"I love these murals, but when do we enter the museum?" Me. "These are the museum," my friend. And…read morethis is how I've come to enjoy the DC Alley Museum as the best outdoor-only free museum experience that I've ever had! For the past 10 years, Shaw's Blagden Alley has partnered with the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to transform its building walls into canvases for local artists to showcase their work. The result is an alleyway filled with a cavalcade of murals big and small, that blend in well with the local businesses within said alleyway. While walking through this vast alleyway I saw so many incredible works of art that I lost track, and the photos that I took barely do justice It's an absolute street art lover's dream! The best part is that you can either walk through it in a quick dose, or you can do so while grabbing coffee at La Colombe, a cocktail at Calico or Death & Co, or even a workout at DC Strength and Nutrition. Checking out the website is a must to learn more about the core mural artists and to find out about events like their Alley-Oop Music and Arts Festival.

Murals galore! They are all different and unique and range in size. How fun to just explore various…read morestreets and find unique art at every turn. Sometimes you can't even tell if it's part of the outdoor museum or part of the storefront of a creative restaurant. Definitely worth checking out. There is a coffee shop, bar, restaurants, and other business nestled within this space. We need more art, less arguing!

I had a great time photographing the artists and their work but it was well worth the time spent…read morethere.

This was difficult to find, as every site we looked on seemed to give a different address or…read morelocation, but we finally managed to track it down and it was worth it! We put 666 Rhode Island Ave NE in the gps and that was what got us closest, and then we went up the curving drive to the parking lot for Big Lots and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. These are some stunning murals that could use a little TLC...definitely a cool project for them to have done in this neighborhood!

A hidden gem in DC - part thrift store part community art incubator. Grateful that third spaces…read morelike this exist! They host a ton of regular, weekly events so check those out, or stop by to shop secondhand and buy crafts from local artisans: https://bloombars.com/contact/events/

Awesome and accepting arts space in the middle of DC that holds cool events...go there a random…read moreevening if you want to take in some local culture in a beautiful space. If you're a performer you should know....the sound there is one of a kind, the mixing spot on. One of the most professional operations I've seen in terms of sound quality. No drinks or food so get your fill before you drop by.

This museum is so magical!…read more Our group of nine had a blast weaving our way from room to room. The museum is equally fun for kids and adults with topics like language, reading, translation and karaoke to make a few. Everything was so well thought out and interactive. I couldn't get enough of the library room where books come to life with video-like illustrations building off the pages. It felt like we were transported into Belle's massive and dreamy library from Beauty and the Beast complete with a secret hidden room off the side (tucked behind a bookcase door). We had kids ages 2-5 and it was perfect for them. Note that you'll need to park strollers in the basement level. To top it all off, we had a fabulous lunch at Immigrant Food located on the lower level. Oh, how could I forget to mention that the museum is free? Amazing!

Funny story - I was looking for kid-friendly ideas of things to do in DC and asked ChatGPT for…read moreideas. One of the responses was the Planet Word museum, which I never heard of. I looked it up and decided to try it! They recommend you get timed passes online ahead of time; it's free but they do recommend a donation. This museum is SO COOL! As someone who loves different languages and words I loved everything about this place! My kids loved all of the interactivity. There is a room with an interactive word wall and you can interact and answer and request more info on the history of certain words. For example, I learned that "ketchup" was named after a Chinese sauce even though they are not similar. There is also a magical library room where you can pick a book off the shelf and place it on a book holder and the book is read to you. There are also mirror shadow boxes that come to life if you read the inscription. Finally, the kids loved the karaoke room - you select a song and as you sing along you see the types of parts of speech at play in the song. Great experience, would for sure recommend and go back!

