In the greater Washington, D.C. area, there are many unique ways—different from what you may be used to—to ring in 2012.

One of the most all-encompassing celebrations, with plenty of entertaining events for adults and kids, is First Night Alexandria, which occurs all throughout Old Town Alexandria and includes scavenger hunts, live music and a ball drop at midnight.

The party begins at 1:00 p.m. on December 31^st with the third annual Fun Hunt, a search throughout Old Town that all attendees are eligible to participate in. Clues take you around the area and lead to answers on quiz sheets everyone is given. The hunt runs until 4:45 p.m., but only takes around an hour-and-a-half to complete, so scavengers can maintain a leisurely pace.

Anyone that completes the hunt correctly is eligible for the prize drawings, with first prize taking home an overnight stay at the Lorien Hotel & Spa in Old Town, free personal training sessions, gift certificates galore from many of the shops in Old Town and passes for a cruise on the Potomac. Second and third place also receive bounties, with overnight stays at other Alexandria hotels as part of the prize packages.

After the Fun Hunt, the party really gets started. All across the city, restaurants and bars will host live bands. One of the most popular acts performing is Curtis Blues, an interactive one-man blues band. He will be playing half-hour shows every other half-hour at Bittersweet, on King Street, from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.  For kids, at Nickells & Scheffler, on Duke Street, 16-year-old sensation Keira Moran will play half-hour shows as well.

At midnight, after all the events are over, participants at First Night Alexandria gather on the lawn of the George Washington Masonic Memorial for a ball drop, which includes over 6,000 inflatable balls, and a dance party that lasts until 12:30 a.m.

Tickets for First Night Alexandria cost $20 per person and allow admission to all events.

If you’re looking for another way to share New Year’s with your family, but can’t expect your children to make it all the way to midnight, then Maryland Science Center, in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is the place to go. From 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Center hosts its annual Midnight Noon celebration, where, when the clock strikes 12:00 p.m. on December 31, the Science Center’s ball drops and kids celebrate with noisemakers and balloons.

The entire Maryland Science Center is open during the exhibit, which means that alongside celebrating the New Year, kids can visit the great exhibits. Among the most popular are “Dinosaur Mysteries,” which includes full scale models of many dinosaurs and “Newton’s Alley,” where hands-on physics exhibits are geared toward kids.

Admission to Midnight Noon is free with paid admission to the Science Center  - $15 for adults and $12 for kids under 13.

For a more adult celebration of New Year’s Eve, Glen Echo Park, in Maryland, has just the event. The New Year’s Eve Swing Dance, held at the park, is a throwback to celebrations from America’s Big Band Era. The event begins at 8:00 p.m. with lessons for beginners, so when the Tom Cunningham Orchestra takes the stage at 9:00 p.m., everyone will be ready to roll and have a swinging New Year’s. Tickets for the dance are $25 per person.

So this New Years, instead of the typical party and midnight ball drop, head out of the house and try something totally different.

- David

Around Washington, D.C., there are numerous ways to enjoy, with events in Maryland, Virginia and the District.

The biggest, literally, is the National Hanukkah Menorah, which sits right outside the White House Grounds. The Menorah symbolizes the miracle that happened in the 2nd century BCE. The story tells that when many Jews were trapped in their temple due to a revolt, they worried that they only had enough candle oil to last one night.  The oil, however, managed to last eight full days, enough time for the people inside the temple to prepare new oil.

The lighting ceremony of the main candle of the National Hanukkah Menorah, which stays lit throughout the celebration, took place on the Mall on Wednesday. But each night for the rest of the holiday, a lighting ceremony will take place for each new candle.

While it’s a symbolic way to celebrate, the National Menorah is far from the only way to enjoy this holiday season. There are plenty of activities for adults and children alike.

One of the largest celebrations is a gala aimed at the younger crowd. For 25 straight years, the Society of Young Jewish Professionals, and more recently JDate, have paired up to present the MatzoBall.

