Top Ten Friday Night Alternatives

Illustration by Ida Waugh. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

So you didn’t manage to snag a spot to the reception at Dumbarton Oaks on Friday. Don’t lay down in despair, the city of DC is your oyster! Grab some fellow Arlisians and try out one of these alternative evening activities. After seeing this list, those who did get tickets might be jealous of your options.

1. Mix and mingle with new ARLIS members at the ArLiSNAP Night Out. SNAPers will be gathering at Capitol City Brewing Company (one block west of the conference hotel) starting at 8:30pm.

2. Visit Politics and Prose, DC’s most venerated independent bookstore. Francine Prose will be reading from her novel Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 starting at 7pm.

3. Go to the drive-in. Union Market is showing Diner as part of their drive-in series. If you just went on the Baltimore tour on Thursday, Barry Levinson’s classic comedy set in Charm City will have added resonance for you. You don’t have to have a car to go – seating in the picnic area is free of charge on a first come, first served basis. Get your picnic vittles from one of the Market’s fine vendors (we’ve heard good things about the smoked salmon sandwiches at Neopol Savery Smokery). Movie begins at 8pm.

4. Experience a puppet ballet. Pointless Theatre Co. is an up-and-coming company that merges dance, theater and puppetry. They are putting on their version of Sleeping Beauty at Flashpoint (916 G Street NW, 0.3 miles from the Grand Hyatt). Tickets are $25 or $18 for seniors/students, show starts at 8pm.

5. Get an exhibit sneak peek AND see a classic film noir. The Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler is offering a sneak preview of their exhibit An American in London: Whistler and the Thames, as part of an after-hours event (5:30 – 8:30pm) that will feature sketch comedy by the British Players and 19th century popular music. Stroll in the Freer’s courtyard or pop in to Whistler’s Peacock Room while you’re there. At 8:30 will be a free screening of Night and the City.

6. Go on safari. A photo safari, that is! Washington Photo Safari offers guided tours of DC landmarks and tips on how best to photograph them. See info for tickets here.

7. Celebrate a folk artist’s 100th birthday. At 6:30, the Smithsonian American Art Museum will host a free lecture on artist Ralph Fasanella. Son Mark Fasanella and Leslie Umberger, curator of folk and self-taught art at the museum, will address his life, family, and artistic career.

8. See the monuments by night. All that white marble positively glows when it is lit up after dark. See options for guided tours here and here, or navigate them on your own for free.

9. Ghost Hunters: Georgetown edition. The neighborhood that features the Exorcist Steps is rife with ghost stories. Two companies offer free self-guided versions of a Georgetown ghost tour, one scary, one family-friendly.

10. Have your OWN garden party. If all you wanted was a cocktail outdoors, just pick one of the fine establishments off of these lists of the best DC rooftop bars, and the best places to drink outside.

There is more information on how to book your own tours in our local guide to sightseeing.

New Tour Added: Society of the Cincinnati

Anderson House at 2118 Massachusetts Avenue, NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The building is the headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati and is a National Historic Landmark.

The Tour Coordinators were able to wrangle one more FREE tour on Thursday May 1^st for ARLIS/NA attendees at the Society of the Cincinnati. Sign up using this form—first come, first served!

Details on SCHED.

Tempted by Tours: Packard Campus for Audio/Video Conservation

Tour details on SCHED. Register here or call 1 800-817-0621 x450 or email to add tours to your current registration.

Tempted by Tours: Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum

Tour details on SCHED. Register here or call 1 800-817-0621 x450 or email to add tours to your current registration.

Tempted by Tours: Congressional Cemetery

Tour details on SCHED. Register here or call 1 800-817-0621 x450 or email to add tours to your current registration.

New Tour: Lace and Quilts Behind-the-Scenes!

Close-up of a face depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry in needle lace, part of the Textile Collection of the National Museum of American History.

A late addition to the tours has just been announced: Visit the collections of lace and quilts at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History! A great choice for textile, material culture, and fashion fans. Or anyone curious about the behind-the-scenes world at part of the world’s largest museum, the Smithsonian! Tour details on SCHED. Register here or call 1 800-817-0621 x450 or email to add tours to your current registration.

Tempted by Tours: Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens

Tour details on SCHED. Register here or call 1 800-817-0621 x450 or email to add tours to your current registration.

Tempted by Tours: Mount Vernon

Tour details on SCHED. Register here or call 1 800-817-0621 x450 or email to add tours to your current registration.

What to expect at the Packard Campus?

The Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. Photo by Bob Bieberdorf

Ask any of our chapter members who attended our 2012 visit to the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus in Culpepper, Virginia, and they’ll tell you not to miss this opportunity. Housed in a massive former bunker of severe concrete architecture, the Packard Campus is devoted to the preservation of moving image and sound. It includes the world’s largest repository of silent film as well as state-of-the-art technology that record entire days of broadcasting from television and internet. You’ll see robots that perform preservation tasks and provide access to remote users in Library of Congress reading rooms, never-ending corridors of concrete vaults for fragile nitrate films, and the most expensive turntable you’ve ever heard of.

See photos of our visit on our Flick page.