Georgetown Glow is free public art with elements to captivate all ages & demographics. It can be…read morepaired with some history or can be enjoyed to captivate your Instagram followers. It is currently in it's fifth year, running from early December to early January. It looks like the installations change every year so there is something new to explore and enjoy. I won't go through every installation that I saw for this reason. There are some really instagramable moments, my favorite in 2018 was definitely Prismatic, but I have a big soft spot for Run Beyond as well. You should definitely plan to get out and explore a lot of the installations, just walking or driving by won't give you the full effect of some of them. Some of them also can't be seen from your vehicle, bundle up and explore! There are also a few that incorporate motion & sound. Here is the biggest "well duh" moment- see these installations after dark. Not during sunset, not at dusk- make sure it is really dark for the full effect. I mean- they are light installations, so maybe that shouldn't even be mentioned. I opted to see Georgetown Glow as part of a tour group (Free Tours by Foot DC) and our tour started almost an hour before sunset so I made a point to revisit the installations we saw early on during the tour- it was definitely worth the trip back to see the earlier installations. I thought taking the walking tour was a great way to see some of the installations and learn more about the history of Georgetown. Our tour guide was excellent, but was definitely a better Georgetown guide vs a Glow guide. She had great historical stories to connect to the themes of the art installations as we walked through Georgetown. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see all of the artwork during this foot tour, but we had plenty of time to explore the ones we did encounter on our tour. I would recommend doing Georgetown Glow both ways, take a tour if that's your thing, but really for the art itself I think you can easily enjoy every installation without the tour aspect and just read the information provided on the website to learn more. It is an outdoor, free, public display so expect that a few of the installations may have technical difficulties. I visited on the second night of the displays and noticed some light vandalism, most likely caused by careless spectators. It didn't take away from the overall effect though. One thing I appreciated is even though this is a December outdoor light exhibit, it wasn't Christmas themed. There is definitely plenty of holiday cheer to enjoy as you explore the city between installations. The art itself focuses on different themes giving you a brief mental break from the holidays.

I've been going to GLOW since the first edition and I just love it! I like some installations…read morebetter than others but it's a great idea and it's nice seeing people walking around at night in the Winter! It would be nice to have shuttle tours for people who can't walk as much. Maybe the Circulator used to do free rides? I can't remember. DC has so many free events and exhibits and GLOW is one of the best.

O Museum - O Street, Washington DC…read more I was a judicial fellow at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and arrived at the DOT office complex in L'Enfant Plaza, Washington, D.C., for my first day of orientation. It was early on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, and while I had been in Washington many times in my work as an administrative law judge, this was my first time meeting my contacts at NHTSA. The world now recognizes the losses sustained on that day, in New York and at the Pentagon (and on United Airlines Flight 93), but at 8:30 in the morning at NHTSA's headquarters in D.C. our world was rapidly aging amidst the tragedy. My contact at NHTSA had family members he needed to get to, and he left me to my own devices. As transport systems turned into gridlock, I left the building intending to walk to my hotel in Georgetown. I had the day to explore. All the Smithsonian museums were locked down, as were most businesses. I had no agenda other than experiencing what D.C. was like during the turmoil of 9/11. I walked from L'Enfant Plaza to Dupont Circle, hoping to have lunch at my favorite restaurant, Johnny's Half Shell. In the process, in a long wandering exploration of the District, I happened upon O Street, not far from the Dupont Circle Metro station. During the walk I passed a string of brownstone residences on O Street between 20th and 21st Streets. While my memory has faded over time, I recall walking past curious bronze sculptures of the White Rabbit, Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the Cheshire Cat, ensconced in abundant greenery that seemed to fill the streetside frontages of four or five of the brownstones. Last week I found out that what I walked past that day 25 years ago was the O Museum in the Mansion, named after the mansion's street location. It's a venue that evokes a rich historical heritage that runs the spectrum from the lives of the rich and famous to the lives of courageous civil rights activists who created cultural change in our nation's capital. I learned the museum was opened in 1980 by its founder, H.H. Leonards Spero, and is housed in a mansion that now includes a boutique hotel with themed rooms. Their "Night at the Museum" tour offers an immersive overnight experience with extended access to the museum and its collection. Also known as The Secret Door Museum, there are over one hundred themed rooms, over eighty secret doors, and thousands of artifacts spanning art, music, sports, history, and American pop culture. I stopped by the display case that housed signed guitars from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan and saw museum rooms packed with memorabilia from folk and jazz eras, and the early days of the Beatles. Nostalgia and history reign and the displays include important artifacts relating to the civil rights era in the United States, with prominent attention given to the inspired work of Rosa Parks and other civil rights mentors. The Museum features a bar, modern restrooms, an elevator, and secret doors throughout. Reservations are recommended, but I walked in without any wait (on a weekday in February 2026). Remarkably, most of the contents - probably counting in the thousands - are for sale. (So, we're on notice by the Museum's docents: if you break it, you buy it.) I found the Museum's staff to be friendly, well-informed, and exceptionally enthusiastic about their work. I learned there are limited-time themed events, such as the Secret Door Experience ($33), a Champagne Tour ($62.50), a Secret Portal Hunt & Tour ($45.95), a Secret Gardens of Asia celebrating cherry blossoms ($50), a Mother's Day Secret Door & Champagne Tour ($54.50), a Night at the Museum overnight package ($550.77) and a host of events celebrating the life and work of Rosa Parks and other civil rights leaders. This may well be one of the most curiosity-inspiring venues anywhere in the world. And good luck finding the secret doors!

