazz players. At that moment, last month, he also was being filmed by a camera crew for a documentary.

The Tidewater Builders Association is opening up the Homearama houses and inviting the public to get their shoes dirty at the Dusty Boots open house.