http://myemail.constantcontact.com/THIS-WEEKEND-S-OPEN-HOUSES.html?soid=1102372299739&aid=OZ7J4Y_HMRI

Come visit us this weekend at our open houses!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/THIS-WEEKEND-S-OPEN-HOUSES.html?soid=1102372299739&aid=OZ7J4Y_HMRI

Thespian Alert!

If you have not discovered Port City Playhouse yet, head to the Lee Center just off Washington Street in Old Town Alexandria. Free and easy parking, tons of restaurants nearby and excellent theater performances. Of local and political interest is their current play – “Farragut North” which follows a press secretary through a campaign. Evenings at 8 September 24/25, October 1 & 2 and 9/28 plus Sunday 9/26 and 10/3 at 2. Tickets are $18, $16 for seniors and students.

Check it out

If you have a leaky faucet or other repair you need to do, check out repairclinic.com for instructions, manufacturers with parts you may need and appliance recall info for the last 15 years. Helpful if you plan to purchase a used appliance.

Get out of town!

On the streets of Occoquan September 25th and 26th, Historic Occoquan’s Fall Art and Crafts Show from 10-6. Enjoy over 200 juried exhibits, 100’s of unique gifts, lots of food and a free shuttle area commuter lots. www.occoquancraftshow.com

Or head North!

Until October 17th, visit the 26th Annual Decorator Show House in Ellicott City (except Mondays). New decorating ideas, furniture and accessories for sale, boutique, garden shop, food and antiques. www.historicec.com

Hot Trends, Top Experts, Cool Colors, New Products

The Capital Home Show at Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly is September 24-26 from 10-9 Friday and Saturday and 10-6 on Sunday. Cooking demos, gardening hints and tips on decorating from Andrew Downward of HGTV. Capitalhomeshow.com

Reservations necessary

Old Town food tour with stops at Bilbo Baggins, the Virginia Shop, the Columbia Firehouse, the Union Street Public House and the Pita House plus a slice of Virginia Jelly Cake at Old Town Coffee Tea and Spice. Thursdays through Sundays at 1 pm. Along the same lines are food tours in Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Baltimore and Little Ethiopia in the District. www.dcmetrofoodtours.com

New Perspective on Washington

September 25-26th tour with the Cultural Landscape Foundation to look at parks, plazas and gardens at Dumbarton Oaks, Congressional Cemetery, Freedom Plaza, Tregaron and the National Cathedral. Great time to be out of doors! www.tclf.org.

Get the Blues!

Sunday, September 26th at the Prince George’s Community College, the 18th annual Bluebird Blues Festival featuring Clarence Carter – free admission – 12:30-6 – also classic car show. Pgcc.edu

House Envy

Annual very popular Kalorama House and Embassy tour with tickets in advance only – noon to 4 Saturday September 25th. www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org

Sounds like fun!

Grapes with the Apes on Thursday September 23rd at the Zoo with wines from Maryland and Virginia. 6-9 pm. www.nationalzoo.si.edu

It Gets Better Every Year

Saturday, September 25th, here’s a chance to see the insides of some Old Town Alexandria homes you have always admired. 10-3 pm. www.thetwig.org.

Get to know the District beyond the monuments

Cultural Tourism D.C will sponsor 100 walking and 11 biking tours 9/25 and 26th. (including an adults only tour of Washington’s old red light district). Culturaltourismdc.org

Remember Joel Gray?

See him Saturday, September 25th at 8 at the George Mason Center for the Arts. Cfa.gmu.edu A 20 piece orchestra and songs, dance and stories from a 50 year career.

Grapes, grapes and more grapes!

Virginia Wine Festival in Centreville with live music. 9/18 and 19, www.across-the-way.com. Sugarloaf Mountain Grape Stomp 9/25 and 26, www.smvwinery.com. Mt. Vernon 10/1-3, www.mountvernon.org. And Reggae Festival at Berryville Plantation, Mount Airy, 10/16-17, www.linganore-wine.com

Popular annual event for all ages

From 10 to 4:30 October 9th, the National Building Museum’s Festival of the Building Arts. Handss on activities including building your own mobile or mural to take home, drywalling, woodworking and live stage performances.

