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This lovely carousel with its fancifully carved steeds is a treat even for quite young visitors. The sounds of the band organ are very cheering.

Fascinating and entertaining cooking, storytelling, craft-making, dancing, music, and art fill the National Mall for two weeks around Independence Day (July 4). One of the largest and best cultural events in the world.

Competitions include home-built kites, fighting kites, and others.

This is the Smithsonian’s commemorative version of the Ideal Toy Company’s 1902 bear, based on a famous Washington Star cartoon showing “Teddy” Roosevelt with a bear cub. In the National Museum of American History.

On a corner of Lafayette Square, this 1862 building has been transformed by the French Sofitel chain into an elegant contemporary hotel. The soundproofing and acoustic doors are a welcome feature. The restaurant serves refined French cuisine.

The challenging productions of this nonprofit company allow authors, directors, and actors to deeply explore characters and their social and political situations.

The vivid and spirited atmosphere of Miami is the inspiration for this restaurant and menu: coconut shrimp; tamarind-glazed duck; and scallops with papaya and leeks. The setting is attractive, with multicolored seating, and stylized paintings.

This is a wonderful place for strolling, summer and winter. The diversity of Washington is on parade, the sailboats, yachts, and houseboats are picturesque, and the seafood – both cooked and raw – at the Southwest Fish Wharf is a showcase of what’s best in eastern waters. The Fish Wharf is the current raucous embodiment of colorful markets that have flourished here continuously since about 1790. It is famed for its crabs, oysters, and clams, and also specializes in river fish not widely available elsewhere, such as perch and bass.

A parade on Constitution Ave, SE.

If both Queen Elizabeth II and the Rolling Stones chose to stay here, the St. Regis must be doing something right. Calvin Coolidge took part in the 1926 opening of this grand hotel, styled after a Renaissance palace and appointed with antiques, chandeliers, and fine tapestries.