This week U.S. News and World Report offered its judgment on the 21 best places to take a vacation in the U.S., and the District took second place behind San Francisco. more ›

The White House has been fully decked out for the holidays since Thanksgiving, and DCist had an opportunity to take a look. more ›

It's almost time for Christmas, and the National Christmas Tree is slowly taking shape. more ›

If you're at work, your office is likely pretty empty. If you're on the Metro, there's probably not too many over-crowded trains. If you're walking home, you're surely thankful you're not stuck in a car right now -- because everyone's trying to get the heck out of the city. more ›

To avoid the mad Black Friday rush (or perhaps extend it), some large retailers have come up with a brilliant solution: just open at midnight on Thanksgiving Thursday and let people start shopping then! more ›

Today is All Saints Day, which, according to the laws of American consumerism, means it's time for everyone to start thinking about Christmas. (I know, it's pretty gross.) more ›

Today, Metro released a list of the major maintenance scheduled for the rest of the year. The good news? If all goes as planned, there won't be any track work during the the holidays. The bad news? To make that possible, Metro's pursuing an "aggressive schedule of rebuilding work during the coming weeks." more ›

We may not have gotten buckets of snow to photograph yesterday, but who cares: blizzard photographs are so last winter. Instead we found some lovely holiday light displays, delicious treats, and naturally, a few adorable animal snapshots in the DCist Flickr pool today. more ›

Because really, what says Christmas more than elves driving around in powerboats, the Grinch performing tricks on a personal watercraft and Santa Claus waterskiing around National Harbor? Nothing, that's what. more ›

Ah, the holiday season -- the time of year when you make the people that keep your day-to-day life on the tracks aware that you appreciate their effort. Postal workers, sanitation employees, your paperboy or girl, a doorperson if you have one -- it's always a smart move to make sure that you keep those people happy. Some neighborhoods and apartment buildings in Washington even take up an envelope or jar and present their local servers with a collective gift, which kind of makes us feel all gooey inside. But if you were thinking about tipping with cash, you might want to think again. more ›

When he's not debating solutions to the district's budget deficit, Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) may be spending time being one of the hippest councilmen in the city. Sure he drinks Steel Reserve (in spirit). Yup, he loves him some urban chicken. And he wouldn't mind providing an easier route to revelry on H Street. more ›

Not to depress the whole lot of you, but this story in USA Today -- about how the United States Post Office is receiving more letters to Santa from children asking for basic needs instead of toys -- is one of the most melancholic news blasts I've read in some time. more ›

Many of the best parts of the holidays revolve around food: baking crinkle tops to give away as gifts, joining family around the table to share a big meal or waking up to full stockings and stacks of pancakes.

When we wrote to D.C. chefs this month asking them to share their holiday dishes and traditions, we expected responses about holiday feasts. And while many of the responses were food-related (latkes with toppings, gingerbread men, Yorkshire puddings, homemade lasagna, mincemeat pie complete with a recipe), we were surprised at the number of chefs who look forward to not cooking at all during the holidays. Instead, they're content to let someone else put on the apron. more ›

Omnipresent Christmas music assaults one's ears throughout the month of December. If it does not push you over the edge, you may be the sort of person who actually wants to hear a Christmas concert at this time of the year. Our picks for the season's most interesting holiday concerts follow, mostly free of Christmas chestnuts: much more of the best of the rest after the jump. more ›

With the end of the year approaching, museums are mostly holding new exhibits until the upcoming year, but many are offering holiday festivities. But keep in mind if you're entertaining relatives in town this month: the Smithsonian museums are closed on December 25. more ›

Black Friday has been hyped for years as a day to do your blow out shopping at the area malls. This year, whether you shopped yesterday or not, go to a small, local businesses and buy some unique, interesting gifts (for you and your friends and family). While I'm loath to write about an event supported by American Express, I think Small Business Saturday is a great way to support your favorite local business that can't offer door busters at 3 am but offer goods that you could never find at a national retailer. So visit some shops along 14th and U, in Eastern Market, Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Logan Circle, or your neighborhood, and support your local, independently owned retailers. more ›

