The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall expresses its intention in every inch. From the soaring limestone tiers of the building’s face to the award-winning native American food in the cafeteria to the artwork on the elevators, its desire to tell the story of the original Americans and immerse museum goers in that story is revealed.

Now that the Silver Line has opened, the sparkling new Spring Hill Metro stop is just a half block from the theater. With 1st Stage's engaging and innovative black box performances and its central location just east of Leesburg Pike and just west of Tysons Galleria, I have no doubt that I will no longer be able to keep this gem of a theater to my self.

My taste buds were thrilled and my waistline was terrified when I discovered that there would be a branch of the famous D.C. diner opening in Arlington, on my side of the Potomac. How would I resist the thick, spicy half-smokes smothered in Ben's chili when I no longer had close-to-impossible parking or a two-train Metro ride separating me from them? When I visited the restaurant at 1725 Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon a few weeks ago, it was even worse than I feared.

I joined the Title Boxing Club in late August to work off the summer cocktails. But news of NFL players using their warrior strength to abuse the women and children around them has made me think about women feeling vulnerable and defenseless. I don’t think it’s a woman’s responsibility to prevent herself from being hit. It’s a man’s responsibility to not hit. But the jab, cross, hook, uppercuts that I’ve been giving the 100-pound bag at the Title Boxing Club might give me an advantage I hadn't had against an attacker I hope I'll never have to face.

As summer draws to a close, it would seem wise to put aside such warm-weather activities. But what I learned from that gorgeous Monday white water tubing with the help of the Harpers Ferry Adventure Center is that there is no better time to go than when no one else is going.

Maybe not everyone gets as excited at labyrinthian adventures through the trees as I do, but when I stumbled upon info about the Blue Hole swimming hole at Sugar Hollow while researching a recent trip to Charlottesville, I got jazzed!

Going to a tea at the Historic Rosemont Manor in Berryville, Va., is everything little girls imagine tea parties are like when they put on their mothers' floppy hats and drink fruit punch out of tiny cups. As full-grown women, my girlfriend and I got to wear our pretty summer dresses and enter the elegant Southern-style manor where American royalty like the Kennedys once stayed. We got to drink tea from delicate rose-painted cups and eat peach scones topped with Devonshire cream.

We in the DMV are spoiled rotten. Why? Because we can wander down to the National Mall and take a gander at the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the United States, the Declaration of Independence, Dorothy's ruby slippers. For free. The Hirshhorn Museum has always been a favorite museum at the Mall because of its contemporary art, its outdoor sculpture garden and its general lack of crowds. It feels like the museum you can breathe in.

This was my family’s fifth or sixth trip to the tree-climbing and zip-lining adventure land in Montgomery County, and we’d ended every trip covered in sweat, showing off some impressive scrapes and bruises, and seriously psyched about our ability to look a leaf-strewn death in the face. Visiting The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring is like being in labor – the end result is so cool you forget about the screaming and crying that preceded it.

Stepping onto the grounds of the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens in Northwest D.C., is like being invited to take your time checking out the glittering jewels, gleaming furniture, sparkling objets d’art and beautiful gardens of the wealthiest and most glamorous woman you’ll ever know.