The DC Traveler

Grammy-winner Cassandra Wilson was named “America’s Best Singer” by TIME magazine in 2001.
Interpreting classic jazz standards or singing her own bluesy jazz pieces is her sound today, but her background is varied, from playing in marching bands as a child to a back up singer with Joni Mitchell and  singer in funk bands.
In the 1980 she explored into the New York jazz scene and has since recorded over 20 albums, won a Grammy and was named the female Jazz Vocalist of the Year by Down Beat magazine, three years in a row.
Cassandra Wilson
Warner Theatre
513 13th Street, NW, between E …read more

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Here’s a wacky convention – Anime USA, designed to bring together fans of Japanese Anime (animation) and Magna (comics – pronounced MAHN-ga, and to educate people about and help promote Japanese arts and popular culture.
Pronounced ah-NEE-may, it’s a popular form of art used in television shows, video games, movies, and on countless Internet sites.
Animation was popular in both the U.S. and Japan after WW-II, but in Japan, anime and magna (animation and comics characters) accounted for over 40% of all of Japan’s domestic films. While in the U.S., animation was mostly targeted at young children, in Japan, it had …read more

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makes fun of everyone, but uses his Mexican-American heritage as an anchor to his humor. After staring in 5 seasons of ABC sitcom, “George Lopez”, he’s hitting the road and stopping in Washington, DC for three shows at the Warner Theatre.George Lopez
He’s released a couple funny Grammy-nominated CDs, an autobiography entitled “Why You Crying?”, which hit the NY Times Bestseller top 20 list, and has also appeared in a dozen movies.  
He’s also had a couple rather public controversies with Jay Leno and Carlos Mencia.
George Lopez
Warner Theatre
513 13th Street, NW, between E & F St.
Washington, D.C., 20004 (map it)
Dates and …read more

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While it looks like a government building, the neoclassical building near  Dupont Circle is actually the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

The inside of the building holds in rather unique museum with very eclectic pieces of freemason history from presidents to actors, G-men to generals.
The museum includes:

36 original still life oil paintings of the various Rite elements by Robert H. White.
The official collection of memorabilia from FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover.
A letter from former President Harry S. Truman.
A life mask of President Abraham Lincoln.
A large collection of memorabilia from the actor Burl Ives, known for his roles in Cat …read more

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Over 20 million tourists visit Washington DC each year, and it’s a safe and tourist-friendly city.  Most local people will go out of their way to assist tourists, provide directions, take your photo in front of the White House or offer recommendations for dining, nightclubs and more. 
But you might just be approached by a scam artist offering you anything from tickets to “designer” products. 
So when visiting Washington, DC, you know you are getting ripped off if…

Anyone offers you discounted tickets to the National Zoo (it’s free).
You get approached to buy a Smithsonian Museum Pass, good at all …read more

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The Washington Nationals new $611 million stadium did nothing to propel the team to play competitive baseball this season. 
Finishing in last place in the National League East, the Nats had the worst record in baseball. 
Last season, the Nationals ended with a 73 win, 89 loss season, finishing in 4th place in the East division.
But if you can’t bare another five months without watching a Nat’s game, your final chance to see the National play at home is Thursday, September 25th.
Washington Nationals Baseball Nationals Park 1500 South Capitol Street, …read more

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In Washington, DC, when you are outside in public, you have to believe you are being monitored or at least will be at some point.
With over 5,200 surveillance cameras operational in the District, not including the ones in and around private and public schools, cameras run by news organizations, hotels, tourist attractions and even the public, you can assume you will at some point, be under someone’s watchful eye.
There’s even a live National Park Service Cherry Blossom cam and a dozen or so at the National Zoo, spying on the pandas and tigers, 24 hours-a-day.
But the most notable cameras …read more

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If you have already toured the inside of the US Capitol Building, perhaps, now that the weather is starting to get a bit more bearable, it’s the perfect time to take an outside walking tour of the most recognizable landmarks in Washington, DC.
George Washington laid the Capitol’s cornerstone in 1793 and since it opened in 1800, it’s been the center of American power and government. 

The building needed to be partially rebuild after the British burned parts of Washington, DC in 1814.  In the 1850s, the Capitol building was expanded, with the massive dome top statue, Freedom being …read more

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Seismologists at the U.S. Geological Survey research and monitor seismic activity.
Using technology first developed by Charles F. Richter, a professor at the California Institute of Technology in 1935, scientists track and record every earthquake and seismic event that occurs around  the world.
And volcanic eruptions, major earthquakes and deadly tsunamis have dominated the recent news.
While they can’t predict earthquakes, they do build models that estimate the probability of an earthquake occurring in specific regions of the world. 
Besides measuring earthquakes, the U.S. Geological Survey is the governmental science organization responsible for providing reliable scientific information to help the government, …read more

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Originally on the site of a Methodist Episcopal church, the Greater New Hope Baptist Church at 8th and I Streets NW, just outside of Washington, DC’s Chinatown is an architectural landmark church, dating back to 1898.

The building’s style with its twin tall towers is considered similar to Berlin’s famous New Synagogue, build in 1866.
Originally on the site of a Methodist Episcopal church, the building was initially the home of Washington, DC’s oldest Jewish congregation, until 1954, when New Hope Baptist moved in.
The lower floors hold a large meeting room and cafeteria, while the top two floors house the church and …read more

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