Mini golf

Now that it's getting warmer and you can actually stand to be outside for longer than it takes to get from the metro to home, it's time for some outside activities!  Try some mini golf.  A couple location in northern Virginia include Cameron Run (which also has a small water park and batting cages) along Eisenhower Ave and Top Golf  by Kingstowne Towne Center.

 

{Top Golf}                                   {Cameron Run}

In the city? Try some mini golf at H St Country Club.  It's also a pretty decent restaurant and skee ball!  It's mini golf is very DC specific and has a lot of little details built into the course.  H St NE is a little out of the way to get to, but it is an up and coming night scene.

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Take a Class

... you mean, voluntarily? 

See, now that you've graduated school you can take the classes that you want. And you don't have to learn useless stuff. Like, the name of Beowolf's mother. So what do you want to learn? Cooking? Art? Something else?

Classes can be somewhat expensive, but here are a few options...

Cooking:

• What's Cooking (Dupont Circle), about $60 a class.
• Cake Love (various locations).  I can't get the classes page to load, but it seems like a cool concept!
• L'Academie de Cuisine (Bethesda), about $85 a class
• Sur La Table (various locations), um Ultimate Bacon Menu class? Yes please.

Art: 

• Washington Studio School (Dupont Circle), drawing, painting and sculpture
• The Torpedo Factory (Old Town Alexandria), lots of different classes including photography, ceramics and jewelry.

Something not art or cooking? Try looking at a community college like University of DC (Van Ness Metro, on the red line) or NOVA community college (multiple campuses, though not metro accessible).

 

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Go Skiing or Ice Skating

One of the good things about DC is that it is close to a lot of other cities/stuff. This includes (and will be future posts) Annapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC, and...

Skiing!

Well, I am no ski buff.  I did try snowboarding once, and if I could give any advice it is this: when deciding between snowboarding or skiing for the first time, choose skiing.  Looking down the hill you'll always see snowboarders sitting, but you'll hardly see any skiers.  I henceforth conclude that skiing is much easier.

(Whitetail Ski Resort)

Anyway, here are some ski resorts within driving distance from DC.

~1.5 hours: Ski Liberty, Whitetail

2 hours: Ski Roundtop, Bryce Mountain Resort

3.5 hours: Canaan Valley Resort, Seven Springs, Wintergreen Resort

Not into skiing? How about ice skating?

There are a couple indoor ice rinks in the area, but several outdoor ones as well!

• During the summer it's Jazz in the Garden, but during the winter the pond in the sculpture garden is transformed into an ice rink.  Skate just a few blocks from the Capitol!
• In Northern Virginia? Go ice skating outside at Pentagon Row (by the mall).  Looking for classes, year round skating or just a bigger rink?  The Capitals (DC's hockey team) practice at Kettler Ice Plex, but there are public skating sessions too.
• In MD? Try Silver Spring Outdoor Ice Skating, Herbert Wells Ice Rink in College Park, Wheaton Ice Rink,  or outdoor skating in Rockville Town Square.

{Sculpture Garden}                          {Silver Spring}

Old Town

This post falls squarely in the "V" category of the DMV- Old Town Alexandria.

Old Town is mainly along King Street.  Started from the metro stop and going until the river, the street is lined with lots and lots of shops and restaurants. Lots. These shops can range from fairly expensive to "eh, I can afford that". There are jewelry/accessory shops like Today's Cargo, a running shop, and some clothing stores (Gap Outlet, Banana Republic, Ross Dress for Less).

(There is also a free trolley that runs up and down King St.)

As far as where to eat, there are a number of sit down restaurants as well as informal places.  Red Mei is pretty good for some Asian fusion, and Chiptole is on the corner of St Asaph and King.  

I would, however, recommend Bread and Chocolate for two reasons.  One is that the lunch I had was really good.  I had initially bought a groupon for it, thinking I would use it for lunch, only to find out the groupon was only good towards baked goods.  However, this must have been a common mistake (misleading title for the groupon I think), and they honored it anyway. So that is the second reason.  I remember them being on Groupon Now! deals a lot, so look out for that.

