The Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center regularly hosts the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, the Ballet, traveling Broadway performance as well as other shows in the DC.  However, if you are looking for a more cost effective way to see a show at the Kennedy Center, here are two options.

1. Every day at 6pm there is a free performance of some sort on the Millennium Stage.  They bring in small bands or youth choirs or bands.  For example, a few days ago they had the Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra.  As you may surmise, the stage is on the smaller side, and there are maybe a couple hundred seats.  But the performances are generally pretty good.  They are also archived and you can watch them on the Kennedy Center website.
2. Another continuing show is Shear Madness- it has been running for 20 years.  Also in somewhat of an intimate theater setting, the show starts off in a beauty salon with a fairly scripted scene.  And then- a *murder*. After that, the overhead lights come on and the rest of the performance is improvised with audience participation to solve the crime.  This show is kind of pricey at $45 a ticket, but if you get the Entertainment book or the online version there is a coupon for Buy One Get One Free.  You can also just get the trial version of Entertainment Online, where you can print 3 coupons (though those coupons may have a short expiration date, so don't buy too soon).

Or you could go to both!

Getting there: There is a parking garage for $20.  If you are using public transportation, take the metro to the Foggy Bottom station (blue and orange lines).  There is a free shuttle that picks up right at the top of that station that will take you to the Kennedy Center.

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.

 

{Via}

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.