Since The Anthem opened its doors in Washington, D.C. almost exactly one year ago, many big-name artists have graced its stage. There were the memorable opening night performances from rock royalty the Foo Fighters, epic theatrics from Phoenix and The Killers, intimate nights with Tegan and Sara and Erykah Badu, and memorable moments with legends like Bob Dylan and David Byrne.

Well this weekend the Southwest waterfront venue is going to add another unforgettable act to its roster as Florence and the Machine graces the stage Friday and Saturday. Supporting their fourth studio album High as Hope, which has been dubbed by critics as a “quieter” release compared to previous work, the band is playing D.C. this weekend as a part of a 23-city tour.

With Florence Welch and her indie-rock bandmates playing right in our backyard, we wondered how they have influenced the career of Baltimore musicians since they burst onto the scene more than a decade ago.

“We’ll never forget when we first heard her on the radio,” said Britt Olsen-Ecker, who founded the band Outcalls with fellow trained opera singer Melissa Wimbish. “We weren’t together, but we had similar reactions, like, ‘Who is this person singing right now?’ It was intoxicating and so different than anything we’d heard until this point.”

Over the years, the band has become known for their hypnotizing live show, with Welch commanding the stage with her powerful vocals and ethereal presence. She even managed to fill the entire space with her energy when the band opened up for U2 during their 360 Tour at M&T Bank Stadium in 2011.

“I saw her at the Hollywood Bowl and witnessed her physical magic,” says Baltimore native Lauren Ruth Ward, who released her first, full-length record Well, Hell this past spring. “I was inspired to say the least. I love to dance and, at that time, [guitarist] Eduardo [Rivera] and I started co-writing and, with him writing the guitar parts, I became hands free. What I saw was a woman singing her stories, emoting freely and that’s what I wanted for myself . . . When I am performing with just a wireless microphone in my hand, I truly feel my freest.”

Similarly, Outcalls feels inspired by both Welch’s skills and undeniable force while on stage.

“We love how Florence sings without restraint,” Wimbish said. “Her approach to vocal technique seems fearless and we try our best to remind ourselves of that fearlessness when we begin writing new material.”

Then, of course, there is Welch’s undeniable force as a powerhouse female in the indie/pop scene. As Will Hermes of Rolling Stone wrote in his review of High as Hope, “Florence Welch is the big sister you wish you had.”

“She represents girl power,” Olsen-Ecker said. “Women are the future of the industry and are here to do more than just sing and dance.”

Read more about The Anthem and its surrounding attractions in our D.C. Travel Guide in the upcoming November issue.

When Bob Wagner was a kid, he’d jump on his dad’s Schwinn bike in his 1970s tube socks, short shorts, and sneakers and take off by himself all day. “I was the youngest of three,” Wagner recalls. “We lived in Towson, and by the time I came around, Mom had her hands full. She’d say, ‘Be home for dinner.’ Later, she’d ask what I did, and I’d tell her, ‘I went to Pennsylvania. I ate a sandwich and then rode back.’ Mom would be like, ‘Great.’”

When Wagner, a picture framer by trade who majored in folklore and does not own a cell phone, started the long-distance Rando Rambles bicycling series a decade ago, the now 53-year-old wanted to re-experience that childhood feeling of adventure. (Rando is shorthand for randonneuring, a form of all-day, non-competitive bicycling from city to city popular in Europe.) He dubbed the first “ramble,” a 97-mile, down-and-back ride to the Washington Monument in the nation’s capital, the “Monument to Monument” ride, and it unexpectedly has become a must-do event—if you can call it an event—for local cyclists. There are no entry forms, no fees, no support vehicles, no commemorative T-shirts or rules. Wagner simply posts the date on his WordPress blog with the route, a surprisingly scenic run on quiet roads through Anne Arundel, Howard, and Prince George’s counties, and photos from previous years.

The annual jaunt attracts as many as 100 cyclists—college students, amateur racers, and Medicare-eligible participants—in sunny years and as a few as a half-dozen when forecasts call for showers. For the 10th anniversary Monument to Monument ride this year, about 40 riders met on the cobblestones of Mt. Vernon in June, departing for D.C. at 8:30 a.m. Inevitably breaking into smaller groups by the time they twirled around the towering obelisk on The Mall, most grabbed lunch at Union Station—some got a beer with Wagner at a nearby Irish bar—before returning to Baltimore. For about half, the mileage was no great feat; for others, more than a few inspired by Wagner’s bike blog, it was their first century ride.