Geared toward singles under the age of 50, the MatzoBall is a nationwide event that gives young Jewish people the opportunity to mingle and network. This year, galas are being thrown in New York City, Miami, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. In our own town, the MatzoBall is on Saturday, December 24^th. It runs from 8:00 p.m. all the way until 3:00 a.m. and tickets cost $30.

For a more relaxing celebration, on December 25^th, revelers can head to Old Town, Alexandria, for the Hanukkah Festival of Old Town, hosted by the Chabad Lubavitch of Alexandria-Arlington. Chabad Lubavitch is Hebrew for Brotherly Love, and their Northern Virginia branch throws a free celebration worthy of that moniker. At the Crowne Plaza Hotel, on North Fairfax Street, the group will light a six-foot tall menorah, hold free raffles, host live bands and cook hot potato latkes.

Across the river, in downtown Bethesda, the Chabad Lubavitch of Bethesda-Chevy Chase will be holding a kid-friendly celebration, Thursday, December 22^nd, at Bethesda Row. Chanukah in Candyland is free to attend, and has numerous activities for kids of all ages. The perks of Chanukah in Candyland are a magic show, free souvenir dreidels, cotton candy and popcorn and a sight that is sure to wow just about every child: a menorah, which will be lit at the end of the festivities, made entirely out of jelly beans. That’s right, a jelly bean menorah.

It’s a fun way, among the many other options, to celebrate the enjoyable holiday that is Hanukkah.

-David

Literally. Lights. In the last month of the calendar year, cities, towns and counties brighten up, giving visitors and residents alike the chance to see their locales like never before.

Throughout the Metro area, places are stringing together awe-inspiring displays of lights, fantastic works of art in their own right. Almost every town has a light tour that’s worth seeing, but some of the most popular in the area are absolutely deserving of a visit.

One of the biggest shows is also the most popular. ZooLights runs from now until January 1^st, every day of the week. Hosted by the National Zoo up in Woodley Park, the event starts at 5:00 p.m., when dusk settles in and runs until 9:00 at night. The event is an elaborate showcase for the zoo, with an array of events for everyone. There are the intricate lights, which are shaped into realistic animal figures, but there’s also a synthetic ice rink, where kids can rent ice skates and glide on a surface that, while it feels like ice, is actually a polyurethane mat. Also during ZooLights, several of the animal houses are open, so if you need to warm up, or just want to chat with an orangutan, you can pop in. Admission to Zoolights is $9 for Friends of the National Zoo, and $12 for non-members.

About 30 miles west of the Zoo, in Centreville Virginia, is the Bull Run Festival of Lights, one of the most intense light displays you’ll find around Washington. Running from now until January 8^th, the Bull Run Festival of Lights incorporates nearly 40,000 lights into its presentation. Visitors drive a 2.5 mile loop and the cruise is set to music (visitors tune to a station on their way in). While driving through the park, tourists see lit up animated penguins, snowmen, deer and toy soldiers. Admission for the festival is $15 per car on weekdays, with the show running from 5:30- 9:30 p.m. On weekends, the price is upped a bit, costing $20 per car, although the loop stays open a half hour later, until 10 p.m. Also at Bull Run, from the 15^th until January 1^st, is a carnival featuring rides and games for kids and adults alike.

Across state lines, Maryland features two great festivals this December. First is the Winter Lights’ Festival in Seneca State Park in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The light tour has been open since the beginning of December and runs through the New Year. The ride is a mile longer than the Bull Run and cost less, just $12 on weekdays and $15 on weekends. The hours are a bit shorter, open from 6-9 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and 6-10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. On the car trip, riders will see nearly 70 animated displays, with the drive separated into different sections like Teddy Bear Land, Penguin Cove, and the North Pole.

The biggest display of the year goes to the Gaylord National Harbor, and their month long festival, ICE!, which runs until January 8. It’s the most expensive of the bunch, with tickets ranging from $25-35, but it’s without a doubt the most put together. Ticket buyers can experience an entire carved ice village, hosted inside a massive refrigerated tent. The display is so intricate, it takes a month of work in advance, and so immense, it uses nearly two million pounds of ice.

