Things I'm Talking About

• The cat crawl is on Saturday! Here's what you need to know:
  • It's made possible thanks to a team of amazing volunteers! Thank them profusely when you see them!
  • Humane Rescue Alliance will be there with their adoption van, and local cat treat company Cat Years will have free samples on hand (while supplies last)
  • Attendees can join a tour group, or go on their own (very much like an independent cat who can't be told what to do).
  • The map of the cats will be available in app on Saturday.
    • I recommend downloading the app (iOS or Android). While it will be accessible via the web, the web will constantly ask for locations permissions, while the app is once and done.
    • The Apple App Store even has a banner for the cat crawl, which tickles me
  • I am working on a scavenger hunt to win some cat crawl merch. Some scavenger hunt spots may only be able before or after the crawl, so make sure you check the details of each location on Saturday morning before coming!
  • ​Cat crawl merch will not be available for purchase on the day and needs to be ordered online
  • If you're not familiar with Petworth, here are some spots you might want to check out while you're in the neighborhood.
• Honestly I've only been talking about the cat crawl! Cats on the brain.

Valerie

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Location: 1515 Rhode Island Ave NW
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• 🤓 LocalGuessr is GeoGuessr played in person on teams, guessing Google Street View locations that are all somewhere in DC. Three rounds test how well you actually know the city, with prizes for whoever guesses closest. Wednesday 9/30. Price not stated.
• 🤓 National Geographic Trivia Night at Explorers Eatery skips the generic questions for rounds built around real Nat Geo stories on science, wildlife, and culture. Entry includes a beer, wine, or soft drink and two games, with prizes for the top teams. Wednesday 9/30. $10.
• 🏰 The African American Civil War Museum reopens after years of reconstruction, now 16,000 square feet with new exhibits including “From Slavery to the White House,” tracing Michelle Obama’s ancestors who served in the USCT. Wednesday 9/30. Free.
• 🍲 The Taste of Western Market turns the food hall into a $5-and-under tasting menu, with nearly 20 vendors like Capo Italian Deli, Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls, and Andy’s Pizza running special-event pricing. RSVP free to browse the menu, or grab a paid ticket for a gift card and vendor freebies. Wednesday 9/30. Free to attend, $15+ for perks.
• 🎭 DC Public Library’s Ciné International Film Series screens Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma (Mexico, 2018), a quiet, black-and-white portrait of a Mexico City household in the early 1970s that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Wednesday 9/30. Free.
• 🌲 DC Rat Walks are one-hour guided tours through DC alleyways at dusk, led by an anthrozoologist and a rodentologist who’ll show you how to read signs of rat activity and explain why the rats are, in fact, winning. This walk will be in Ward 7. Wednesday 9/30. Free.

• 🎭 DC9 hosts a Coven of Echoes watch party for the new American Horror Story premiere, with costumes encouraged and a room full of fans ready to debate every twist. 21+. Thursday 10/1. Free.
• 🎭 Red Richardson is a British stand-up comedian known for his viral ‘Stay Toxic’ videos and his regular appearances in Ricky Gervais’s live shows, making his DC Improv debut on this tour. Thursday 10/1-10/3. $26.
• 🎭 Swann Queen is a short film reimagining a 1880s DC drag ball hosted by William Dorsey Swann, considered the first person in the US to call themselves a drag queen. The screening is followed by live drag from Hennessey and Mas, plus a trailer premiere from Black in Space. Thursday 10/1. Free.
• 📖 Art, Bikes, and Beer is Phillips after 5’s Oktoberfest twist, with a talk from DC Cycling Concierge on the city’s best bike paths, a hands-on repair workshop from Conte’s, and live folk from Baltimore trio Wicked Sycamore. Thursday 10/1. $20.
• 📖 What’s Done With the Dead is a talk from bioarchaeologist Jordan Wilson covering how humans have handled corpses across history, from Tibetan sky burials and Egyptian mummification to human composting and the Paris Catacombs. She’ll also get into the science of decomposition and whether grief exists in animals like elephants and chimpanzees. Thursday 10/1. $15.
• 🍲 Cookbook Soiree with Carla Hall gathers a small room for conversation with Hall on her new book, Carla Bakes, plus bites made from its recipes in a kitchen full of BSH appliances. Ticket includes a signed copy. Thursday 10/1. $50.

