Jazz in the Sculpture Garden

before best buddy of BOOF, ea, left for her venture into the peace corps, we decided to do a well-loved “DC” thing and hit up the summer series of jazz in the sculpture garden. being the only the second weekend of the summer series, we expected crowds but not to the level that we saw.

let me tell you a story. once upon a time in the summer tourist haven that is DC, there was a sculpture garden. to the locals, the sculpture garden is a nice place to go for a walk through on a nice spring day or fall day with a group of friends or a significant other and check out the cool sculptures (the Lichtenstein House is my faveee). In the winter, it becomes a source of winter fun with its ice skating rink right in the middle of all the sculptures. however, although my tourists new of this little gem tucked in our beloved city, they never knew about our secret. unfortunately, some one spilled the beans. the secret is out. throughout the summer months, various jazz acts from all around the country grace this beautiful sculpture garden on friday evenings for a wonderful jazz concert.

it used to be a much smaller showing where everyone brings out snacks, wine, blankets, and takes in the good music vibes and good company of their buddies. however, on this second week of jazz in the sculpture garden for the summer 2010 season, it was packed. packed. essentially, jazz in the sculpture garden has morphed into “DC’s Largest Outdoor Happy Hour”. although it is still a really fun scene, you can’t even hear the jazz anymore and you must arrive promptly at 5pm to even be guaranteed a tiny spot of grass to sit on. you now will bump into everyone you know, even those “friends” who you “forgot to invite” or people who you really just don’t want to see at all.

many buddies have observed that hopefully it was only this packed because it was the first couple of weeks, however, i really don’t foresee it getting much calmer with july 4th around the corner and then the prime time tourist months. despite the ridiculous crowds there are still so many great things that this event has to offer.

1) it is still SUPER fun. yes, it is packed. yes, you can barely hear the actual “jazz”. but with a good group of buddies, good snacks, good wine (or sangria and spinach dip from the classiest outdoor museum concession stand in the country), you will have a stellar time.

2) world class jazz artists for free. really? enough said.

3) the largest dc outdoor happy hour. it’s just pretty cool and fun to be apart of it. to see such a wide variety of people both young, old, awkward, hipster all come together for a very uniquely “DC” experience is really quite awesome.
all in all. definitely go. i’ll be back again. but just be prepared because it may not be quite as you remembered.
Overall Grade: B+