Treat Mom This Mother’s Day Weekend
Even though it’s Mother’s Day weekend, if you haven’t noticed Spring skipped the DMV and Summer is here with heat and humidity. But there are plenty of ways to show mom how much you lover her – inside and out. Take her on a trip to Europe without leaving D.C. at the European Union embassies’ open house, treat her to a drive-in movie at Union Market, tour Capitol Hill homes or pick her up a gift at Takoma Park’s Grant Avenue Market. Even if your mom isn’t in D.C., there’s still plenty to do this weekend.
Metrorail will open at 5 a.m. on Saturday for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and work scheduled that would have closed the Greenbelt station has been cancelled. However, all Green Line trains at the West Hyattsville station will board on the Greenbelt platform as crews test the 7000-series rail cars after 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Trains on the Blue and Yellow Lines will operate regular weekend service. Orange Line trains will operate every 24 minutes. Red Line trains will run every 15 minutes between Shady Grove and Glenmont, with additional trains between Shady Grove & NoMa-Gallaudet during daytime hours.
The state dining room at the British Embassy. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)
Shortcut to Europe
Experience the best of European culture without the jet lag. The European Union embassies and the EU Delegation to the United States will open their doors to the public for the annual EU embassies’ open house: a day of family fun, food, culture and more. The event offers visitors a rare look inside the embassies and provides a unique opportunity to experience the cultural heritage and national traditions of the 28 member countries. Among the embassies that will be open are Austria, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
May 10 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the 28 European Union embassies. Admission is FREE! Parking at the embassies is impossible, but shuttle buses will run from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Goldfinger will be showing Friday night at 8 p.m. at Union Market. (Photo: United Artists Pictures)
Union Market Drive-In
The voters have spoken and tonight’s final installment of the spring Union Market Drive-In series is Goldfinger with Sean Connery as James Bond.
May 9 at 8 p.m. at Union Market, 1309 5th St. NE. The parking lot opens at 6 p.m. Walk-in and bikers admission is free. Parking is $10 per carload.
Team America Rocketry Challenge
Participants in last years Team America Rocketry Challenge launch a rocket. (Photo: Aerospace Industries Association)
For six months, 1,000 students have been shot off rockets in preparation for the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Now the public get to see them fly in the finals located 40 miles west of D.C. Teams of three to 10 students design, build and fly a rocket. Like aerospace companies work within specific design parameters, the challenge requires teach to achieve the same basic mission-oriented goals of hitting a precise altitude, landing within a specific flight time window and returning a raw egg (“the astronaut”) without cracking. This year’s unique task is flying two eggs and using two parachutes to recover the rocket and eggs.
May 10 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at Great Meadow, 5089 Old Tavern Road, The Plains, Va. Admission is FREE!
National Train Day
Equipment tours at the 2011 National Train Day at Union Station. (Photo: Amtrak)
Amtrak is celebrating the 7th annual National Train Day at Washington’s Union Station and across the country. Trains and train stations bring jobs, economic revitalization and new attractions to many cities and towns. Northbound, southbound, eastbound, westbound – and your hometown – Amtrak connects more than 500 communities in 46 states. This year, National Train Day activities feature train equipment displays, local exhibitors, model train displays, kid-friendly activities from Chuggington Kids Depot and much more! D.C. participants can experience travel aboard the Acela Express on a 35-minute round-trip ride from Union Station to Bowie, Md., and back. Trains will depart Union Station at 11:35 a.m. and 1, 2:05 and 3:45 p.m.
May 10 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Admission is FREE! Excursion train ride tickets are $5 for adults and $2.50 for children 12 and under. Tickets must be bought in advance here, except for a limited number of tickets to the 3:45 p.m. ride, which will go on sale at the ticket counter beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Mother’s Day Family Festival
Participants at last year’s Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Mother’s Day Family Day make family trees. (Photo: Smithsonian American Art Museum)
Celebrate your family and the caregivers in your life during the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum Mother’s Day Family Festival. Make portraits of your loved ones like the ones artist Fasanella did of his parents; create a bouquet of paper flowers to give to someone special; and make a decorative family tree to display in your home with artist Alyson Johnson. Get your dancing shoes on, folk band the Knuckle Dusters performs live! Enjoy a puppet performance by Wits End Puppets in the museum with your family!
May 10 from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, 750 9th St. NW. Admission is FREE!
Capitol Hill House and Garden Tour
Visitor’s enter a home on the 2012 Capitol Hill House and Garden Tour. (Photo: Capitol Hill Restoration Society)
This Mother’s Day, come explore Capitol Hill’s homes, gardens and history during the Capitol Hill House and Garden Tour. See how the Hill has evolved from its largely Victorian roots to a more modern brand of living. No horses in the carriage houses (but some very nice cars). No wood stoves left to care for, but some excellent kitchens straight out of Vogue (and other design magazines). Baths too! Visit the 12 homes (and a garden) on the 57th annual tour. Several of the owners have lived and traveled extensively overseas and their décor, from paintings and lithographs to wall hangings and furniture represents the places they have lived and visited. Almost half of the homes have been very recently and extensively renovated, which means that there will a number of new bathrooms and kitchens on display along with information about architects, craftsmen and appliances. The gardens include one with an unusually large pond, a carefully designed rear garden developed by the owner, who is a landscape designer by training, and a garden that is large enough to share fences with seven other properties. There is a green roof garden on a carriage house that is open for those who wish to visit.
May 10 from 4-7 p.m. and May 11 from noon-5 p.m. at 415 Independence Ave SE. Tickets are $25 in advance here or $30 at the door. Tickets are good both days.
Side Yards at The Yards
Side Yards at The Yards (Graphic: The Yards)
Come one, come all to the first ever riverfront sideshow extravaganza: Side Yards at The Yards. It’s an evening of amusement and wonder featuring some of the D.C. area’s top sideshow performers; Circus of Wonders. Three side-stages of entertainment will showcase their terrifying talents with contortionists, magicians, jugglers, fire breathers, sword swallowers and more. To keep the show going, there will also be death-defying live music on the center stage from D.C.’s ringmasters of music: Drop Electric at 5:45 p.m., Shark Week at 6:50 p.m. and U.S. Royalty at 8:35 p.m.. But wait … if you still desire more you can enjoy some boardwalk snacks, visit a fortuneteller or be mesmerized in the Bluejacket beer garden all evening long.
May 10 from 5-10 p.m. at The Yards, 301 Water St. SE. Admission is FREE!
Mother’s Day
It’s Mother’s Day so don’t forget to tell your mom how much you love her. Send her flowers or a card, take her out to dinner or just call her and let her know how much she means to you. Many area restaurants are offering Mother’s Day specials.
May 11 all day everywhere. Priceless
Shoppers at one of last year’s Grant Avenue Market. (Photo: Grant Avenue Market)
Grant Avenue Market
Mother’s Day marks the start of Takoma Park’s Grant Avenue Market, where vendors sell funky wares and antiques. This week, the market (which won’t return until June 8) has the added bonus of helping procrastinators find a gift for mom.
May 11 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at along Grant Avenue at the intersection with Carroll Avenue. Admission is FREE!
Ashanti album release party
Ashanti (Photo: Howard Theatre)
R&B singer-turned-actress Ashanti is back with her first album since 2008, “Braveheart.” The album will be released this summer and features the heart-wrenching single, Never Should Have. It also included the tracks The Woman You Love featuring Busta Rhymes and That’s What We Do featuring R. Kelly. The opening act is GoGo Morrow.
May 11 at 8 p.m. at the Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are available online for $75 for VIP tickets and $35 for general admission tickets in advance or $40 at the door.
