Celebrate Bastille Day at DC's most revolutionary party featuring a French Maid Relay Race. The race features 30 Cafe L'Enfant customers (maybe you) dressed in French Maid costumes competing in one of the funniest races you have ever witnessed. Prior to the race, you can join your hosts, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette for some free cake, music, food & drink specials, and door prizes. The race takes place in front of the restaurant on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 8 p.m. Festivities begin at 5 p.m.

Tour de France fans can feel that same sense of exhilaration watching Lance Armstrong cross the finish line when you take to the outdoors and bike the Mount Vernon Bike Trail--well, at least if you pretend you're part of the peloton and Alberto Contador is on your back wheel. The trail is really nice to bike with the added bonus of getting to view the Potomac River and George Washington's home.

The Mount Vernon Trail (which is paved) is a scenic ride that offers riders views of historic DC landmarks, a presidential memorial, places to stop and picnic, a trip through historic Old Town Alexandria and of course, a presidential home to tour. It's approximately 36 miles round trip. . .read more

Take the kids to "Open Your Eyes to the Skies". Journey through the stars, constellations and celestial highlights of the current night sky with a National Air and Space Museum staff member using the Albert Einstein Planetarium projector. The show is free and open to the public. Show times are at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. For more information, click here.

Vacations are a great time to get away and see the sights, but it's also a great time to slow down and catch-up on the latest reads your favorite author has penned; re-read a tome you adored the first time; or discover the tales of a new writer.

To follow is my list of ten books to read this summer and where to read them during your visit to the nation's capital. . .read more

Here are some of the highlights of things to do and see in Washington, DC this weekend:

• Hip Hop Theatre Festival, July 6-12, 2009. Hip hop meets theater in this performing arts festival that combines the spoken word with music and dance.
  
  
• Alexandria Birthday and Independence Day Fireworks, July 11, 2009, Oronoco Bay Park.
  
  
• Capital Fringe Festival, July 9-26, 2009. Performing arts festival with fun for the whole family.
  
  
• Grand Reopening of Ford's Theatre Museum, July 15, 2009. Ford's Theatre Museum has been renovated and will reopen using current technology to take visitors back to Lincoln's world and the history he created. Tours are free.
  
  
• Detox from your weekend with a free Community Yoga Session to celebrate the grand opening of Past Tense. Sun., 7-8 p.m., Lamont Park, 17th St. & Lamont St. NW. Past Tense is located at 3235 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, NW in Washington, DC. Located just three blocks from the Columbia Heights Metro, the studio is accessed easily from the Yellow and Green lines, as well as the 16th Street (S2, S4, S9) bus lines.

Don't miss the fun as whitewater kayakers compete at the Potomac Whitewater Festival on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12. The downriver race--is a quick, adrenaline-packed descent of 60 vertical feet through the Potomac's spectacular class V+ Great Falls--begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday along the Maryland side of Great Falls. Throughout the day there will be additional races and fun for spectators to enjoy. Watching is free but it is $5 to parkcat the Great Falls Tavern Visitors Center.

Fashionistas will not want to miss this special glimpse into the high fashion that once dominated the social scene. An Invitation to the Ball: Marjorie Post's Fancy Dress Costumes of the 1920s is the latest exhibit at Hillwood Museum & Gardens. The exhibit runs from March 14, 2009 through July 12, 2009. Read more.

Ford's Theatre Museum in Washington, DC, which is free and open to the public, reopened its doors on July 15, 2009 after extensive renovations. The museum tells the story of Abraham Lincoln through its new exhibits and artifacts. Visitors begin their tour by passing through a passenger car of a train, representing Lincoln's February 1861 secret train ride to Baltimore to escape would-be assassins. . . .read more

Take a Virtual Tour of Ford's Theatre

Watch A Video of Presidential Historian Richard Norton Smith Discuss the renovations of Ford's Theatre

Mark your calendar for the 2009 Comcast Outdoor Film Festival in Ben Brenman Park, (4800 Brenman Park Dr., Alexandria, VA). The festival takes place July 17 & 18 with movies beginning at dusk. Local restaurants open at 7 p.m. Movies begin at dusk so bring a blanket, a picnic and our favorite concession candies and enjoy July 17th's screening of "Twilight" and July 18th's screening of "Kung Fu Panda". For more information, call the Special Events Hotline at 703-883-4686 or the Special Events Office at 703-838-4844.

Alexandria will celebrate her 260th birthday on July 11, 2009. Party goers can enjoy the sounds of Alexandria Symphony Orchestra's performance which will include Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture with cannon followed by a grand finale of fireworks. Fireworks start at dusk. The Alexandria tradition includes birthday cake, music and food. The fun takes place at Oronoco Bay Park (Union & Madison Streets, Alexandria, VA 22314).

Event Schedule

• 4-7:30 p.m. Community Exhibitors, Children's Activities, and Food & Beverage Sales
  
  
• 6 p.m. Performance by the Alexandria Singers (Pops Chorus)
  
  
• 7:30 p.m. Town Crier announces William D. Euille, Mayor Presentation of Park and Recreation Commission's CIVIC Awards Poetry Reading by Mary McElveen, Alexandria's Poet Laureate
  
  
• 8 p.m. Distribution of Birthday Cake by the Mayor and members of City Council
  
  
• 8:30 p.m. "Big Band Sound," with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra Kim Allen Kluge, Music Director
  
  
• 9:30 p.m. Grand Finale fireworks display, featuring Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Cannon support by the United States Marine Corps, Basic Training School, Quantico, VA