Anyway, take a stroll down King St, browse the stores and maybe stop for some ice cream.  You can stop in Pop's Ice Cream, Scoop Grill and Homemade Ice, or Ben and Jerry's.  Or get some out of the freezer from the Walgreen's down the street.  On Saturdays there is a farmer's market in the market square.

Oh yeah, and stop by Trader Joe's on the way home.  Good stuff in there.

Run!

[Even if you don't run, keep reading! There's something here for you too!]

There is a great running environment and community here in DC.  Not only will you find great places to run (around the National Mall, anyone?), there are great running groups and races.

For example, DC Capital Striders is a great running group that has weekly runs in DC and VA.  Probably the most popular are the Monday and Thursday evening runs around the Mall area.  You can also look for running groups (as well as any other possible type of group) on www.meetup.com.

In my opinion, the best motivation to run is to sign up for a race.  There are a lot of great races in the area.  Some of my recommendations:

National Marathon (26.2 miles- because 26.3 would be crazy): The only marathon entirely in DC proper.  A great course too.

Marine Corps Marathon (26.2 miles): Through Virginia and DC.  Ends at Iwo Jima.

National Half Marathon (13.1 miles): my recommendation for a great distance and a great course.  Still a challenge but not as consuming as a marathon.

Baltimore Marathon and Half Marathon (26.2 and 13.1 miles): Make sure to incorporate hills in your training.

Cherry Blossom 10-miler:  This race is so popular the entire registration process is now done by lottery.  BUT if you volunteer one year you get a registration code for the next year.

Army 10-miler: Hoo-ah!

Annapolis 10-miler: This one is usually in August, so it might be a tad hot.

There are also usually shorter races that go along with the longer ones, such as the Marine Corps Marathon 10K.  Almost all of these races sell out very quickly, so be sure to mark the date for when registration opens! Otherwise most races will have a transfer process for people who bought one but cannot make the race.  Of course there are shorter races too, as well as holiday themed ones, such as St Patrick's Day, Turkey Trot and Jingle All The Way.

And all you non-runners, I haven't forgotten about you! Volunteer for a race! Yes, you have to get up at the crack of dawn, yes it might be cold, but volunteering is extremely rewarding.  But you do get a free t-shirt.  Or make an inspiring and memorable sign and stand on the sidelines; you never know the effect you'll have on a random runner.

Dance!

While the first snowfall of the season is melting away, it's the perfect time to strap on your dance shoes and hit the floor! (Yep, that sounds as corny in type as it did in my head.)

ANYWAY, even if you know nothing about dance, there are places that can teach you.  I don't know a ton about dancing, so I'll give a couple suggestions here that I've actually done, but I'm sure you could find a wealth of other information using the Googles.

If you want to take a dance course in a studio I suggest checking out Joy of Motion.  They have locations on H St NE, Friendship Heights, and Bethesda (sadly the Dupont Circle location has closed).  They not only have classes where you can drop in, but class series' (6 weeks, 1 hr a week). 

These classes can be a bit expensive, especially the drop in ones, but every once in a while I see the 6 week courses on a coupon website, so be on the lookout for that.

If you don't want a formal program, places that have salsa dancing will usually have some sort of instructional session earlier in the night.  For example, Clarendon Grill (right off of the metro stop) has Salsa Mondays.  Starting at 7:15pm there is basic salsa instruction, at 8pm is intermediate/advanced where they will teach a sequence of moves, and 9pm the DJ comes on and everyone dances!

Especially with salsa, don't worry if you don't have a partner!  Especially if you're a girl :)  At least when I've been to Clarendon Grill the guys have far outnumbered the girls, so there will most likely be someone asking you to dance.  Partners usually change every song too, so if you come with someone you may end up dancing with others anyway.

It's a great way to exercise and meet new people!  Have fun!

 

The Comedy Spot

What to do on a Friday night?

You could go to a bar and get drunk on obscenely priced cocktails.  (Nah.)

You could go to a movie.  (Eh, there's nothing good out.)

