Rooftop pool, Liaison Capitol Hill

5 Great Ideas for Weekend Fun

Perfect Stay. Summer rooftop pool parties and ridiculous views of the city deliver grins at the Liaison Capitol Hill (affinia.com), with its newly renovated 343 guestrooms and wisely reimagined public spaces. Not to miss: chef Art Smith’s Art and Soul, a cozy space dishing everything from hoecakes to braised duck legs and herbed dumplings.

Smart luxury arrives at the newly renovated McLean Hilton.

5 Perfect Spring-Weekend Ideas

After a $45 million renovation, the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner (hilton.com) can declare itself the ideal stay for travelers—feedback from hotel guests guided the renovations to the lobby, fitness center and meeting spaces. You’ll find a tech lounge with free printing, an 18-hour lobby bar and more than 450 redesigned guestrooms.

Andrees Latif

One of 70 amazing images from "Pictures of the Year" at the Newseum

Best Summer Events in Washington

Museums & Galleries

Picture This

Despite the riches of new media, the power of a single photograph can outweigh any killer app, especially in the exhibit “Pictures of the Year” at the Newseum (newseum.org). Featuring the finest photojournalism of 2010, the show includes more than 70 powerful images that capture the essence of tragedy and triumph—reminding us that poignant stories from across the globe impact all of us every day.

Wedding Couture

Manassas Battlefield in Virginia hosts a range of Civil War anniversary events throughout the summer.

Washington & The Civil War: 150 Years

Civil War on Stage

Civil War Spies: A Three-Part Exploration of Union and Confederate Intelligence Operations (various locations; 202/654-0932; spymuseum.org). Neither the Blue nor the Gray were strangers to espionage: Society ladies carried secret messages, runaway slaves re-crossed the Mason-Dixon Line as undercover agents, and couriers worked covert operations. In this series, historians and espionage experts introduce the most amazing spies and spy cases of the war.

The Folger Shakespeare Library marks the Bard's birthday with an open house, complete with jesters and jugglers, on April 17.

Best Spring Events in Washington

Theater & Arts

A Mid-Spring Night’s Dream

Rich Arden

"Sports is a fantastic theater of the human condition," says D.C. native and ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols.

Rachel Nichols: Gridiron Confidential

“I couldn’t talk earlier today,” says ESPN sports correspondent Rachel Nichols, “because what I’m doing involves something we’re not ready to make public yet. But I can tell you where I was and what I was working on yesterday.”

Okay, shoot.

Shakespeare Theatre Company tackles Leonard Berstein's "Candide" from Nov. 26 through Jan. 9 Lansburg Theatre's Sidney Harman Hall. 

Best of Washington This Fall & Winter

Theater & Arts

Musical Mayhem

Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman wraps her talented arms around the hilarity and musical whirlwind of Leonard Berstein's "Candide" (above), which is based on Voltaire's satire. Shakespeare Theatre Company's show runs from Nov. 26 through Jan. 9 at Sidney Harman Hall. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

Southern Song

"Oklahoma" opens at the gloriously refurbished and expanded Arena Stage on Oct. 22.

Best Picks: Fall in Washington

Theater & Arts

Home Again

Best Bets for Summer

Theater & Arts

Check Mate

The ’80s cult rock musical Chess opens Signature Theatre’s 2010–11 season Aug. 10 (4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, Va.; 703/820-9771). The story, set in the shadow of the Cold War, follows two chess masters (one American, one Russian) competing for a world title, as well as the heart of the same woman. Love, political intrigue, international conspiracies and the ’80s hit “One Night in Bangkok”—you can’t ask for more.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

The New York Avenue Sculpture Project begins this summer and runs through 2015, featuring outrageously fun, larger-than-life art.

Catch This, June 2010

A Justice Supreme