I felt like this place was highly overrated and doesn't really know what it's trying to be, whether…read morethat's a hotel or an event venue or a bar or a museum. It's kind of like an overpriced estate sale really. There were some cool rooms with some neat things to look at, but the hidden door thing is overblown. They're all very easy to find and basically like very obvious moving parts of the wall. Many of them are just big mirrors that the walkway ends at and you're going to bump into anyhow. They tell you that you can buy just about anything in the museum, but I saw stuff there like used books that I've gotten for a dollar at the library used book sale that they were trying to charge like $40 or 50 bucks for and that's not even the ones that are supposedly signed by the authors that they're trying to sell for hundreds. I guess if you want to look at old guitars used by by country western artists you've barely heard of or see some really ugly decor and maybe this place is for you. The one really great part is the historical aspect about who built the house originally and the fact that Rosa Parks lived here for quite some time. Overall, it was a fine way to spend a rainy afternoon and kind of interesting to see once, but I wouldn't go back and I wouldn't say it's a must do.

Calming park in the middle of all the hustle and bustle…read more Great place to enjoy a sunny afternoon with its large trees providing shade and the sound of the fountain. Seems like lots of people come here to enjoy there lunch. Plenty of seating with built in bench seating along the inside and outside perimeter. Lots of restaurants nearby, especially fast casual.

I have been going to D.C. for most of my life. Typically it's once a year visit. Even though I'm…read morenow in Austin, Texas it's still once a year. Though travel is quite different than it was from Pittsburgh. Gone is that option to do an hour flight or a four hour drive. But, I digress. You're reading this for my thoughts on Dupont Circle. I absolutely love this part of town and find myself spending a lot of time here. It is in close proximity for the reason of my visits and quite often is part of such reasons. It's a beautiful area with a roundabout (as Arlene M. mentioned in her review...RIP Arlene, you were a great human!). You can easily walk to embassies and monuments. The fountain is glorious though it is hit or miss when it is on (usually by spring). The parks are incredible. Great shops and restaurants. A pleasant and exciting area to take in. Easy on and off Metro stop.

I purposely visited recently (winter season) because entrance to the gardens is free, otherwise…read moreit's $15. The gardens are interesting even in the cold months. The couple most closely associated with this Georgetown estate, Mildred and Robert Bliss, clearly loved and thought deeply about this parcel of land when they owned it (1920/30's). Their efforts to preserve and share the space with the public are to be commended. It must have been quite something in its heyday. There's a lot of research that's supported here, as well as other activities. The website explains all that. It's a low-key sightseeing spot; quiet, contemplative.

Most everyone in my office is off today due to the holiday, so I mad a plan to visit this museum…read more I also wanted to see the adjoining garden, but it doesn't open until much later in the afternoon. They have quite a few notable collections that I liked. The Byzantine Collection featured different artwork from the fifteenth cwntury. There were also several large sculptures that originated from the Byzantium empire which is known as Istanbul today. According to their information, the museum is continuously acquiring different works if art from this time period. There were also some pretty cool grave markers dating back to the 11th century. The museum is sort of hidden off of the main avenue in Georgetown so you will probably need to search for it. It is also free and open most days to the general public.

I am so glad that this theatre is still in operation…read more Also contains a first rate museum in the basement that includes the gun used to kill Lincoln and a pillow that still has dried blood on it So glad that I went!

The famous for theater has become more of a museum nowadays than an active theater, but it still…read moreholds some performances today. It's the historic theater that Lincoln was shot. There's plenty of memorabilia to Lincoln's life and life back then within the theater. It's a very cool historic site that is worth the ticket to admission! Being in the same room and looking up at the box that Lincoln sat in where he was assassinated was a very interesting and also somber experience !