Dupont Circle is the place to be this weekend, between the Pride Parade, asparagus season at the farmer’s market, and the Dupont-Kalorama Museum Walk, which will allow you to explore the neighborhood’s fabulous for-profit museums for free. (I’ve walked past Heurich House perhaps hundreds of times, so perhaps this is the weekend to finally visit.) I’ve got the scoop on the museum walk, plus other events this week in this week’s column, available in the print edition, in PDF format, and below.

Get Out: The Week’s Pocket Picks for June 6, 2014

The Washington Times

By Samantha Sault

Pick of the Pack: Dupont-Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend

Washingtonians are lucky to have access to the Smithsonian’s 19 free museums and galleries throughout the area—so many that it’s tough for even lifelong residents to visit them all. However, the city is also home to many for-profit museums, including several in Dupont Circle and Kalorama that are definitely worth the admission fee. This weekend provides the perfect opportunity to explore them when the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium opens the doors to seven neighborhood museums and historic homes for free. The organization also will provide neighborhood walking tours and a free shuttle between the sites, where you can play lawn games at the Heurich House, enjoy live jazz at the Phillips Collection or learn English country dances at Dumbarton House. Other participating museums include Anderson House, the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History and the Woodrow Wilson House. Saturday and Sunday throughout Dupont Circle and Kalorama. 202/785-2040. Web: dupontkaloramamc.com.

Exhibit: Total Art: Contemporary Video

Once only available to film and television studios, video recording equipment became widely available in the 1960s and 1970s, and many artists began to dabble in video art. And women were at the forefront of this movement, utilizing video to express themselves and their political and social ideas. On Friday, the National Museum of Women in the Arts will debut its first large-scale exhibition of influential video art by women from the start of the movement to today. Get a look at works like Dara Birnbaum’s “Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman” (1978-9), which uses clips of the show starring Lynda Carter to analyze the impact of television on women and society, and Margaret Salmon’s “Ninna Nanna” (2007), a peek at life at home for young Italian mothers. To coincide with the exhibit, the museum will host several free community days and gallery talks, as well as an opening reception on Friday evening. Through Oct. 12 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW. 202/783-5000. Web: nmwa.org.

Comedy: The Kids in the Hall

If you’ve ever wanted to put your thumb and index finger up to your eye to crush crush crush the heads of filibustering members of Congress or babbling talking head, you’ll want to get tickets to see the Kids in the Hall. Formed in 1984 by five unconventional Canadian comedians, the group worked with “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels to produce their bawdy, Monty Python-style sketch comedy television show that ran in Canada and the U.S. until 1995. The group is known for several memorable characters: Chicken Lady, the offspring of a farmer and a hen who has a voracious appetite for men; Cabbage Head, who thinks cabbage leaves in lieu of hair will help him woo women; Buddy Cole, a gay socialite who is pen pals with Queen Elizabeth II; and of course, the Head Crusher, who crushes the “flatheads” he finds irritating. The Kids in the Hall stop at Constitution Hall on Saturday as part of a limited, five-city tour. Saturday at D.A.R. Constitution Hall, 1776 D St. NW. 800/745-3000. Web: ticketmaster.com.

Dining: Dine-N-Dash with Jose Andres

Penn Quarter is one of the city’s premiere dining destinations with new spots opening seemingly every week—but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, Spanish chef and restaurateur Jose Andres is credited with jumpstarting the neighborhood’s nightlife scene when he opened Jaleo in 1993. (He now also owns Zaytinya, Oyamel, and Minibar nearby too.) On Tuesday, you can try all of Mr. Andres’ restaurants, and many more, while supporting a good cause. Beginning at 6 p.m., enjoy a “restaurant crawl” through more than a dozen Penn Quarter restaurants and bars, with unlimited bites and beverages and live music. VIP ticketholders will also get free pedicab rides between restaurants as well as access to an after party with Mr. Andres at Zaytinya. All proceeds will benefit World Central Kitchen, which seeks to eradicate hunger around the world by teaching people how to cook and run food-related businesses. Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Penn Quarter. 202/505-3046. Web: dinendash.info.

Concert: Yacht Rock Revue

On a summer evening, there’s surely no better place to be than on a boat, toes in the water, Corona in hand. But if you have to work the next day, the second-best place to be might be at the Hamilton, where you can pretend you’re dockside with the Yacht Rock Revue. Called “The Greatest Show on Surf,” the group performs cool 70s favorites like Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald and Steely Dan. But the Yacht Rock Revue is more than just a tribute band, injecting their own style as well as a little comedy into a musical act that boasts diehard fans around the country. The band will kick off summer on Thursday at the Hamilton, and you’ll want to be sure to wear flip flops you can dance in. Thursday at The Hamilton, 600 14^th St. NW. 202/787-1000. Web: thehamiltondc.com. 

© Copyright 2014 The Washington Times, LLC and Samantha Sault