Gravity defying

At National Harbor through October 24th, Cirque du Soleil. www.cirquedusoleil.com.

Free admission!

September 25th is Museum Day and more than 1000 museums will offer free admission that day. Check it out at www.smithsonian.com/MuseumDay.com. While we enjoy most museums here at no cost, that isn’t the case in other cities.

Shakespeare anyone?

Marsha Mason stars in “All’s Well That Ends Well” at the Lansburgh Theatre. It started 9/7 but runs through 10/24.www.shakespearetheatre.org.

Spokes!

Sign up in advance for Arlington’s and the District’s Capital Bikeshare, a regional bike sharing network. 1000 bikes will be available at 100 locations in the District and Crystal City and Pentagon City for an annual fee of $75, a monthly fee of $25 and a daily fee of $5. www.capitalbikeshare.com or Facebook or Twitter.

Hail!

Now that the 'Skins have won their first game, here’s what you have to look forward to:

Away games – 9/26 vs St. Louis, 10/3 vs the Eagles, 10/24 vs The Bears, 10/31 vs Detroit, 11/21 vs Tennessee, 12/5 vs The Giants, 12/19 vs Dallas 12/26 vs Jacksonville.

Home games: 9/19 vs Houston, 10/10 vs The Pack, 10/17 vs The Colts, 11/15 vs The Eagles, 11/28 vs The Vikings, 12/12 vs Tampa and ½ vs The Giants.

For couch potatoes, the games are on Fox mostly , NBC (10/17), CBS (10/19) and ESPN (11/15).

Newseum

September is Seniors’ Month and admission is just $9 – 50% off! There’s also a 15% discount on food.

Sundays

Every Sunday from 10-6 the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria holds scavenger hunts throughout the galleries. A fun way to meet the artists and to see their work. www.torpedofactory.org.

Fun for the whole family!

Annual Kennedy Center Open House featuring more than 20 free performances September 11th. Kennedy-Center.org/openhouse.

More Wine!

Travel out to The Plains September 11-12 from 11-6 for a visit to more than 300 winery tents, polo matches, wine seminars and a gourmet food market. Winefestivalattheplains.com.

Get Organized!

September 11th is National Clean Out The Garage Day – that’s a good start to boxing up those items you wish to donate, those to recycle and those you want to put out for a yard sale

Art Festivals

Alexandria Art

September11th and 12th, downtown Alexandria is one big display of arts and crafts. There are more than 200 juried artists and it’s a great time for brunch in old town and then a hunt for early holiday gifts at the Alexandria Festival of the Arts with steel drummers, jazz musicians and pianists. Artfestivalalexandria.com


Bethany Beach Art

September 11th more than 100 artists from painters to glass blowers show their works at a juried show held along the boardwalk and downtown streets. Thequietresorts.com.

Rates!

Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 4.32 percent this week, according to Freddie Mac. That beats last week’s already-historic 4.36 percent, which was the lowest on record since Freddie Mac started keep tracking in 1971.

Two more Festivals

September 12th is Adams Morgan Day and the Takoma Park Folk Festival

Arts on Foot

This festival in Chinatown September 11th features an art market, food and wine tastings and lots of performances at the Harman Center for the Arts.

Fall Fashions, etc.

Try retailmenot.com, couponcabin.com, fatwallet.com, honesty.com, markdownalert.com or gasbuddy.com for discounts. Cellfire.com lets you load coupons on your cell phone and add them to a grocery store savings card. Never shop on line without first looking for the name of the retailer plus the words “coupon code”. Comparison shopping sites are at pronto.com, shopping.com and thefind.com.

The Crab Bowl Classic

Maryland vs. Navy at 4 Monday, September 6th at M&T Stadium in Baltimore. www.baltimoreravens.com