This year’s theme for ICE! is the Dreamworks movie Madagascar, and popular characters from the animated film will be on hand to tell the story of how Santa Claus inadvertently crashed on the island of Madgascar and how the animals of the tropical oasis must figure out a way to save Christmas.

It’s perfect fun for the family, as is every event here, wonderful ways to make December sparkle.

-David

The standard style of preparing, going to the mall to shop and see Santa, is what just about everyone in this city will do in the weeks leading up to December 25^th. But we live in a multicultural city, so there’s no reason not to break the typical holiday routine and do something completely different. And this upcoming weekend provides some of the best opportunities to shake up the holiday malaise.

On Saturday, the Swedish Women’s Educational Association hosts their annual Swedish Christmas Bazaar at the House of Sweden on the Georgetown waterfront. If you’ve never visited the House of Sweden, then it’s worth hitting the bazaar just to see the amazing building that houses the Swedish and Icelandic Embassies. The all-glass, linear building juts out over the Potomac, giving visitors panoramic views of the river and the monuments downstream.

This Saturday, their doors open for all visitors. The Swedish Christmas Bazaar is free to attend, and activities abound all day. Children from the Swedish School will sing Christmas Carols in their native tongue. There’s an arts and crafts room for kids to make authentic Swedish works, and all the while, authentic Swedish textiles, crafts and artwork will be for sale.

The bazaar will also be selling baked goods and traditional delicacies. Be sure not to miss out on the traditional Swedish mulled wine, or glogg. The event ends at five with St. Lucia’s procession, an historic Swedish celebration, where people dressed in white perform a candlelight procession to honor the patron saint of light and sweets.

If European bazaars like this pique your interest, there’s another opportunity to attend one that’s just up the road from the House of Sweden, and it’s also on Saturday.

At the German School in Potomac, Maryland, the annual German Christmas Bazaar is this Saturday, running from noon to five. The event kicks off with a musical welcome, much like the Swedish festival. The German Christmas Bazaar is also free to attend, with a list of vendors just as diverse. Among the items available for purchase at the German Christmas Bazaar are Turkish textiles, dried wreaths and smoked German almonds. There will also be a German butcher and Swiss baker to satiate any authentic food cravings you may have. Additionally, throughout the day activities for children are held.

Hopefully you’ll be able to check some people off your gift list Saturday at these authentic shops, but don’t forget about the other traditional activity – seeing Santa. Since you’ve done some unconventional shopping, stick with the theme of keeping things different this year. Up in Olney, Maryland, there’s an opportunity to do just that.

If the unseasonable warmth of the past few days has left you confused about what season it’s supposed to be, then the 11^th Annual SCUBA Santa Food Drive will leave you totally discombobulated.

Every year, the Olney SCUBA Adventure Dive Club hosts a food drive for the Manna Food Club. By bringing canned or non-perishable food, or a $5.00 cash donation, you can create one of the craziest Christmas cards possible. That’s because Santa, in full dress, grabs SCUBA gear and sets up for the day at the bottom of the Olney Swim Center. Guests can then don goggles and dive in while an underwater photographer snaps a picture of you with Kris Kringle.

So this year, with all these opportunities, skip the mall, crowds and lines and do something uniquely unconventional.

- David

But he wasn’t spinning at the 9:30 Club or Merriweather Post Pavilion or Jiffy Lube Live. No, Moby, one of the best-selling artists in music history, was not playing at a traditional Washington, D.C. venue. He spent Wednesday night in Silver Spring.

What could attract a mainstream act to go outside this city’s confines and popular spots? One of the biggest and best music venues to hit the scene in decades.

On Thursday, September 15^th, just a little over a month ago, the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland burst on to the scene with a raucous Mary J. Blige concert. Ever since then, it’s been packed with acts, household names that have sold out the place even on weeknights. The Fillmore is making what was once a quiet suburb bordering Northwest, D.C. the place to see music in the area.

If the name rings a bell, it’s because the Fillmore takes its cues from one of the most historic sites in music history. In the early 1960s, the original Fillmore opened in downtown San Francisco in the midst of the burgeoning Bay Area music scene. There, it played host to some of the most famous names of the Woodstock-era, with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Sly and the Family Stone all taking the stage.

