Ah, one of the last summer weekends is upon us. The city is emptying out, you can have bar space to yourself, everyone’s baking in the heat and living slow. Enjoy.

Katie: It seems like DC’s disgustingly hot weather is going to keep up this weekend, so my plans will revolve around keeping cool. I’d happily take a day trip down to the beach at Lake Anna State Park outside of Fredericksburg, where you can soak up the sun on a sand beach, and float around in the huge lake. There’s even a snack shack with ice cream when you need a cool treat. To continue my plans to stay cool, I’ll probably be spending Saturday night on the roof deck at Eventide in Clarendon where they’ve built an entire food, wine and cocktail list revolving around cold. Sunday I’ll head over to my new Farmer’s Market crush, the small but loveable Columbia Pike market (props to WLDC author Donna for suggesting it to me!) and grab some watermelon for the fridge. The rest of Sunday will be spent indoors reveling in air conditioning catching up on summer flicks like (500) Days of Summer or Julie and Julia.

Jasmine: This weekend, I am venturing to a couple of places I’ve never been before. I pass the Postal Museum on my new commute, so I figure I better check that place out. Right now, they have an exhibition featuring alphabet stamps, which sounds like it will feed the word nerd in me. I also want to take a day trip to check out Great Country Farm’s outdoor laser tag setup in Bluemont, VA, which I read about a while ago. They have a lot of other activities, too (including a vineyard across the street) in case laser tag is a bust, but I am envisioning it something like the paintball scene in 10 Things I Hate About You.

Paulo: We’ll be at the Philips Collection to see Paint Made Flesh, an exhibit of modern post-World War II paintings of the human figure. Time permitting, we may also check out the Corcoran Gallery’s exhibition of William Eggleston’s Democratic Camera. Oh, and Alexandria residents may want to check out the current show of landscapes at The Art League Gallery, Torpedo Factory — especially since it includes a painting by (ahem) my wife.

“Carnival Corn Dogs” by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

Tom: This weekend, I’m in sunny California, but were I here, you can bet I’d be over at the Arlington County Fair doing fair type things. Ferris wheels, corn dogs, midway games, how awesome is that? Where’s the District “County” Fair? Why can’t we have nice things? Friday night, the no-brainer is Dollar Baseball at Nats Park, Even if you can’t get the super cheap tickets, get an upper deck seat for $20, and go to see Stephen Strasburg throw out the first pitch. Saturday is the Elephant Party at the National Zoo with the embassies of Sri Lanka and India and Thailand having a good old time. Sunday? Head for the pool, man, just relax.

Tiffany: I’m out of town this weekend, but were I going to be around, I’d definitely be looking to check out some of the performances in the Dance DC Festival. Bollywood Friday night at Atlas Theater, Capoeira Saturday afternoon at the National Museum of the American Indian. Yes, please. And the Nats are having a first-look event with Stephen Strasburg this weekend- Tom’s the baseball fan in the family, but with all the fuss over this kid, I can’t help but be curious.

Shannon: I’m back in town this weekend, and ready to get in some more DC summer fun in before I head out again.  So I’m definitely heading out to the DC area’s Metro-accessible(ish) fair, the Arlington County Fair. Free admission, outdoor movies, fried oreos, and rides with questionable safety standards– what could be better?  And Sunday looks to be the least humid/disgusting day of the weekend, so that sounds like the perfect day for a bike ride along the Clara Barton Parkway to prepare for the Nation’s Triathlon coming up in a couple weeks!

Carl: I plan to be Tom’s emissary and visit the Asian elephants at the zoo since he cannot, and will visit my good friends from the Thai embassy while I am there. In addition, I will be giving blood at Inova in Fairfax, which should make partying that evening at the cool, young, hip, trendy places the other authors might go to even more fun. Not that I party anymore, since, unlike Katie, I am too old to have had Wikipedia in college .

Corinne: Friday (with umbrella and cooler of refreshments in tow), I will head to Wolf Trap to picnic under the Vienna stars while listening to Celtic-y tunes by Carbon Leaf and Great Big Sea. Saturday I will likely check out some newer 14th Street venues with an iced coffee at Mid City Caffe or a meal at Cafe Salsa before heading to a rooftop, back-to-school party (ants on a log and adult versions of apple juice will be served). Sunday I’ll take advantage of some of DC’s finest summer gems like Meridian Hill’s Yoga in the Park and the invigorating drum circle. A sweet treat from Mr. Yogato always seems a good way to cap off a weekend and beat those Sunday night blues!

Cathy: Tomorrow night I’m still debating whether to hit up GHOSTBUSTERS in Rosslyn’s version of screen on the green (amazing…) or to head to Nationals Park for the Beer Week game . Saturday I’m very excited to have my first experience (finally, I mean seriously) helping out Habitat for Humanity, although I’m not especially looking forward to manual labor in this heat. If I survive, I’ll be at RFK on Saturday night for D.C. United’s Ladies Night!!!

Donna: I like these weekend ideas. Saturday’s Culinary Arts Festival at the U.S. Botanic Garden will show you how to cook up goodies from gardens and farmers markets (no, not famous exotics) using only the sun for power! Carbonfree DC, which recently won a $20,000 grant for its Extreme Green Neighborhood Makeover project, needs volunteers throughout the weekend for outreach to low-income residents in Deanwood. And on Sunday afternoon, the National Cathedral is giving a tour of the fantastical creatures that live there, its gargoyles.