Vinny DeMarco, the state’s irrepressible grassroots lobbyist, smiled nearly the whole way, occasionally singing verses of “Volare”—Dean Martin’s Italian-English hit (“To Fly”)—which he calls the official song of the M2M.

All apparently made it home for dinner.

“It’s a weird shift in perspective that takes place,” says Lars Peterson, a mechanic at Race Pace Bicycles. “Suddenly D.C., which you’re used to being snarled in traffic trying to get to, becomes a place you can reach on your bike.”

Other Rando Rambles over the years have included trips to Havre de Grace, Gettysburg, and Chesapeake Beach. Most have particular, sometimes unique, destinations in mind. The “Pancake Intercept” ride, which rolls through the farms and woods of Carroll County, just happens to include a rest stop at an all-you-can-eat breakfast at a Union Bridge firehouse.

When he started the Rambles, Wagner, who sets a moderate pace and keeps an eye out for those in the back of the pack, says he just wanted to create personal challenges. In the early years, he biked up to 10,000 miles a year, meticulously documenting the best off-the-main-thoroughfare routes. (That’s more annual mileage than he puts on his 1964 Chevy station wagon, which remains in his Hampden garage most of the week while he bike commutes to work in Timonium.)

And if no one came to his party, that was fine. If a hundred came, that was fine, too. He was excited either way. “Usually at least two or three people always showed up,” he laughs. “The time commitment is kind of crazy. You have to say to anyone who loves you, ‘I’m going to be gone all day long. I may be even be in some danger today.’ There is the chance you could fall, get in a collision, suffer dehydration, or have a mechanical breakdown. Or get lost. But it’s that feeling—‘I don’t know’—that I’m after. Can I do it? ‘I don’t know.’ What will the roads look like today? ‘I don’t know.’ Will it be dark when I get back? ‘I don’t know.’”

Inside a neoclassical church in Adams Morgan, light streams through the massive stained-glass windows illuminating several cloth-bound “bibles” that sit stacked beneath the soaring cathedral ceiling. This isn’t just any hallowed space, however. In fact, it hasn’t been a place of prayer for more than 20 years, but it is a place of worship—especially when you begin with an elixir from the good book of gorgeously crafted cocktails and linger for the night.

Welcome to A Rake’s Progress inside the capital’s trendy The Line Hotel, Maryland chef Spike Gjerde’s newest restaurant and his first foray outside of Baltimore. The name of the space was inspired not only by Gjerde’s nostalgia for time spent raking leaves on a Vermont farm in his youth, but by a series of satirical William Hogarth paintings in which the follies of a young rake, who goes from excess to ruin, were once seen as a social commentary.

Similarly, Gjerde, who studied philosophy at Middlebury College, serves us food for thought. As with his five Baltimore restaurants (including Woodberry Kitchen), at Rake’s, he feeds us commentary on the industrialization of our food systems in the modern day. (His message is pretty simple: We don’t need to fly rabbits in from France when they’re hopping around Liberty Delight Farms in Reisterstown.) Here, with his usual messianic zeal, Gjerde is spreading his locavore gospel to Baltimore’s sister city.

The project has been four years in the making, but if “day ninety-six,” as it reads on our menu during one spring visit, is any indication, Gjerde and his disciples—including executive chef Opie Crooks and co-owner/barman Corey Polyoka—are on their way to becoming some of the most important tastemakers in the country.

Since the January opening, devotees have included Chez Panisse’s James Beard Award-winning Alice Waters (a farm-to-table icon in her own right), funnyman Bill Murray, and former First Lady Michelle Obama, who celebrated her 54th birthday here. It’s hard not to feel reverent while sitting in the lofty space. The church’s organ has been replaced by the commercial kitchen, while the pipes have been refashioned into a spectacular chandelier that hangs high above the expansive dining room. A new altar, one where lattes, macchiatos, and Spike-i-attos (a double machiatto and an espresso shot on the side) are made at the coffee bar, is central to the setting. Also of note: Gjerde’s mad-for-plaid motif on display at Woodberry has been supplanted by more polished materials such as leather armchairs and horsehair sofas.