As its popularity grew, the owner opened a sister location in New York, and eventually the Fillmore name became synonymous with showcasing top draws. Later on, the brand was purchased by concert behemoth LiveNation, and they’ve been opening a string of Fillmore’s across the country. The Silver Spring location is their Fillmore foray into Washington, D.C.

They couldn’t have picked a better location than 8656 Colesville Road. The spot is barely a mile past the D.C. border, just off of 16^th Street. And the area around the concert venue is one of the D.C. metro area’s developing spots.

The venue itself, if traveling down Colesville, is impossible to miss. The Fillmore is inside an old J.C. Penney’s, which developers spent nearly a decade attempting to get permission to renovation into a concert hall.

When they finally secured the permit, they went bold. The exterior channels an art-deco homage, with a giant, sparkling Fillmore sign, 20 yards wide and 15 feet of the ground, screaming to passersby. Next to the marquee is a constantly flickering tower of lights that represents the bars of an equalizer. It’s a spectacle, but one that doesn’t seem out of place.

The inside recreates the atmosphere of the original Fillmore in San Francisco. Dancers groove on hardwood floors with gigantic chandeliers—a Fillmore trait—hanging over them. Along the walls hanging burgundy curtains, just like the original spot. The hallways pay tribute to the amazing acts that have passed through the original Fillmore, with concert posters from shows by Tom Jones, the B-52s, Joan Jett and hundreds of others. Above the dance floor is a tiered-balcony, typically reserved for VIP access, which calls to mind the balcony at the 9:30 Club.

The size of the Fillmore already makes it one of the largest concert halls in the area, capable of holding over 2,000 people for a single show. And while they’ve already seen some of the most popular acts in music pass through their doors in just a brief month, they have no intentions of slowing down. The next few months the Fillmore will host Kid Rock, Ziggy Marley, LMFAO and, in December, 80s sensation Cheap Trick.

Since it only just opened last month, the odds are that you haven’t visited the Fillmore yet. So check the schedule and be sure to visit the most happening spot in Silver Spring.

- David

To begin the season, everyone needs a jack-o-lantern. What’s Halloween without a big orange pumpkin placed outside the front door? Anyone can walk to their local Harris Teeter and grab a gourd, but this year, visit a farm for a bigger selection and better time.

Homestead Farm, in Poolesville, Maryland, is only a few miles west of the Beltway and has everything one wants in a fall farm: apple picking, corn mazes and pumpkins that cost just 59 cents a pound. The farm is open seven days a week, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., so swing by anytime to pick up a pumpkin.

In Virginia, Ticonderoga Farms and its Fall Pumpkin Festival, is the spot to visit. Just south of Dulles, pumpkins may be the least exciting part of your visit. Among the attractions at Ticonderoga are hayrides, hillside slides, Native America Teepees and the longest swinging bridge in Virginia. And Ticonderoga is also open every day of the week, from 9 a.m – 5 p.m.

Since farms are only open during the day, what’s there to do with the nights?

This weekend is one of Washington’s biggest Halloween events, Boo at the Zoo, which runs all three weekend nights, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the National Zoo. For the event, the zoo transforms into a giant Halloween haunt for children, with decorations, spooky trails and opportunities to see your favorite October animals, like spiders and bats. There will also be volunteers in costumes, passing out candy to kids at 40 different spots within the zoo.

Tickets for the event cost $20 for Friends of the National Zoo and $30 for non-members.

While Boo at the Zoo will provide scares to children, this area is replete with places for adults to get the chills while walking around.

Inside Washington, D.C. Lafayette Square Park is known as the most haunted spot in the area. Washington Walks puts on a tour that takes people around some of the most cursed locations in Northwest, telling tales of murder and intrigue. The tour cost $15 dollars, and is held Thursday-Saturday. Tickets can be bought online, but reservations don’t need to be made in advance. You can just show up and pay.

