Victory — not the concept, but the statue at State Place and 17th Street NW — is the Ghost of Christmas Past. Freedom — the Eastward-facing statue atop the Capitol Dome; not that thing that The Terrorists hate us for — is the Ghost of Christmas Present. And the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives draped in the inky robes of Grief. more ›

Flickr user musely gets a gold star today for both effort and execution, for this clever series of shots lining up currency with the D.C. buildings depicted on them. We suspect this is one of those things that seems simple, but in practice is a lot more difficult than it looks to get everything in focus and lined up perfectly. The nice thing about our city? You can tour all those landmarks and plenty more without ever having to take any of that $85 out of your pocket. more ›

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network. It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by... more ›

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried... more ›

Home is a pretty subjective concept. Where you hang your hat? The place you can always go back to? Where your love lies waiting silently for you? But what about where you spend the largest part of your waking hours? We may like to keep a firm separation between office life and "home" life, but let's look at the facts: who do you spend more hours awake and in the same room with than that... more ›

Most Washingtonians are accustomed to participating in guided tours only when entertaining out of town guests. We all know we'll have to trek out to the monuments with family and friends at least a few times a year, so being a tourist in our own city voluntarily at other times might not sound terribly appealing. But try not to think of the tours being offered in this coming weekend's WalkingTown DC, a series of 60... more ›

As we mentioned earlier this week, sometimes we don't envy Washington's urban planners. Their challenges often encompass issues as varied and complicated as economic development, land use planning, sustainability, design and social justice. Add to that the design politics associated with the symbolism invested in the nation's capital, and planning for D.C. becomes a unique urban problem to tackle. Not that it stops us from trying. Yesterday, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission... more ›

If there was one mystery few District residents and visitors ever managed to solve, it was the city's infamous taxicab zone map. Geographically confusing and lacking in detail, the map was supposed to give passengers a hint as to where one zone ended and the next began, though it usually resulted in a headache and a feeling of dread that the $10.30 in change you had scrounged up wouldn't be enough to get home. more ›

One of things that makes D.C. unique is its persistent seriousness. Nowhere else does Darfur commonly come up in Happy Hour banter, or a simple neighborhood moniker generate coarse debate about race and socioeconomics. Perhaps most striking — and most ironic — is the seriousness Washingtonians have about their recreation. We're as competitive in the gym and on the trail as we are in the boardroom or on the Hill. Given that, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Washington is widely known as a running town. more ›

Summertime in D.C. brings three things: heat, interns, and outdoor movies. The First Baptist Church at 17th and O Streets NW is providing one of those, sponsoring Movies by Moonlight, a free movie series benefitting local charities. Tonight's movie is Spiderman, starting at 8:30 p.m., with donations going to First Helping, a D.C. Central Kitchen program that feeds the homeless. There will also be free popcorn and drinks, so bring a few dollars and help a good cause while watching Tobey Maguire swing from New York City landmarks. The series will be rounded out by Raiders of the Lost Ark on July 13th, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington on July 27, Life is Beautiful on August 10, and Back to the Future on August 24. more ›

DCist is screwed in the event of an oil crisis. Not that we're not all screwed in the event of an oil crisis, just D.C. is more screwed. Don't sell your car yet, District resident, a cabbie can kick you to the curb if he doesn't like your address. Not even Metro can save you now. Londonist experiences the London of the future through the wonders of 3D modeling, but while the 3D guys are... more ›

As a Brookland resident, one comes to realize that cabbing home from District night spots brings its own set of difficulties. Despite living just blocks from major D.C. landmarks and minutes from downtown, neighborhood residents learn that when hailing a cab, they're going to have to get in the car before telling the driver the destination, they're going to have to give him detailed directions on how to get there, and they're going to have to reassure the driver several times that it's not much further. Brooklanders (myself included) are sometimes boggled by the cabbie response -- this is Northeast, after all, not the wilds of Outer Suburbia -- but I have come to accept it as part of living on the other side of North Capitol Street. more ›

The little mustachioed Monopoly guy (Alfonso?) didn't get where he is today by making one little board game and selling it until folks got tired of seedy Atlantic City landmarks and quaint anachronisms (railroads!). No, the little robber baron knows people are suckers for the new, so he's made and sold version after version of the classic pasttime, from the celebrated original to GenericStateUniversityopoly, to the perennial chick magnet Lord of the Rings Trilogy Monopoly, which is a DCist favorite. more ›

Ever stared up at the George Washington Masonic Memorial, one of Alexandria's most distinctive landmarks, and wondered about what goes on inside? Given its masonic "heritage", you probably couldn't help but imagine that the place might hold some mysteries. more ›

A lot, if a story in today's WaPo is any indication. It seems that Shaw's African American community is balking at the notion of officially designating a stretch of 9th Street NW, between U and T streets, as "Little Ethiopia." The area has in fact been commonly referred to as such by a lot of District residents (including by DCist) since a whole bunch of Ethiopian restaurants and markets opened there in recent years. more ›

One of our favorite monuments in this city is the District of Columbia's World War I Memorial, honoring those from the capital who fought and died in the Great War. This DCist's late great uncle, who grew up in Foggy Bottom before George Washington University gobbled it all up, was a World War I vet. So we stop by when ever we stroll through West Potomac Park. more ›

Traveling on 14th Street NW between Columbia Heights and U Street, there is definite transition of streetscapes as you go down the hill. The transitionary zone, between Clifton and V streets, isn't necessarily marked with distinguished architecture or landmarks, just filler. In a move that is sure to spark continued interest in the area surrounding the 14th Street hill, PN Hoffman is planning "an urban oasis of condominiums with the neighborhood vibe built right in" on 14th Street at V Street called the Flats at Union Row fka Union Square. (Studios starting in the upper $200K) more ›

We think that Woodward, Bernstein, Bradlee et al, have this whole Deep Throat thing wrong. W. Mark Felt? Seriously, didn't the good folks over at 15th and L streets see the 1999 movie "Dick"? more ›

After a one year hiatus, Artomatic begins again, this time at the former location of the National Capitol Childrens Museum at the end of the culture-starved H Street corridor. The three-week long event begins at 7 PM tomorrow evening for an opening party with six music performances, a dance performance, and thousands of unique art displays. Though the event calendar on the website is still incomplete, planned during the event are numerous performances and showings... more ›

Veterans Day is tomorrow and the official observance of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month will bring a whole host of closures and modified schedules. Check out the District's rundown of Veterans Day events and closures. Veterans Day is rooted in Armistice Day, which remembers when the guns fell silent on the Western Front during the first World War. In a city that has memorials dedicated to Armenian earthquake victims,... more ›