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Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Koshland is very much on the small side for D.C. museums, but it's great for kids, and for those happy adults who can let loose and act like kids.
LabX is the public engagement testbed at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - currently located in Washington, D.C. From 2004 until 2017, it was known as the Marian Koshland Science Museum. The museum featured exhibits that presented modern science and scientific issues in an accessible way, geared for the general public. It explored current scientific issues that were important for the nation's and world's public policy decisions, as presented in reports by the United States National Academies. The National Academy of Sciences replaced the museum with LabX.
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The monument bears the names of nearly 20,000 officials who lost their lives on the job. The museum has many interactive experiences such as dispatching a simulated 911 call, although it has been accused of peddling "copaganda".
In the Pension Building, the building itself is highly recommended for its architecture, with an expansive open interior space with massive columns. The space is used on occasion for special events, including 10 Presidential inaugural balls. There is a small cafe inside, to the right of the entrance, and places to sit and relax, as well as a gift shop. The museum features long-term exhibits on the planning and building of Washington, D.C., and on green building and communities, along with various short-term exhibits and special events.
The 18,277-seat arena is home to both the Washington Wizards of the NBA and the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals. The Georgetown Hoyas college basketball team also plays games here, as do the WNBA's Washington Mystics. It also hosts major concerts, WWE wrestling, and various other events throughout the year. Tickets are sold through Ticketmaster or at the box office.
This is the top theater company downtown for seeing new plays. Drama here is edgy, takes real risks, and is almost always memorable.
The collection here is a walk through encyclopedia of American Art—Gilbert Stuart's stern presidential portraits through Nam June Paik's house-sized America sculpture of neon and televisions.
D.C. can't get enough Shakespeare, to the extent that the Shakespeare Theatre Company had to open a second, enormous performance venue in 2007 at the Sidney Harman Hall. Both venues are great, the Lansburgh being a long-time favorite and a smaller, intimate space, and the Harman Hall being big, flashy, and state-of-the-art. The performances here of Shakespeare, often set in present times, as well as other classics from Aeschylus to Marlowe, are almost always universally-acclaimed and top-notch. If you want to see theater in D.C., this is a great place to start. If you are in D.C. in the early fall, enter the online lottery for "Free for All" tickets.