In Virginia, the spot to go for ghost tours is Old Town, Alexandria. Alexandria Colonial Tours, during the Halloween season, takes people through a lantern-lit graveyard tour. For just $12, on any night of the week, you can be led through the cobblestone streets of Old Town by a local dressed in traditional Colonial garb, while he or she tells murder mysteries that are nearly 300 years old.

In Maryland, the place to go for Halloween haunts is Annapolis. Annapolis Ghost Tours leads nighttime walks through the maritime port. If you’re without children, the company’s haunted pub crawl is one of the most fun activities the area has to offer. A $20 ticket takes you to three of the most haunted pubs in Annapolis, where you hear stories of ghost and ghouls who still frequent their favorite watering hole. Starting at 9:00 p.m. on both nights of the weekend, the trip is not to be missed.

So make this Halloween the most haunted yet, and visit many of the great attractions Washington, D.C. has to offer.

-David

If you really want to get up and go this weekend, Montgomery, Maryland may have the outing you are looking for.

This Sunday, October 16^th, the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts (MORE) holds the second annual MoCo Epic, a day of off-road biking throughout the area.

If you are not familiar with Epics, they are the International Mountain Biking Association’s list of what they consider to be epic bike rides. For mountain biking enthusiasts, these trails are the ones that shouldn’t be missed. Among the amazing rides listed are famous trails in Whistler, British Columbia; Boulder, Colorado and Park City, Utah. Also on that list is a 62-mile ride in Maryland know as the MoCo loop.

The MoCo Loop twists and turns through parks in Montgomery County and surrounding areas and, to showcase it, MORE holds the Moco Epic.

The Epic is five different rides, all on Sunday, designed for people of varying skill. Even as a novice, there’s an opportunity to see what local mountain biking has to offer. There’s a 2-4 mile ride for kids. Then the trails move up in length and degree of difficulty, with opportunities to ride a 25, 35, 45 or 62 mile loop. The 62 mile ride, known as a century ride since it’s 100 kilometers, goes through nine different state parks in the area.

The MoCo Epic was created to show that despite being in the middle of suburbia, there is still an astounding amount of nature to see. The trails are not too difficult, with some small hills, streams and rough patches. Among the parks visited during the ride are Schaeffer Farms, Hoyles Mill Conservation Area, Black Hill Regional Park, Great Seneca Stream Valley Park and the Seneca Ridge Overlook.

Sunday’s rides begin at Schaeffer Farms, with the 62-mile loop kicking off at 7:30. The rest of the rides are staggered by distances, staring every hour after that. Schaeffer Farms is located a few miles west of the town of Gaithersburg, abutting Seneca Creek State Park.

Registration for the Epic closes Friday at midnight, and spots are filling up fast, so to sign up now, visit the registration page.

However, missing the deadline isn’t a huge deal, since these trails are open year-round at a cost much cheaper than the cost to participate in Epic.  Anyone, anytime, can go mountain biking on the MoCo Loop for free. The Epic is just one way for people to try out the Loop. There’s no reason, if you miss out this weekend, to not visit on any other day of the week or any other weekend. A map of the 62-mile loop is available here, but riders don’t have to limit themselves to just the beaten path. There are plenty of mountain biking trails in and around the Schaeffer Farms area.

So when the rain finally cuts off this weekend, grab your sturdy mountain bike and see exactly how adventurous you can be in the Washington, D.C. area.

-David

For a long time, a large plot of land, next to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, went undeveloped. Hundreds of acres lay dormant in one of the area’s most heavily trafficked corridors.

In the late 1990s, The Peterson Companies, with major aspirations, bought 300 acres just off the Indian Head Highway exit on the Capital Beltway, and broke ground. Their goal was to create an area that rivaled burgeoning Tyson’s Corner Center, which had exploded in the early 1990s.

The initial estimated numbers were astounding. National Harbor, when completed, would be 7.5 million square feet in size, with over a million square feet of retail and dining space. There were plans for six hotels and a half million square feet of office space. Situated directly on the Potomac, the Harbor would boast three piers for boaters to pull up to and tie off.