For this editor, the presence of Salvation Army bell ringers manning change tins outside of supermarkets and retailers is just as much of a sign of the upcoming holidays as turkey, tinsel, lights wrapped around lampposts or maniacal traffic on those days when every single person in this city is trying to get out of town. But NBCWashington.com reports that those bell ringers might not be around as much this season, at least not outside of one major D.C. grocery chain. Giant Foods has apparently instituted a new policy which will slice the amount of time charitable groups can solicit outside its stores. This holiday season, you'll hear bells at the Giant on only six days in both November and December, and for just four hours on each of those days. Previously, the Salvation Army and other groups were able to collect donations ten hours a day, six days a week throughout both months. Why the change? Giant said that they don't want the bells to "hinder their [customers'] shopping experience." Nothing in the NBC story about whether Giant's statement actually included a "bah humbug" or not. more ›

Want to attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse on December 9? Tickets for 3,000 seats and 10,000 standing room admissions for the 5 p.m. event are free, but will be distributed through a lottery system that goes online at 12:01 a.m. this Thursday, November 4th (okay, technically, since it's a minute after midnight it's Friday the 5th -- but for most of us that means Thursday night). more ›

First, retailers pushed "Black Friday" specials back to infringe on the prime costume-making season. Then, Halloween displays started getting pulled earlier and earlier to prepare for the winter holiday seasons. But in this burgeoning war against Halloween in America, this is where I draw the line: Halloween Candy Buy Back programs. more ›

Just like that guy who takes a little more than is socially acceptable at the hotel breakfast buffet (dry cereal or oatmeal, dude -- just pick one and live with it), Virginia isn't satisfied with only celebrating one holiday on the second Monday in October. Today in the Commonwealth is also Yorktown Victory Day, which serves to celebrate the Colonies' victory at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781 in the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War. more ›

If you're sticking around town this weekend, make sure to take note of changes to Metrorail and bus service schedules for Memorial Day. more ›

On Friday, the District of Columbia celebrates Emancipation Day, commemorating the date in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act -- an act which freed the slaves of the District of Columbia about nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation. The city has only been officially celebrating Emancipation Day since 2005. It's also the only holiday observed by the D.C. government that is not also observed by the federal government, and every year, there's inevitable confusion about what parts of the city will be functioning like normal and which will be closed. Here's how it breaks down: more ›

As ABRA tweeted earlier today, a law that went into effect last year allows D.C. bars and restaurants to, if they so choose, stay open for an additional hour of alcoholic beverage service the night before any D.C. or federal holiday. And since Friday is Emancipation Day, and D.C. government and schools will be closed, that means Thursday night could see a number of bars taking advantage and staying open until 3 a.m., as if it were a regular weekend night. more ›

Washington, D.C's premier (only?) Irish arts organization, Solas Nua, is once again handing out free copies of books by contemporary Irish authors all day today, in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. They say they plan to hand out a total of 10,000 books, totally gratis. more ›

In response to DCist's accusations that the White House punted on its green dye job in the North Lawn fountain this year, White House Director of Online Programs Jesse Lee sends us this, more authoritative image. More green than seafoam, to be sure. Sort of a pea soup. But still not brilliant, almost neon green like last year. more ›

The Associated Press offers up this photo as evidence that the White House has once again dyed the water in the North Lawn fountain green for St. Patrick's Day. Except, call me crazy, but it doesn't look particularly green. more ›

If you didn't manage to snag tickets to this year's White House Easter Egg Roll, you can at least order some commemorative eggs and pretend like you were there. more ›

Hard to believe spring is right around the corner, but the Obamas are here to make it seem more real: they've announced the date of this year’s White House Easter Egg Roll. The popular annual event will take place on Monday, April 5. more ›

Just to add some more fuel my "most giant, expensive New Year's Eve parties tend to really blow" fire, another reader shares a message sent to attendees of the "20s & 30s Going Out Group" NYE party that took place at the Harman Center for the Arts. About 600 people paid between $70-$99 to attend this open-bar, black tie optional event, which got shut down early after a couple 911 calls, a little destruction of property, and half a dozen fist fights caused the venue to kick the group out. The party's hosts expressed a lot of regret about how the whole thing went down ... but aren't offering any refunds just yet. Letter below the jump; reader reviews of the party can be found here. more ›