If it feels more like early March than late April, just wait till the weekend — temperatures are expected to hover in the mid-80s from Friday through Sunday. So it’s looking like a great weekend to finish your garden (it’s now safe to plant your tomatoes and peppers) or finish your spring cleaning. If you feel the need to venture outside your home, there’s plenty going on this weekend on the Hill.
All Weekend
Speaking of gardening, did you know that there are professional bonsai artists? This weekend, you can meet some of them at the Potomac Bonsai Festival , held at the National Arboretum. There will be demonstrations, exhibits, vendors, lectures, and workshops — and admission is free. The festival will run from 9:00 am through 5:00 pm Friday through Sunday.
This weekend, the Taffety Punk Theater Company will launch Burn Your Bookes, a three-act exploration of alchemy set in 16th century Prague. The show will be running through May 22, but there will be three performances this weekend (Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm). Tickets are just $10. It’s in the Black Box at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (545 7th Street, SE).
Friday
On Friday night from 5:00-7:00 pm, head to Marvelous Market on Capitol Hill (303 7th Street, SE) for some live music and free wine. Sounds like a great way to end the week.
On Friday night at 8:00 pm, the Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H Street, NE) is having their “Rock and Roll Spelling Buzz,” a grown-up spelling bee where those who place win bar tabs of various values.
Saturday
On Saturday morning, head on over to H Street for the opening day of the H Street Freshfarm Market. As Kate wrote earlier this week, “Your taste buds, your health and the environment will thank you.” The market opens up at 9:00 a.m. and ends at noon. From 10:30-11:15, Casey Patten of Taylor Gourmet will be featured in a Chef at Market program.
If a farmer’s market isn’t your thing, head to the grand opening of the Trapeze School (4th St SE and Tingey Street), for a full day of performances. There are just a few tickets left (they’re only $5), so call 410-459-6839 asap if you want to go.
At 1:00 pm, head on over to Barracks Row for the Taste of 8th – the event that everyone at THIH has been eagerly awaiting. For three hours, fourteen different restaurants on 8th Street will be offering samples. Even Ted’s Bulletin – a 1930s-style American diner that isn’t slated to open for at least another week – will be offering up milkshake samples from their carry-out window. Tasting tickets are just $5 each (or 5 for $20) and can be purchased at Capitol Hill Bikes, Chateaux Animaux, Hill’s Kitchen, Homebody, Groovy DC, or Sweet Magnolia or by calling 202-544-3188. $5 a piece. Each ticket will get you one tasting per restaurant — so if you want to try three restaurants, you’ll need three tickets.
On Saturday at 2:00 pm, head on over to Kelly’s Irish Times (14 F Street, NW) for “DC Challenge: A Race of Wits Around the Nation’s Capital.” DC Challenge is described as a “5K that tests your brains as much as your legs” Tickets ($35) are still available, but registration expires on Friday night at midnight.
On Saturday at 4:00 p.m., D.C. United will be taking on the New York Red Bulls in a doubleheader at RFK Stadium.
At 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, head over to the City Gallery (804 H Street NE) for the opening reception of “Light & Allusion.” The exhibit will run through the entire month, and features glass art from Nancy Donnelly and paintings from Jill Finsen.
On Saturday night, a few of the resident companies at the Atlas will host the “Swing Into Spring” gala to benefit Capital City Symphony, Joy of Motion, Washington Savoyards and The In Series. The gala will run from 7:00 till 11:00 pm, and tickets (which cost $85 for one, $150 for two) can be purchased on the Atlas website.
Sunday
On Sunday at 5:00 pm, The Corner Store (900 South Carolina Ave SE) will be hosting Fulbright scholar Joe (Yousef Daoud) Martin for a reading from his recent book, The Rose and the Lotus.
RE taste of 8th — Am I right that each ticket is good for a dish at each restaurant (ie $5 a plate)? There was some confusion about this last time.
that should be “each ticket is good for one dish at any of the restaurants”
@CD, each $5 ticket gets you one dish at any one of the restaurants. So if you want to try three restaurants (or three tastings at one restaurant), you will need three tickets.
Wow, is it just me, or does Taste of 8th seem really expensive? Is it a full dish, or just a “sample”? Five bucks per sample means you won’t be sampling very much.
The $20 for five is an OK deal. You’d be pretty full after five portions — which were about 1/3 of an entree size or less, I’d estimate. Tons of people showed up last year, but quite a few of them thought that their $5 was going to purchase unlimited grazing.
Considering that most restaurants on Barracks Row charge $7-$12 for appetizers, $5 (or only $4, if you buy a pack of five tickets) is actually an incredible bargain. Most of the portions are very generous in size, and it’s easy to make an entire lunch out of the $20 ticket package.