After years of development and construction, the centerpiece of National Harbor opened in April of 2008. The Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center cost nearly a billion dollars to complete and dominates the skyline of National Harbor.

The hotel rises high above the harbor with an 18-story arched atrium, done entirely in glass. The hotel sparkles in the sunlight and reflects the blue Potomac.

The hotel and convention center are incomparable to anything in the area. The Gaylord Hotel holds over 2,000 guests and the convention center consists of nearly half a million square feet in meeting space. Those numbers make the Gaylord the largest non-gaming hotel on the entire East Coast.

Once it opened, the hotel quickly attracted conventions and tourists, and soon after, stores and restaurants sprouted up.

The shops at National Harbor are a diverse array, with options ranging from designer clothes to high-end accessories to a store that only sells items in shades of white. Those aren’t the only choices. The wide range continues with a Build-A-Bear Workshop, a Godiva Chocolatier, a Segway store, and a specialty store selling Peeps.

As impressive as the retail options are, the choices for eating on a trip to National Harbor are even more overwhelming. There are over 20 places to grab a bite to eat, with options ranging from quick and inexpensive to fancy sit-down dinners.

On the inexpensive end, the area has an Elevation Burger and will soon open a Nando’s Peri-Peri, which sells Portuguese-style grilled chicken.

For finer dining, there is Bond 45, an Italian steakhouse, and Rosa Mexicano, the second location of the poplar Penn Quarter restaurant.

After dinner, nightlife options abound, including bars Public House and Harrington’s Pub and Kitchen. National Harbor’s most popular place, though, is Bobby McKey’s, Washington D.C.’s only dueling piano bar and one of the best reasons to visit to National Harbor. All night, expert players sit at opposing pianos and try to outperform each other, ramping up and riffing on popular songs.

Indoor entertainment is only one exciting aspect of National Harbor. Every Friday, from now until September 30^th, National Harbor shows movies on a large outdoor screen. Over the next three weeks, “Movies on the Potomac” will show Field of Dreams, Friday Night Lights and The Cutting Edge. On Sundays, until September 4^th, National Harbor shows children’s movies with How To Train Your Dragon, Tron Legacy and Jumanji upcoming.

Sunday’s soon won’t be the only day to take your children. Opening in 2013, National Harbor will boast the National’s Children’s Museum, an interactive place to take kids to learn and play.

While that’s a few years away, there are still plenty of reasons to visit National Harbor, one of D.C.’s biggest and most impressive destinations.

-David

Glen Echo Park, in Montgomery County, Maryland, was originally built in 1891, conceived as a Chautauqua, a location for an adult education movement that was sweeping the nation, a place were people would take classes in religion, dancing and entertainment.

In the park, Chautauqua classes were held in a stone building, completed in 1892. Shortly thereafter, the area expanded, adding an amusement park.

In the early 1900s, Glen Echo had a roller coaster, a large pool, a movie theater, a shooting range and an arcade.

In 1968, the amusement park closed, but Glen Echo remains. It now serves to entertain children and to offer adult education classes, making it still well worth a visit.

The park is very easily accessible, on MacArthur Boulevard, just off the Beltway. And a trip can be an enjoyable affair for the entire family.

Going into Glen Echo, you’ll see an old, retired street car parked out front, remnants of the old trolley system that took D.C. natives to the park.  The sign above the trolley evokes 1950s nostalgia, with rounded block letters spelling out Glen Echo Park.

The most popular attraction at Glen Echo is mainly for children. Just south of the entrance is one of the park’s original rides, the Dentzel Carousel. Originally built in 1921, the carousel harkens back to olden days.  Now, it is only open from Father’s Day to the end of September.

Its hours are also restricted. In July and August, it’s open on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, the carousel is open from noon to six p.m. It’s closed the rest of the year.

A ride costs just $1.25. It’s worth every penny to see the inside. The carousel recently underwent a full renovation, and it is now restored to its original 1921 splendor. The horses on the ride are all hand-carved, intricate figures that showcase great detail and depth. It’s one of a kind in this area, and can really be a delight for kids and adults alike.