While the wine and cocktail lists resemble religious texts (and were made by Baltimore bookmaker Heather O’Hara), the paper dinner menus are stamped with sealing wax and printed with thought-provoking passages of poetry from Richard Wilbur and Henry David Thoreau. Heavy on game and highlighting foods found in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, it feels like an offering. “You won’t find lemons or olive oil here,” says our server, noting that those products aren’t grown or made regionally. But diners will find items sourced from the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

For our meal, that meant a shellfish tower stacked with tiers of Shooting Point Virginia oysters, a crudo-style Maryland rockfish tossed with apples and turnips, and even local lobster, found 70 miles off Maryland’s shores. It also included a charcuterie board of Tidewater ham accompanied by mini sweet potato biscuits, heavenly gougères cheese puffs, and cherry jam made by Lauren Sandler of Gjerde’s Baltimore Canningshed.

Another appetizer of note included small plates of fried quail given a clever riff on Korean fried chicken. The small bird was delicate and full of flavor, only enhanced by the Asian addition of pickled cucumbers and gochujang. The shareable, Appalachian-inspired Kilt Greens with crisped ham, rye crumbs, hard-boiled egg, and tossed with a hot bacon-mustard dressing was delicious and decadent. Even the arrival of the dish—presented in a wooden bowl tableside, then whisked away to a carving station for tossing—felt special.

For shareable entrees, our whole hearth-roasted chicken was also presented before being carried away, then carved with craftsman-like precision. The brined bird was paired with buttermilk potatoes and creamed greens, basically comfort food at its very finest. On the ever-changing menu, supper-sized plates included spit-roasted pork loin lacquered in a sorghum-honey glaze and Potomac rockfish with barbequed heirloom marfax beans grown in Southern Maryland, which added wonderful, if unexpected, dimension.

It’s a noble mission to be faithful to local sourcing, but it’s also a challenge to make food taste this good while sticking to those strictures. Being from Baltimore and understanding Gjerde’s mission certainly helped us appreciate the operation, but we also took the pulse of the dining room and watched the dishes arriving at nearby tables. The looks of delight turned into something else after first bites were taken. You might even call it rapture.

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A RAKE’S PROGRESS: 1770 Euclid St., Washington, D.C., 202-588-0525. HOURS: Mon.-Thurs. 5-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 5-midnight; Sun. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 5-11 p.m. PRICES: Appetizers and small plates: $15-68; entrees: $38-154 (including plates for two); desserts: $5-16. AMBIANCE: Elegant former sacred space.

There was a feeling of certainty in Washington, D.C., last night.

From the basement bar below 7th street up to the high rise windows taped over with messages of support, the people of D.C. knew their boys weren’t leaving Vegas without the Cup. You could just feel it. A group of friends down from Annapolis told their buddy not to jinx it when he said he couldn’t wait to see the Stanley Cup come to town. He brushed them off with a quick, “You can’t jinx this. It’s ours.” Down in that basement, a bartender said the last time she saw it this packed was Obama’s first inauguration.

There are certain things D.C. is great at. Standing in line is one, and there was a lot of that around Chinatown last night. But another is showing up when there’s history to be made. And show up they did. Some threw on Ovechkin and Holtby sweaters over office slacks. Others staked their claim along blocked-off streets with chairs and coolers. Many, like me, hopped on a train and made their way to Gallery Place from Maryland or Virginia.

We formed a hot, crowded sea of red that crushed together at 7th and G and spread in every direction. We yelled and screamed until we went hoarse, and then rasped out our cheers and officiating complaints. We hugged our friends and anyone else nearby. We bonded with strangers and stood our ground together as the crowd moved and pushed and pulsed. We passed cheap beer around while bemused police watched, and we didn’t care about how much of it ended up in the air when a puck flew past Fleury and lit the lamp.

And as the seconds ticked down and it became clear that, yes, we would be the crowd celebrating in the streets, the first crowd of Caps fans to have that privilege, that benign lawlessness of a city of winners took over.

Poles were climbed (thanks for not greasing them, officers), drinks abandoned in the excitement rained over the crowd, people stood on each other’s shoulders, and copies of of the Express with “FINISH THEM!” emblazoned on the cover were grabbed from boxes and thrown into the air. All at once, shouts of “We want the cup!” switched to “WE GOT THE CUP!” and then, as the longtime hero finally hoisted the storied trophy overhead, just a deafening “OVI! OVI! OVI!”

