Events

Garden Stroll & Tea

Recurring weekly on Thursday
Address: 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA
Times: 1pm - 3pm
Contact: Green Spring Gardens
Phone: (703) 941-7987
Admission: $28

Tour some of the glorious demonstrations gardens with a master gardener docent who will inspire you with stories of Green Spring past and present. Afterwards, enjoy a traditional English afternoon tea served in our 1784 historic house.

Annandale Spring Carnival

Recurring daily
Address: 4251 John Marr Drive, Annandale, VA
Times: Mon-Thurs: 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Fri: 4:00 PM to 12:00 AM, Sat: 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM, Sun: 4:00 PM to 11:00 PM
Contact: Annandale Chamber of Commerce
Phone: (703) 256-7232
Admission: $2.00 - half price coupons available
JUNE 6-21st: ANNANDALE SPRING CARNIVAL in front of the Kmart on John Marr Drive. Bring the kids for a day of family entertainment, games along the midway, rides, food & fun. The Carnival has been extended through June 21st.  See www.annandalechamber.com for more information.

Albare on Limited U.S. Tour

Address: 9537 Courthouse Road, Vienna, VA
Times: 7:30 PM -8:30 PM
Phone: 703-324-SHOW
Admission: Free
ALBARE is a virtuoso jazz guitarist with a strong melodic sense and a wealth of global influences. “He sounds like a positive blend of the late Wes Montgomery and an early George Benson. Airy and light melodic improvisations and the themes reflect an inner harmony of boundless grace.”

Billy Idol with Special Guest: Cat Power

Address: 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, VA
Times: 8 pm
Phone: (703) 255-1900
Admission: $48 in-house, $35 lawn
Unleash your “Rebel Yell” with rock’s choice bad boy performing hits like “Dancing with Myself,” “White Wedding,” “Cradle of Love,” “Flesh for Fantasy,” and “Eyes Without a Face” that leave you wanting more…more…more!

Reston Public Art Casino Night

Address: 11900 Market Street, Reston, VA
Times: 6:00 pm-10:00pm
Contact: Anne Delaney
Phone: (703) 476-9797
Admission: $75/person, $140/couple
Get your game on and at the same time support our “game” at the Initiative for Public Art - Reston’s (IPAR) first Casino Night, Thursday, June 20, 6 -10 p.m. at the Pavilion in Reston Town Center. An individual $75 ticket includes: $10,000 in “IPARty” fun money, one drink ticket, and one raffle ticket per guest. Tickets for couples are $140. Sponsorship opportunities available, ranging from $500 to $25,000. Tickets and sponsorships may be paid for online by visiting https://itrulycare.com/events/ipar-casino-night or by check made to: Initiative for Public Art - Reston (IPAR), 12001 Market Street, Suite 103, Reston, VA 20190. Tickets purchased before May 31, 2013 include an additional $10,000 in “IPARty” fun money. For updates about silent auction items and raffle prizes, visit the IPAR website at www.publicartreston.org/get-involved/special-events/casino-night/. Come out and have a fabulous evening while supporting IPAR. We look forward to rolling the dice with you! It’s a win-win.

President Lincoln's Cottage Signature Cottage Tour

Recurring daily
Address: Upshur St. NW and Rock Creek Church Rd. NW,, Washington, DC
Times: First tour at 10am, Last tour at 3pm
Phone: (202) 829-0436
Admission: Adult: $12; Children (6-12):$5;
The Signature Cottage Tour, an innovative small group tour in which a professional guide uses "historical voices" and images through multimedia technology to bring the stories of Abraham Lincoln and his family to life.

Hoecakes & Hospitality: Cooking with Martha Washington

Recurring daily
Address: 3200 George Washington Memorial Pkwy, Mount Vernon, VA
Times: 9am - 4pm
Admission: Included in regular Estate admission: adults, $15.00; children ages 6-11, $7.00; and children under 5 are admitted free.
George and Martha Washington welcomed thousands of guests to Mount Vernon in the more than forty years they lived here. How did Martha manage to feed so many in a world without refrigerators, microwaves or running water?

Experience a behind-the-scenes look at the Washingtons' kitchen through the new exhibition, Hoecakes & Hospitality: Cooking with Martha Washington. On display inside the Donald W. Reynolds Museum, this temporary exhibition explores how foods were prepared and presented at 18th-century Mount Vernon. Before appearing in dining rooms, crispy hoecakes, smokes hams, frozen ice creams, and other foods required the work of gardeners, housekeepers, enslaves cooks, butlers and waiters - all under Martha Washington's careful supervision.

Following food from the Estate's field to kitchen to table, visitors will see recipes and cookbooks that Martha treasured, pots that simmered in her kitchen, and fine tablewares that made Mount Vernon's dining room fit for a president. For the first time ever, visitors to the Museum will experience scents as they explore the exhibition - smelling cinnamon, coffee, and warm bread. Open through August 11, 2013.

Entrance to the Donald W. Reynolds Museum is included in regular Estate admission.

Experience Civil War Photography: From the Home Front to the Battlefront

Recurring daily
Address: 1000 Jefferson Drive, SW, Washington, DC
Times: 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Daily
Phone: (202) 633-1000
Admission: FREE

Learn how Americans personally experienced the Civil War through photographs of the era. Stereo-view photographs, viewing devices, and 3-D images created from the photos (glasses provided) are on view to explore this new and innovative technology of 150 years ago. A camera, glass-slide negatives, and a video reveal how the photographs were created.

The photographs are divided into the following three sections:

• Smithsonian Castle; Washington, DC; and the National Mall
• Beginnings of American photojournalism and battlefield photography
• Homefront experience through photography

No photography permitted.