• 🤓 Catch You on the Upside! Social Game Night brings board games to the food hall atop the Rosslyn Metro, with pinball and arcade games downstairs for $15 unlimited play. Bring your own game or learn a new one with people who value conversation over winning. Friday 10/2. Free.
• 🎭 The Immigration Film Fest opens with three short films about food, music, and community building, followed by a talk with filmmakers Nich Perez and Amina Chaudary and Her Anthem subject Hurunnessa Fariad. Ticket includes locally-made food. Friday 10/2. $17.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 The Jomeh Bazar Vintage Sewing Machine Petting Zoo at Amend + Adapt Studio sets up working sewing machines from every decade of the last century for you to touch and test. Friday 10/2. Free.
• 🤸 Serve Up is a coach-led tennis session at Dwight Mosley-Taft Tennis Courts with drills and live-ball play split by skill level, plus a DJ and light refreshments. Friday 10/2. $11.
• 🖼️ Closing Reception and First Friday Open Studios wraps up “We Are the Ones,” a juried exhibition with 18 multidisciplinary artists exploring collective action. Meet some of the 50+ resident artists and walk through their open studios. Friday 10/2. Free.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Date Your Friends’ Friends at Rocket Bar skips the apps and works the old-fashioned way: everyone brings single friends to meet other people’s single friends. Friday 10/2. Price not stated.
• 🖼️ The Dupont Circle Art Walk is a self-guided tour through galleries, embassies, and cultural centers in the neighborhood, with eight venues open on the first Friday of each month. Friday 10/2. Free.
• 🌐 DC Mixed Asians hosts a Mid-Autumn Festival Potluck at Spot of Tea Dupont Circle, open to mixed Asians and anyone else who wants to celebrate the year’s brightest moon. Bring a dish to share. Friday 10/2. Free.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Queer Joy on the Waterfront is the first pop-up from Lilli’s, a sapphic bar planned for Arlington in 2027 named for local lesbian activist Dr. Lilli Vincenz. Expect a cash bar, food trucks, drag, and queer vendors at Crystal City Water Park, with proceeds going toward the bar’s permanent space. Friday 10/2. Free.
• 🖼️ The Superfair DC brings 70+ independent artists from the DMV and beyond to Gallery Place, including Jet (Valery Johnson), known for blue monochrome portraits with gold halos. Curator-led “How To Be A Collector” tours walk you through buying your first piece. Friday 10/2. $20+.

