All that cooking, all the entertaining, all that, well, falderal, as Dad might say. Get out of the house and enjoy some of the great family-friendly activities D.C. has to offer.
DINE OUT
There’s nothing better than having someone else cook. On Christmas Eve, check out the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a traditional Italian meal featuring seafood. Potenza near the White House is offering a Feast of the Seven Fishes meal for $199 for a party of four, and $99 for each additional couple (potenzadc.com). Dino in the Cleveland Park neighborhood is also offering its annual Feast of the Seven Fishes menu through Dec. 24, consisting of a five-course meal for $49 per person, $20 for children (dino-dc.com).
Other Christmas dining options include 1789 Restaurant in Georgetown, which is decorated for the holiday and features the Washington Men’s Camerata singing carols through Dec. 24 (1789restaurant.com); Fyve at the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City is offering a Christmas Day brunch that features everything from waffles to sushi, $70 for adults and $35 for children (fyverestaurant.com); The Willard InterContinental has a Christmas Day brunch for $65 for adults and $30 for children (washington.intercontinental.com); the Morrison-Clark restaurant has a three-course Christmas Day menu for $55 per person (morrisonclark.com); and Legal Seafoods is offering family-friendly dining options Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (legalseafoods.com).
THEATER & MUSIC
Enjoy a Christmas Eve matinee of “The Nutcracker” at 1 p.m. Dec. 24 at the Warner Theatre, with tickets ranging from $31 to $87 (warnertheatre.com); or head to the Kennedy Center for a free All-Star Christmas Day Jazz Jam on the Millennium Stage (kennedy-center.org).
VISIT NATIONAL HARBOR
One of the area’s newest neighborhoods might just be the place to go for Christmas fun this year. The restaurant and retail mini-city on the Potomac River in Maryland near the Wilson Bridge is all decked out for the season. Check out the free Spirit of Christmas stage show through Dec. 24, the interactive display Ice! ($20 adults, $13 children ages 4 to 12) at the Gaylord National Hotel through Jan. 10, the Water Skiing Santa on Dec. 24 and more. For more information, visit nationalharbor.com or christmasonthepotomac.com.
JUST GET OUT OF THE HOUSE
Take the kids ice-skating at Pentagon Row. The rink is open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Admission is only $8 for adults and $7 for children, and a skate rental is $3 (pentagonrowskating.com). And historic Mount Vernon is open and, in the spirit of the season, on Christmas Day (mountvernon.org).
– Robert Fulton