Tribute at the Tomb at Mount Vernon

Recurring daily
Address: 3200 George Washington Memorial Pkwy, Mount Vernon, VA
Times: 10am - 3pm
Phone: (703) 780-2000
Admission: Included in regular admission ($17 adults, $8 children 6-11, free for children under 5)

Jan-Mar, Daily, 12pm
April-Oct, Daily, 10am & 3pm.

Recite "Washington's Prayer for His Country" and the Pledge of Allegiance as part of this tribute, offered daily at the tomb of George and Martha Washington.

National Treasure Tour at Mount Vernon

Recurring daily
Address: 3200 George Washington Memorial Pkwy, Mount Vernon, VA
Times: 11:30am - 4pm
Admission: $5 per tour, in addition to regular Estate admission: adults, $17.00; children ages 6-11, $8; and children under 5 are admitted free.

Mount Vernon's popular "National Treasure Tour" returns beginning March 1.  The tour is dedicated to the behind-the-scenes filming of the blockbuster movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets at Mount Vernon. The National Treasure Tour combines Hollywood and history, giving visitors stories about the filming and also information on how the locations were used during George Washington's time.  Included in this approximately hour-long walking tour is the Mansion's basement and cornerstone, the setting for a pivotal scene. Fans of the movie will recognize the space as the location where Nicolas Cage's character kidnaps the president.

This special tour costs $5 per tour in addition to Estate admission. Please be aware that this is an extensive walking tour that covers steep steps in the Mansion and a walk down a long hill to the wharf.

Pope-Leighey House Guided Tours

Recurring weekly on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Address: 9000 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria, VA
Times: 10am - 4pm (tours on the hour and half hour)
Phone: (703) 780-4000
Admission: $8.50/adult, $4/child (k-12)
During the 1930s, Frank Lloyd Wright set his formidable attention towards designing affordable middle-class residences. More than 100 of these modest homes, referred to as Usonian, thought to mean "the United States of North America," were constructed between 1936 and Wright's death in 1959, including the Pope-Leighey house (1940). Commissioned in 1939 by Loren Pope, a journalist in Falls Church, the residence was sold to Robert and Marjorie Leighey in 1946. The house was in the path of an expansion of Highway 66, so in an effort to preserve the building, Mrs. Leighey gave the property to the National Trust, which relocated it to nearby Woodlawn and granted her lifetime tenancy. Mrs. Leighey occupied the house at Woodlawn, until her death in 1983. Unusually, the house required a second move due to the instability of the clay soil, and was relocated about thirty feet up the hill in 1995-96.

Garden and Landscape Tours

Recurring daily
Address: 3200 George Washington Memorial Pkwy, Mount Vernon, VA
Times: 11am - 12pm
Admission: Included in regular Estate admission: adults, $15.00; children ages 6-11, $7.00; and children under 5 are admitted free.

This 45-minute guided walking tour examines Washington's brilliant design for the grounds around Mount Vernon. Visit the gardens he created, see some of the original trees, and learn how he merged areas for work and leisure to create a master plan for his beloved home.

Mount Vernon in the Civil War Walking Tour

Recurring daily
Address: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Alexandria, VA
Times: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Phone: (703) 780-2000
Admission: $5 in addition to Estate admission: $17 adults; $8 children (6-11); free for children 5 & under.

Mount Vernon invites visitors to experience a unique side of Civil War history at George Washington's home through a new walking tour, Mount Vernon in the Civil War, beginning April 2. Explore historic locations and listen to dramatic Civil War stories - from the life-risking efforts of the estate's earliest caretakers to battlefield cannon fire rumbling the Mansion!

These special tours are limited in capacity and cost $5 in addition to Estate admission.

Slave Life at Mount Vernon Tour

Recurring daily
Address: 3200 George Washington Memorial Pkwy, Mount Vernon, VA
Times: 2pm - 3pm
Phone: (703) 780-2000
Admission: Included in regular admission ($17 adults, $8 children 6-11, free for children under 5)

Tours of slave life and gardens enrich the visitor experience by providing in-depth knowledge of these fascinating subjects during the 45-minute guided walking tours, included with admission. The Slave Life at Mount Vernon daily tour explores the lives and contributions of the slaves who lived at Mount Vernon. 

Urban Decay 4

Recurring daily
Address: 9601 Ox Road, Lorton, Virginia
Times: Artist Discussion: June 8, 5pm; Opening Reception: June 8, 7-11pm
Contact: Workhouse Arts Center
Phone: (703) 584-2900
Admission: Free
The Workhouse Arts Center kicks off the summer with Urban Decay 4, an exhibition of low-brow urban art. Low-brow art is a populist art movement with origins in the underground comic world, punk music, tattoo and street art. The Workhouse in collaboration with Urban Art Syndicate (UAS), a local community art group presents urban Decay 4 Urban Decay 4 will feature artists from around the country. The artists and works were selected and curated by Debra Yarrington, curator at UAS. A popular aspect of Urban Decay is the vinyl toy submission display. Vinyl toys are a prominent and fast growing part of the low-brow art movement. The vinyl toy submissions will be accepting entries on May 25 & 26, 2013. The cost is $20 per vinyl entry. Urban Decay 4 will exhibit emerging and establish artists alongside one another in the effort to bridge the gap. The goal behind Urban Decay 4 is to create a common place for artists to exhibit and generate a discussion about contemporary art practices. The reception for Urban Decay 4 will take place on June 8, from 6-9pm. The reception will feature hip hop dancer Kenny Wells, the DJ Expansion Broadcast, and local band Lightspeed Rescue. There will be a panel discussion lead facilitated by Debra Yarrington and featured artists prior to the opening reception beginning at 5pm.