We celebrated and high-fived and held each other up in the chaos. Natives and transplants alike basked in the feeling that they were there when the Caps finally got their Cup, that they jumped and chanted and maybe earned a bruise or two during this moment 44 years in the making. When I was living in D.C., the two questions I got asked most often were “Where are you from?” and “What do you do?” Last night, neither mattered. Plenty of natives were in that crowd outside the arena, but I’d venture to guess that just as many were raised in other places and sported other colors.

I stood with one of my best friends and cried and laughed and yelled in the streets of the city that brought both of us so far from home. As a Blackhawks fan from Wisconsin and a Blues fan from St. Louis, we raised fists in the air in triumph and yelled at refs hundreds of miles away as we have so many times before. I’m sure there were many others like us, far from home but feeling every possible emotion for the team we’ve adopted as our own. For once, we were all there to see the same team win—just like we knew they would.

All across the country, in all 50 states, demonstrators came together to demand stricter gun control laws in the United States. Organized by the survivors of the Parkland shooting, the March For Our Lives protest brought hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, and concerned citizens together, imploring people to register to vote and put an end to gun violence. 

Many of the speakers were students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, as well as several other young people including 11-year-old Naomi Walder of Alexandria, Virginia, and 9-year-old Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr., who told the D.C. crowd that she had a dream of “a gun free world, period.” 

The War Came By Train
Ongoing. B&O Railroad Museum, 901 W. Pratt St. 11 a.m. Free-$18. 410-752-2490. Exhibition detailing the B&O Railroad’s strategic importance in the Civil War.

One Destiny
To May 16. Ford’s Theater, 511 Tenth St., NW, Washington, D.C. Times vary. $5-7.50. 202-347-4833. One-act play about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Freedom’s Song: Abraham Lincoln And The Civil War
To May 20. Ford’s Theater, 511 Tenth St., NW, Washington, D.C. $20-69. 202-347-4833. Musical uses first-person accounts to tell the story of the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln: The Final Journey To Baltimore
Apr 18-19. B&O Railroad Museum, 901 W. Pratt St. 11 a.m. Free-$18. 410-752-2490. Baltimore was the first stop on Lincoln’s funeral train. Event commemorates that historic moment with reenactments, exhibits, and musical performances.

Lincoln Reenactment
Apr 21. B&O Railroad Museum, 901 W. Pratt St. 11 a.m. Free-$18. 410-752-2490. Actor Richard Frederick “Fritz” Klein will make a one-time appearance at the B&O Railroad Museum, offering his interpretation of Lincoln.

Silent Witnesses: Artifacts Of The Lincoln Assassination
To May 25. Ford’s Theater, 511 Tenth St., NW, Washington, D.C. 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Included with audio tour ticket. 202-347-4833. Exhibition reunites—for first time since 1865—items in the theater or carried by Lincoln that night, including Booth’s gun, Lincoln’s clothes, and more.

History On Foot: Detective James Mcdevitt Walking Tour
Apr. 1-2, 4, 8-9, 11, 14-16, 18, 22-23, 25, 29-30. Ford’s Theater, 511 Tenth St., NW, Washington, D.C. Times vary. $17-20. 202-347-4833. Follow a 1.6-mile trail through D.C. looking for Lincoln’s murderer.

Now He Belongs To The Ages: A Lincoln Commemoration
Apr 14. Ford’s Theater, 511 Tenth St., NW, Washington, D.C. 9 p.m. Free. Sold out. 202-347-4833. Stars of stage and screen will read Lincoln’s words, plus Civil War-era music and excerpts from Lincoln’s favorite theatre will be performed.

The Lincoln Tribute
Apr. 14-15. Ford’s Theater, 511 Tenth St., NW, Washington, D.C. Free. 202-347-4833. Around-the-clock remembrance of the events of April 14-15, 1865, featuring guided tours, reenactments, and talks.

Midnight Tour With James Swanson
Apr. 15. Ford’s Theater, 511 Tenth St., NW, Washington, D.C. 12 a.m. $42-52. Sold out. 202-347-4833. James Swanson, the author of Manhunt, will take 30 people on an intimate tour of the theater, with each receiving a paperback copy of his book.

Tudor Hall, The Booths Of Maryland, And The Civil War Symposium
May 9. Bel Air Armory, 37 N. Main St., Bel Air. 8 a.m.-4:45 p.m. $65-75. Noted scholars including Terry Alford, Thomas A. Bogar, and Jim Garrett come together for a day of talks about John Wilkes Booth, the assassination plot, and the Civil War.