Or you could go to a comedy show. (Go on...)

There are several traditional stand-up and improv places out there, including DC Improv, The Capitol Steps (political humor),  Riot Act, and The Comedy Zone. It is important to note, however, that these places have a two drink/item minimum.  Which means that you'll be paying for your ticket as well as two ridiculously overpriced drinks per person.  Sometimes these places will be on the coupon sites.

There is a place, however, that does improv but has no minimum.  It is called The Comedy Spot in Ballston, Virginia.  They have two shows: Comedy Sportz (family friendly) and the Blue Show (not... family friendly).

 

The show is similar to the TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", with actors on stage getting suggestions and guidance from the audience to shape the skits.  

Tickets are only $15, and buy-one-get-one-free for college students.  A little more than a movie ticket (though really not by much), and you get a live show!

How to get there: 

Driving- It is in the Ballston Mall, so park in the garage (it'll only be a couple dollars) and go to the top floor by the movie theater.

Metro- It is off of the Ballston metro stop on the orange line.  After you walk up the escalator keep walking through the glass doors.  Go up a skinny escalator. Keep walking straight.  You'll go over a couple covered walkways.  Seriously just keep going straight/look for signs to the mall.  You'll get there.  Once in the mall go up the escalator one more floor, do a U-ie and you're right there.

The Blue Show starts after most of the mall has closed, but there are still a few restaurants open on the bottom floor.  And Cold Stone Creamery.

George Washington Masonic Memorial

This next spot took me about three years before I went there.  It's not even out of the way or expensive or anything.  It was one of those things that every time you passed it you thought, "I should really check that out".  So one day I did and recommend it to anyone in the area.

It is the George Washington Masonic Memorial.  Right off of the King Street metro station, it is a tribute to George Washington and Masonry (the whole be-a-better-man idea).  

You can tour the bottom floor for free, or (and what I recommend) you can pay $5 and take a guided tour.  The guided tour will stop on 3 or 4 other levels and then finally at the top where from the observation deck you can see far and wide.

They close at 4pm, so this best done on a weekend or during the day on a weekday.  Pair this with a trip to Old Town Alexandria (this will probably be a post later) and you have yourself an afternoon!

Tour the Pentagon and the 9/11 Memorial

If there was one thing that I would recommend you plan for before coming here it would be the Pentagon tour.  A lot of the stuff here (museums and such) you can just go the day of.  But for the Pentagon tour (along with the White House tour, which I have not been on yet), you have to schedule your tour at least a couple weeks in advance.  Did I mention the tour is free?

It was a very cool experience.  The Pentagon is really its own city.  It has doctors and dentists offices, flower shops, movie rental shop, even a Best Buy. The tour guides are trained to give the tour walking backwards without looking. So you're trying to take that in, and also listen to what they're saying, and also take in everything else around you... It's quite cool.  Did you know there are two employees of the Pentagon whose sole job is to change light bulbs? It's a big building.

While you are there, visit the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.  The memorial is, kind of like benches, although you don't sit on them.  Each person who died has a bench.  If you can read the name (on the end of the bench) and see the Pentagon, that means they worked in the Pentagon.  If the other way, that means they were on the plane.  The benches are also organized by age of the person; everyone of the same age is in a line and spaced accordingly between the other ages.

 

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The Pentagon is located off the Pentagon Metro Stop on the blue and yellow lines.  I would highly recommend taking the Metro as parking is very restricted.

Wreaths Across America

I came across this opportunity a few months back and thought it sounds like an absolutely fabulous event.  The second Saturday in December (this year December 10th), you can go to Arlington Cemetery and help lay wreaths on the tombstones.  This is called Wreaths Across America.

You don't need to sign up or anything, just be there at 8:30am!
There are also other cemeteries participating across the nation.

I plan to be there.  How about you?

Update: If you do go, don't plan on parking in the Arlington Cemetery parking lot.  Traffic was backed up in both directions from Rt 110.  There is some parking by the Iwo Jima Memorial, or the Pentagon north parking lot.