• 🌐 Oktoberfest at The Wharf brings dirndls, lederhosen, and Sam Adams Octoberfest beer to District Pier, with the Wiener 500 Dachshund Dash and a stein-hoisting championship anchoring the afternoon. There's also a polka dance class and a best-dressed contest for anyone who takes the costume part seriously. Saturday 10/3. Free.
• 🐾 The celebration for the cats of DC is back! The Petworth Pretty Kitties Cat Crawl is a guided walking tour through the neighborhood where you’ll stop by different homes to meet and admire local felines (some you can pet, some you can’t, but all are adorable). Saturday 10/3. Free.
• 🍲 The Anacostia Crab Feast brings unlimited Blue Chesapeake crabs and a champagne and rosé garden to Marion Barry Ave, with live R&B and Go-Go from TCB, DB Bantino, Big H + Big O, and a DJ set from Aladdin Da Prince. The Soul Vibes Sunday Market runs alongside it with local vendors, axe throwing, and skee-ball. Saturday 10/3. Free entry, crabs cost extra.
• 🐾 The Blessing of the Animals at the Franciscan Monastery follows the St. Francis tradition of having friars bless pets on the monastery grounds. Bring the dog, cat, or whatever else you’ve got. Saturday 10/3. Free.
• 🎈 College Park Day takes over the Aviation Museum and airport with three stages of live music, 17+ local food and drink vendors, and a plane and helicopter fly-in you can walk right up to. Free museum admission is part of the deal. Saturday 10/3. Free.
• 🖌️ At the Haunted Learning Lab, kids learn about Shakespeare’s witches, ghosts, and fairies, then gather around a cauldron to build a spooky scene from Macbeth. Saturday 10/3. Free (suggested $10 donation).
• 🎈 The Glow Block Party closes down Pennsylvania Ave for a day of electronic music and local vendors, headlined by Grammy-winning DJ Diplo alongside tech house and dance acts. Saturday 10/3. Price TBA.
• 🎈 The Greater DC Yoga Festival brings outdoor yoga classes, workshops, and a vendor market to The Yards Park on the waterfront. Drop-in main stage classes run throughout the day, no pre-registration needed. Saturday 10/3. $35+.
• 🌐 Naija Jollof & Suya Day Party is a Nigerian Independence Weekend celebration at Zebbies Garden with afrobeats, jollof rice, and suya. Saturday 10/3. Free before 5PM.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Neighborhood Day at the Kreeger Museum opens the galleries and Sculpture Garden for a free day of art-making, a djembe drum circle, and a scavenger hunt for kids. Bring a picnic blanket for the grounds (no on-site parking, so plan to walk or rideshare). Saturday 10/3. Free.

• 🖌️ At this Tea Drying & Blending workshop at Edgewood Community Farm, you'll pick herbs straight from the garden, learn basic drying methods, and blend your own custom flavors. Everyone leaves with homemade tea sachets made from what they harvested. Sunday 10/4. $20.
• 📜 This walking tour of Black-built Modernist architecture covers a mile of Benning Road, starting at the Benning Road Metro and ending at Minnesota Avenue, led by a Historic Preservation Specialist from the DC Historic Preservation Office. Sunday 10/4. Free.
• 🐾 Halloween Pet Portraits brings a pop-up studio to Congressional Cemetery for dog and family portraits, shot between the Chapel and the Sousa family plot. Dress your dog up, book a timed slot, and get digital photos within 48 hours. Sunday 10/4. $30.
• 🎭 Catch Jose “Hoozay” Velasquez at the DC Improv, where the Salvadoran comic behind the Prime Video special “Hoozay the Salvadoran” runs through Latino family chaos, cultural humor, and crowd work. Sunday 10/4. $29+.
• 🛍️ Black Gay Flea: Summer Kickback at Wunder Garten brings together Black-owned vendors and small businesses, plus a spades tournament and a dunk tank. DJ Jam2x and DJ Lauren Jay handle the music, 21+ event, IDs checked. Sunday 10/4. $8.
• 🐾 Christ Church Capitol Hill returns to Congressional Cemetery for its annual Blessing of the Animals, open to pets of any variety, line up at the E Street gate. Sunday 10/4. Free.
• 🎈 The Howl at The Moon Experience is a Halloween pop-up at the O Street Mansion, where 80+ hidden doors lead to animatronic characters, haunted gardens, and a themed cocktail included with entry. Sunday 10/4-11/1. $55.
• 🕺 Indigo Girls brings the GRAMMY-winning folk-rock duo to The Anthem, 35 years and 16 studio albums into a career built on songs like “Closer to Fine.” Sunday 10/4. $92+. *
• 🖌️ At Let the Cards Lead You Inward, you’ll collage your own card guided by an intuitive reading for your elemental sign, with a sound bath layered underneath as you work. Leave with a one-of-a-kind card and a Halloween-leaning take on the practice. Sunday 10/4. $50.
• 🤸 The Red Shoe 5K at National Harbor is Ronald McDonald House DC’s biggest annual fundraiser, with a kids’ fun run, face painting, and dogs welcome alongside the race. Sunday 10/4. $26-$64.

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* Items marked with an asterisks contain affiliate links (for which I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you) or sponsored. Events are featured based on if I find them interesting and think others will too, regardless if they are affiliate or sponsored.