511 10th St NW
April 14, 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth during a performance of Our American Cousin. For 100 years, the theatre remained closed, tainted by the dismal event, however in 1968 the Ford’s Theatre was restored to its former glory.
The theater is now a beautiful, fully operating arts and education venue, managed by the National Parks Service. Rangers lead tours of the museum, which explores Lincoln’s presidency from inauguration to assassination through a series of artifacts. A great place to explore, the Center for Leadership and Education resides across from the theater and adjacent to the Petersen House where Lincoln died. There are three galleries, including one about the aftermath following Lincoln’s assassination, and a 34-foot tower of books written about the president.
555 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Forget a civics textbook – all you need is a trip to this 643,000 square foot museum to obtain a thorough understanding of events that have shaped the world since the printing press was invented. The Newseum helps visitors realize the power and importance of a free press, the museum’s ultimate mission. The building features a prime view of the U.S. Capitol as well as graffiti’d sections of the Berlin Wall, a collection of heart-wrenching newspaper front pages after September 11, and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs. You can test your on-camera skills in the NBC News interactive newsroom, where you can be recorded in a TV reporter role-play via green screen. The museum continually documents media’s evolution through exhibits like the HP New Media Gallery which demonstrates how significant news events were reported in recent years through mediums like Twitter.
6th and Constitution Ave NW
The official national art collection of the U.S. begun by financier Andrew W. Mellon contains permanent European painting collections going back to the 14th century, including the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Americas, Italian cabinet galleries and French Rococo pieces, well-known Impressionist paintings and other impressive sculptures, prints and photographs that fill the classical style West Building and H-shaped, I.M. Pei-designed East Building. In the summer, catch the museum’s popular Jazz in the Sculpture Garden series on Friday evenings.
610 F St NW
Here, the mission of the nation’s foremost Shakespeare company is to present classic theatre in an accessible way. This is why you can find so many fabulous prix-fixe menus nearby. The theater is often a contender at the local Helen Hayes Awards each year and was awarded the 2012 Tony Award for regional theater and offers lavish, frequent and sometimes free productions.
601 F St NW
This 20,000 seat arena is home to most D.C. sports teams, like the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, Washington Mystics and the Georgetown Hoyas. There are 220 events a year here, so chances are you’ll always be able to snag tickets to a great function, whether it’s Beyonce, a monster truck show or an audience with the Dalai Lama.