For years, vineyards have coaxed people to Napa Valley, where the best part of vacationing is sipping (and spitting) wine. But lately, passion for a different kind of alcohol is inspiring travel: beer. With fall beer season in full swing, we’ve outlined three weekend trips to satisfy your brew fix. Though you’ve likely visited these places before, you’ve never tasted them like this.

The Eastern Shore

Your annual Ocean City trip is in the books, but now that the sunscreen-slicked beach goers have packed up, why not go back “downee ocean” for a fall road trip? Coastal Maryland and Delaware offer vacationers more than great beaches—they also have some truly amazing beer.

At the newly opened Dogfish Inn (105 Savannah Rd., Lewes,302-644-8292, dogfishinn.com), guests can structure their entire vacation, from the beach chairs to the bedspreads, around beer. Opened in July, the inn was transformed from the former Vesuvio Motel into a haven for guests to explore the coast from a central location between the Milton brewery and Rehoboth brewpub.

Start your day at the inn’s cottage with a cup of chicory stout coffee, a blend of Colombian coffee, chicory, and dark malted brewer’s barley, made in collaboration with local roastery Notting Hill Coffee, located steps away from the inn on 2nd Street.

Then, borrow one of the inn’s beach cruisers to take in the changing foliage of Cape Henlopen State Park, or rent kayaks from nearby Quest Kayak and follow up your excursion at Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats (320 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-644-2739), or drive 11 miles west to tour the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (6 Cannery Village Ctr., Milton, 302-684-1000, dogfish.com) production facility in Milton.

Both the brewpub and the brewery offer several limited-run beers. We tried Fer’me Verjus, a slightly tart beer made with wine and local plums. If all the sampling has you hungry, try beer-infused fare from Bunyan’s Lunchbox, a food cart outside the brewery. We enjoyed the heirloom Italian bratwurst, based on a recipe from Dogfish founder Sam Calagione’s great-grandmother and infused with the ancient-inspired ale Midas Touch. Bring back a growler or a bottle of micro-distilled spirits to enjoy while gathered around the inn’s cowboy cauldron with other guests. (Note: The inn doesn’t sell beer; instead, guests are encouraged to support local businesses.)

Lewes—founded in 1631 and located on the Delaware Bay—is a relaxed alternative to the beaches of Dewey and Rehoboth, and the perfect size for walking. Stroll 2nd Street for tax-free shopping—find unique treasures at Lewes Mercantile Antiques (109 Second St., Lewes, 302-645-7900) and pick up a beach read at Biblion bookstore (205 Second St., Lewes, 302-644-2210). Visit the free Zwaanendael Museum (102 Kings Hwy., Lewes, 302-645-1148) to imagine daily life for the town’s Dutch colonists, or stop by the Cannonball House (118 Front St., Lewes) and Lightship Overfalls (219 Pilottown Rd., Lewes) for a taste of Lewes’s maritime history.

You can structure an entire vacation, from beach chairs to bedspreads, around beer.

Continue your trip with a scenic drive down Coastal Highway through Ocean City to Burley Oak Brewing Company (10016 Old Ocean City Blvd., Berlin, 443-513-4647, burleyoak.com). Voted the Coolest Small Town in America by Budget Travel, Berlin’s quaint charm has been featured in several movies, including Runaway Bride and Tuck Everlasting. Built in 1895, the Atlantic Hotel (2 N. Main St., Berlin, 410-641-3589, atlantichotel.com) is a piece of history in itself, located in a Victorian-era downtown. The covered porch at the hotel’s Drummer’s Café is the perfect place to people watch.

After browsing for antiques on Main Street, explore nearby Assateague Island from the water with a guided kayak excursion from SuperFun Eco Tours (13002 Bayside Dr., Berlin, 410-656-9453).

A 15-minute walk from downtown, Burley Oak’s taproom is an unofficial town meeting place, where bartenders catch up with locals while refilling their growlers. The bar faces an expansive window opening onto the brewery’s large copper brew kettles, which, on the day of our visit, contained Golden Sex Panther, a saison made with lemongrass and basil. Try Local, a pale ale brewed with locally grown barley, or SuperFun Stout, an oatmeal stout made in collaboration with SuperFun Eco Tours. Grab a 750-milliliter bottle to take home, like Ich Bin Ein, a Berliner Weisse aged in bourbon barrels, since you won’t find them in Baltimore.

