Shopping

If you’re a shopaholic looking to kick your habit, forget about coming to the Nation’s Capital! Whatever the object of your desire, you’re certain to find it here. Metro Washington’s thousands of retail establishments include everything from megamalls, factory outlets, and neighborhood shopping centers to department stores, tony designer boutiques, discount retailers, bulk-buy membership warehouses, and antiques havens.

In this chapter we offer a shopping tour of Metro Washington, spotlighting major malls and popular retail districts as well as some of the D.C. area’s most interesting specialty stores, with categories listed alphabetically.

Shopping - The Arts

A rich and diverse arts scene is flourishing in Metro Washington, from repertory theaters and burgeoning artists’ colonies to the esteemed National Symphony Orchestra and National Gallery of Art, not to mention such renowned venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Wolf Trap National Park, the nation’s only national park for the performing arts.

Washington, D.C. offers more museums and public galleries than any other North American city. Visitors come from all over the globe to view the National Gallery’s many treasures and once-in-a-lifetime retrospectives. Although the National Gallery alone would be enough to secure our city’s reputation as a visual arts center, Washington is also home to such esteemed galleries as the Smithsonian Institution’s art museums, the Corcoran, the Phillips Collection, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Up-and-coming visual artists can be found at galleries in such areas as Dupont Circle and Georgetown in D.C., and Old Town Alexandria in Virginia.

Our city has produced more than its fair share of past and present cultural luminaries, especially in the areas of stage, screen, and studio. Among those with ties to the area, whether by birth or stints working or attending school here, are actors Warren Beatty and big sister Shirley MacLaine, Goldie Hawn, Robert Prosky, Sandra Bullock, and Helen Hayes, for whom Washington’s equivalent of the Tony Award is named; singers Pearl Bailey, Toni Braxton, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Eva Cassidy, and Roberta Flack; opera stars Placido Domingo and Beverly Sills; jazz legends Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald; guitar virtuoso Danny Gatton; and folk singer Tom Paxton.

Anchored by the aforementioned Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap, Metro Washington knows no music unfamiliar to its discerning ears. Each week you can uncover at least one major concert that fits your taste or mood, whether it be rock, country, opera, classical, bluegrass, R&B, rap, world beat, or folk.

If all the world’s a stage, and if Washington is indeed the nerve center of the globe, then it stands to reason that the Nation’s Capital should have a relatively unparalleled theater scene. While we don’t have the equivalent of the Great White Way, you’ll find the D.C. theater experience to be rewarding in a different way. Our theater companies often tackle evocative subjects and difficult themes. They also host their share of world and U.S. premieres from playwrights who aren’t afraid to be irreverent or controversial. Because D.C. theater companies are not-for-profit, you usually won’t see the same fanfare you’ll find in a Broadway show, with the exception of national touring productions.

Metro Washington enjoys increasingly close ties to Hollywood. It only seems logical that film stars including John Lithgow, Susan Sarandon, and Jon Voight cut their theatrical teeth at Washington’s own Catholic University, whose drama department is among the finest in the nation.

Hollywood has taken a liking to Metro Washington, which has become one of the largest film markets in the nation, rivaling Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

This city of monuments and magnificent vistas is also one of the most filmed locations in the world. Chances are you won’t live here long before you spot a movie crew in Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Old Town Alexandria, Annapolis, or along the National Mall. Recent films, such as Thank You for Smoking, Wedding Crashers, and National Treasure feature Metro Washington as a backdrop.

In this chapter you’ll find an overview of Metro Washington’s performing arts, galleries, and movie houses. You’ll also want to check out our Nightlife chapter for the lowdown on Washington’s club scene, where you’ll find a wide range of entertainment. Check out our Attractions chapter for profiles of museums and other cultural institutions.