Although the carousel is the only ride that remains in service from the Glen Echo’s amusement park days, signs, entrances and buildings remain from many of the old attractions.

Walking around the park, you can see the entrance for the old Crystal Pool, the Candy Corner and the bumper car pavilion, which has now been converted to an open air ballroom.

On the park’s premises you’ll also find the Clara Barton House, a museum dedicated to the life of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross.

The large yellow house was built in 1897, using lumber leftover from a flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Barton lived in it the last part of her life, and established the headquarters of the Red Cross there. Now, visitors can tour it and see her home and artifacts from her life.

Glen Echo Park also hosts a robust art and adult education program, offering classes in the former amusement park buildings. For art lovers, the depth of classes is astounding, from basic ceramics and pottery classes to advanced forms such as glass blowing and silver smithing.

Alongside its art program, Glen Echo offers dance classes, music lessons and a theater and puppetry program. Over the summer, they also offer a large children’s program, with similar classes aimed at youths.

So whether you’d like to indulge in a lesson to learn a new skill or trade, or you just want to stroll in an area that evokes a much simpler time, Glen Echo Park is the place to visit. There’s nothing else like it in Washington.

- David

Washington, D.C. and its surrounding areas take this holiday seriously, with a multitude of events and celebrations throughout the three-day weekend, culminating with many Monday night fireworks displays.

Kicking off the holiday weekend on Saturday, is one of the area’s more somber traditions, a concert and fireworks show held an hour-and-a-half northwest of the city.

At Antietam National Battlefield, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra holds its annual Salute to Independence. Antietam is the site of the deadliest one-day battle on U.S. soil, with over 23,000 people perishing on September 17, 1862. The Civil War historical site is open all day and visitors can arrive as they please. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and ends with a fireworks display at 9:45. It’s best to arrive early, as the show routinely attracts upwards of 30,000 people.

On Sunday, a unique opportunity occurs. Locals know that the annual “A Capitol Fourth” concert on the National Mall attracts massive hordes of people. This year’s concert, featuring singers Josh Groban, Little Richard, Jordin Sparks and Glee’s Matthew Morrison and comedian Steve Martin, will be no different.

What many people don’t know is that every July 3^rd, the day before, a rehearsal with all the same performers is held. It’s open to the public and free of charge.  At eight p.m., visit the stage located on the West Lawn of the Capitol, where you can see almost the full performance, minus the wave of people there to catch the fireworks.

On Monday, fireworks are what everyone wants to see. The biggest display is, of course, the one put on in concert with “A Capitol Fourth,” with fireworks exploding high above Washington, D.C.’s white marble monuments.

For the best view, head to the National Mall. There, it’s free to set up blankets, pack a cooler and spend the day reveling. Be sure to arrive early, because the Mall is easily the most popular place in the area to go. It fills up fast. If you do go, take the metro, because there are numerous street closures due to the event.

If heading into the city and fighting crowds isn’t to your liking, there are great spots outside of the district to catch the main display. All along the George Washington Parkway, especially at Lady Byrd Park near the 14^th Street Bridge, there are places to pitch a tent, fire up a grill and catch the show. Also in Arlington you can set up near the Iwo Jima Memorial, which provides perfect perspective. It’s also popular, so again, be sure to arrive early.

In Alexandria, the hill on the George Washington Masonic Memorial is also available to the public, with its high perch offering excellent views of the city below.

Because the mall is so far south in D.C., viewing options in Maryland for the Mall fireworks are limited. However, there are plenty of excellent displays north of the city to enjoy.

In Gaithersburg, at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, there is live music at 7:00 p.m. and fireworks at dusk. The same goes for Rockville, where entertainment also starts at 7:00 p.m. and the fireworks shoot off around 9:30 p.m..

Much farther north, in Annapolis, there is a fireworks display at the city’s main dock. A parade kicks things off at 6:30 p.m., music is played by the Naval Academy Band, and fireworks are sent into the sky around 9:15 p.m..

So whether you are in Virginia, Washington, D.C or Maryland this Fourth of July, opportunities abound to celebrate the nation’s birthday.

-David