There are small snacks at the brewery, but less than a mile away is Blacksmith Bar and Restaurant (104 Pitts St., 410-973-2102) where Burley Oak beer is always flowing. Take a seat at the bar or on the patio and try one of the beer cocktails. We liked Summer Trip, made with Amaro, Limoncello, and Burley Oak’s Berliner Weisse Sour Trip, paired with their short-rib taquitos and homemade veggie burger.

Head home by way of Route 50 and stop in Salisbury at Evolution Craft Brewing Company (201 E. Vine St., Salisbury, 443-260-2337, evolutioncraftbrewing.com). Yes, Evolution beers are readily available in Baltimore, but while waiting for your tour (which runs at set times Friday through Sunday), sample some of the brewery’s limited beers at the long, wooden bar in the tasting room. Built into it is a raw bar, where happy-hour oysters go for a buck a shuck. We tried Wandering Monk, a fruity and spicy trappist-inspired Belgian-style pale ale. If you’re hungry, eat at the Public House, Evolution’s farm-to-table restaurant adjacent to the brewery. Most items on the menu have a suggested beer pairing. We liked the duck confit burger paired with Lot #6 DIPA.

Washington, D.C.

Just an hour’s drive away, our sister to the southwest is home to many beers you won’t find in Baltimore. D.C. is close enough to drive for a day, or stay the weekend at one of the city’s charming B&Bs or hotels, like the quaint Swann House (1808 New Hampshire Ave. NW, 202-265-4414, swannhouse.com), a historic inn from the late-1800s, or the trendy Hotel Helix (1430 Rhode Island Ave. NW, 202-462-9001, hotelhelix.com), a Kimpton hotel near Logan Circle that offers a central location between bars and breweries.

Right near the Maryland-D.C. line is DC Brau Brewing Company (3178-B Bladensburg Rd. NE, 202-621-8890, dcbrau.com), opened in 2011 and known for its intensely hoppy, high-ABV imperial IPA On the Wings of Armageddon. Once you find the brewery (located down an alley behind a post office), hang out at the taproom while waiting for your tour (Saturday afternoons). While walking through, keep your eyes open for works of art, from murals by D.C.’s Kelly Towles to growler and glass designs by San Francisco illustrator Matt Leunig. We tried The Daughters of Poseidon Black Oyster IPA, a collaboration with Baxter Brewing Co. out of Lewiston, ME, made with locally sourced Olde Salt oysters from Rappahannock Oyster Co.

Next, head over to the historic Shaw neighborhood for grub and beers at Right Proper Brewing Company (624 T St. NW, 202-607-2337, rightproperbrewery.com). Nearing its first birthday this December, Right Proper is located on the site of Frank Holiday’s Pool Hall, which was frequented by jazz greats including a young Duke Ellington. Take a seat at the bar, in between a chalk mural of D.C. under attack by pandas created by local artist Patrick Owen and large windows framing the brewery’s various kettles and fermentation tanks.

Inquisitive drinkers will meet their match, with eight taps of unique beers in a range of styles. We liked Songlines Aboriginal farmhouse ale, brewed as a saison with wild yeast, giving it a slightly funky flavor, and a dose of Australian and New Zealand hops for a bright citrus taste.

Right Proper’s comfort food pairs well with the libations—try the southern fried chick-filet sandwich with house-made pickles or pork rinds and pimento cheese. The brewery doesn’t bottle beer yet, but you can take home a growler.

At the brewery, keep your eyes open for works of art, from murals to growler and glass designs.

Another newcomer to D.C.’s craft beer scene, Bluejacket (300 Tingey St. SE, 202-524-4862, bluejacketdc.com) opened last year in Navy Yard. The brewery’s restaurant and bar, The Arsenal, helmed by chef Kyle Bailey of Birch & Barley and ChurchKey, serves lunch and dinner daily—we snacked on oysters and charcuterie plates. You can see the brewing equipment stacked over three stories from the bar, where 25 Bluejacket beers are on tap, from Inkwell, a Belgian-style stout, to Cut & Dry, a Bohemian-style pilsner. To get a closer look, take a free tour (Saturdays) or reserve a tasting tour for $29 that includes a sample of a beer-in-progress.

