a little DC help, pls.

[maunahaole]

My brother in law will be in DC in late feb. He will only be there for a couple of days. He expressed some interest to me on going to some book readings, as he watches bookTV and sees that a lot of authors do readings there. Any tips on how to tap into info on that circuit would be helpful. Also, top 1-2 must see museums. He will only have a couple days to do stuff.

He has lived overseas in for the past several years in some sketchy places so he approaches stuff with a different world view - he definitely wants to see stuff that is literate and intellectual.

thanks in advance

[andrew]

In DC, all things literary start and end with the bookstore Politics and Prose. Tell him to check their schedule out and if there is nothing going on there, to just ask if they can recommend something. As far as museums go, the fine art and the natural history are my favorites, along with a trip to the sculpture gardens and zoo. I always like going to the national portrait gallery as well. But not many others tend to find that as entertaining as I do for some reason.
Andrew

[robin3mj]

In DC, all things literary start and end with the bookstore Politics and Prose. Tell him to check their schedule out and if there is nothing going on there, to just ask if they can recommend something. As far as museums go, the fine art and the natural history are my favorites, along with a trip to the sculpture gardens and zoo. I always like going to the national portrait gallery as well. But not many others tend to find that as entertaining as I do for some reason.
Andrew

Is that the one in Dupont Circle with the cafe upstairs? If not, then someone else can chime in the name of that one- definitely an independent bookshop feel, and looks like they host events there. The breakfast upstairs is good too.

[billrick]

The store in Dupont is KramerBooks, and I agree that it is a good one. For someone who watches bookTV, I'd also recommend the Library of Congress (Jefferson Building) and the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center.

Kennedy Center: Millennium Stage

[Too Tall]

Reading Series
FWIIW: The Writers Center
Erratic Sundays at 2:00 pm
4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD. (301) 654-8664.

My niece when in town reads at The Writers Center.

[Too Tall]

Reading Series
FWIIW: The Writers Center
Erratic Sundays at 2:00 pm
4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD. (301) 654-8664.

My niece when in town she reads at The Writers Center.

[bikinchris]

The store in Dupont is KramerBooks, and I agree that it is a good one. For someone who watches bookTV, I'd also recommend the Library of Congress (Jefferson Building) and the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center.

Kennedy Center: Millennium Stage

+1 on the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Italian Renaissance marble and details everywhere that would take months to see everything. Might be the only government project built under budget and before deadline. not to be missed. My favorite building in DC. If you actually have a subject to research, you can apply to get into the reading room to look into it. Of course, the building is too small to house their vast collection of books, so many books have to be brought in from Maryland overnight.
Some of my other favorites are the National Portrait Gallery, the National Building Museum, most of the Smithsonian museums and especially the new Udvar Hazy Air and Space museum out at Dulles.
The monuments by night are pretty cool. Here are some local images from some of my many DC trips:
Washington D

[bikinchris]

The store in Dupont is KramerBooks, and I agree that it is a good one. For someone who watches bookTV, I'd also recommend the Library of Congress (Jefferson Building) and the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center.

Kennedy Center: Millennium Stage

+1 on the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Italian Renaissance marble and details everywhere that would take months to see everything. Might be the only government project built under budget and before deadline. not to be missed. My favorite building in DC. If you actually have a subject to research, you can apply to get into the reading room to look into it. Of course, the building is too small to house their vast collection of books, so many books have to be brought in from Maryland overnight.
Some of my other favorites are the National Portrait Gallery, the National Building Museum, most of the Smithsonian museums and especially the new Udvar Hazy Air and Space museum out at Dulles.
The monuments by night are pretty cool. Here are some local images from some of my many DC trips:
Washington D

[srenda]

National Building Museum is one the most underrated museums around, it has a new exhibit called Unbuilt Washington which rocks.

[Eddie]

The store in Dupont is KramerBooks, and I agree that it is a good one. For someone who watches bookTV, I'd also recommend the Library of Congress (Jefferson Building) and the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center.

Kennedy Center: Millennium Stage

The back bar at Kramer has a great beer list and the food is pretty good as well.

National Gallery is HUGE and he would be best served to have an idea what he's interested in seeing before he walks in the door. I've spent an entire afternoon in the Native American section alone.

Wagon guy - if there's anything I can offer here on the ground please hit me up by e-mail.

[maunahaole]

Thanks for that Eddie. I'll pass that along.