For a great place to escape the city and catch the changing colors on more than 30 miles of hiking trails, head north from the industrial Navy Yard to Rock Creek Park (5200 Glover Rd. NW). We suggest the Boulder Bridge Hike, a three-mile loop along Rock Creek that begins near the MD-D.C. border, or the Rapids Bridge Loop, a two-mile hike that begins behind the park’s Horse Center.

On your way out of the city, stop at 3 Stars Brewing Company (6400 Chillum Place NW, threestarsbrewing.com), which started its lineup with Maryland brewery collaborations including Evolution and Oliver Ales and celebrated its two-year anniversary this summer. Three Stars is more brewery warehouse than tasting room—sip samples or fill your growler amid shiny fermenting tanks, wooden barrels, and bags of malt that line walls painted with vibrant murals. There’s even a homebrew store on-site. We liked the Peppercorn Saison, a fruity, dry, Belgian-style farmhouse ale. Despite limited hours, on Saturdays, the brewery features free tours and outside food trucks, so you can chow down at picnic tables.

Philadelphia

Less than a two-hour drive, Philadelphia has a beer scene punctuated by both large, trailblazing breweries and innovative newbies. Stay in Center City at Hotel Monaco (433 Chestnut St., monaco-philadelphia.com) to be in the heart of colonial history, or choose a historic B&B in charming Society Hill along the Delaware River within easy reach of shopping, dining, and drinking destinations.

Begin your trip to the City of Brotherly Love with Yards Brewing Company (901 N. Delaware Ave., 215-634-2600, yardsbrewing.com), located in Northern Liberties near the Delaware River and SugarHouse Casino. Free tours (on weekends) begin in the tasting room, where Yard’s offers limited-release beers in addition to their signature styles.

We tried the hoppy Daughters of Apollo IPA, named after the hops used in the beer, and Pynk, a fruity, tart ale brewed with raspberries and cherries. Most Saturdays, Yards hosts a local food truck, like the popular Spot Burger, in addition to its own bar menu.

Just a half-mile north of Yards is Fette Sau (1208 Frankford Ave., 215-391-4888, fettesauphilly.com), a barbecue restaurant that came to Philly by way of Brooklyn and whose name means “fat pig” in German. Sit at the bar, where tap handles are repurposed from butchering tools, or at a communal picnic table to browse the draft list—it’s heavy on local craft beer, like Fat Pig by Pottstown’s Sly Fox Brewing Company. To match the restaurant’s rustic vibe, beers are served in Mason jars.

Just two blocks from Rittenhouse Square is Monk’s Cafe (264 S. 16th St., 215-545-7005, monkscafe.com), a world-renowned Belgian beer bar and restaurant. Although you won’t find many locals at this bar, which has become known as a beer-tourist destination, it’s worth a stop to check out the Belgian-style beers on its 20 taps and its more than 300 bottles.

Sit at the bar, where tap handles are repurposed from butchering tools.

For a taste of Philly’s innovative microbrews, head to Ardmore, a neighborhood with small-town charm just 20 minutes from the city. Tired Hands Brewing Company (16 Ardmore Ave., Ardmore, 610-896-7621, tiredhands.com) was opened in 2012 by a husband-wife team. At the end of the cozy cafe’s long bar, you’ll see a door leading to the microbrewery’s 12-keg system. The eight taps and cask feature beers with unusual flavor combinations, like Here Lies, a hoppy golden bitter with notes of pineapple, pine, and toffee. The brewery is the only place you’ll find Tired Hands beer, but you can bring home a 32- or 64-ounce growler.

Next, visit Victory Brewing Company (420 Acorn Ln., Downington, 610-873-0881, victorybeer.com). Founded in 1996, Victory is an important part of the Mid-Atlantic’s craft-beer history, with classics like HopDevil, a bold, aromatic IPA, that was part of the brewery’s original lineup. During the tour (weekends), you’ll see the 100,000-square-foot brewhouse and fermentation room while being guided through the brewing process. Stay for dinner at the large, open dining area adjacent to the bar, serving items like onion-and-beer soup made with HopDevil wort (liquid extracted after the malts are added during the brewing process).

To work off your beer belly before heading home, enjoy the fall foliage of nearby Struble Trail, which follows a branch of Brandywine Creek on the railroad line and is frequented by joggers, walkers, bikers and, apparently, beer lovers—like you.