Fairest of Fairs

What: 65th Waterford Homes Tour and Crafts Exhibit.

Where: Waterford, Virginia, an hour from DC.

When: October 3, 4, and 5.

Why go: Waterford, population 300, looks a lot like the village that grew up around a mill on the banks of Catoctin Creek in the 1700s. For this longstanding event, which supports preservation, the hamlet is filled with activity.

You might want to wear walking shoes for the hilly terrain, which is covered with more than 160 basket makers, quilters, furniture makers, and folk artisans showing off traditional crafts. There’s a changing background of string bands, chamber musicians, and folksingers. Houses open for touring range from modest Quaker dwellings to Victorian classics. Reenactors from the Colonial-era Maryland militia set up camp on a slope near the mill, adding to the period atmosphere.

If you stay the night: To make it more than a day trip, the best bet for lodging is in Leesburg, five miles from Waterford. The six-room Norris House is an elegant 1760s bed-and-breakfast (800-644-1806; norrishouse.com; $140-$190).

More information: waterfordva-wca.org/waterford-fair.htm.

Riding the Rails

What: 25th Annual Railroad Days.

Where: Brunswick, Maryland, just over an hour from DC.

When: October 4 and 5.

Why go: Back in the 1890s, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad put Brunswick on the map with the biggest and busiest train yard in the world—a heritage they honor each October with Railroad Days.

One of the highlights is the Railroad Museum. MARC commuter trains offer one-hour rides between Brunswick and Frederick at 10, 1, and 3 each day (return rides are an hour later). Craftspeople and antique vendors show off their wares, while clowns, magicians, and puppeteers entertain the kids. On Saturday, Frederick adds its own festival, offering more food, music, and crafts.

More information: brunswickmd.gov; click on “tourism.”

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Thursday, October 2: Film buffs might want to check out the opening night of National Geographic’s All Roads Film Festival this evening. Highlighting stories of indigenous cultures and running until October 5, the festival opens tonight with a screening of The Linguists, about two linguists who race against time to document endangered languages before the last fluent speaker dies. The film will be in National Geographic’s Grosvenor Auditorium at 7.

The real fun of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival starts this weekend with its free jazz celebrations on the Mall, but there’s also plenty of great music throughout the week. Tonight at the Kennedy Center, try the Bar J Wranglers from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, who deliver country-tinged, jazzy harmonies.

The debate tonight is arguably the most anticipated one this fall, and it’s not even between the two presidential candidates! Vice-presidential hopefuls Joe Biden and Sarah Palin square off at 9, and we’ve found parties and bars where you can watch it all go down.

The debate on Thursday night is arguably the most anticipated one this fall, and it’s not even between the two presidential candidates! Vice-presidential hopefuls Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin square off at 9 PM, and we’ve found parties and bars where you can watch it all go down.

You might also be interested in...Football Fever: Where to Watch Your Team | Happy Food Hours | How to Have Fun in Washington for Free

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DC

At the 1331 Bar in the JW Marriott hotel, try some partisan wings—the “left” come with a spicy Asian lacquer, and the “right” have a Texas barbecue sauce—or an “undecider slider,” and sip on some red, white, and blue cocktails. The lounge will host happy hours every Tuesday through November 4 and will also show the presidential debates.

At Ventnor’s, customers can pick a word they think the candidates will say, and every time it’s uttered, shots will be $1.

Dexter Filkins, award-winning correspondent for the New York Times, presents his book, The Forever War, at Politics & Prose on Tuesday at 7. The book is an account of Filkins’s nine years covering the wars in the Middle East, starting with the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s and continuing into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Field biologist George Schaller will give a lecture, “A Life in the Wild,” at the National Zoo’s visitor center on Wednesday at 7:30. As head conservationist for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Schaller has spent time researching in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and helped to save endangered species on the Tibetan Plateau. Reservations are recommended for this free event; call 202-633-4085.

Stephanie Elizondo Griest, author of the guidebook 100 Places Every Woman Should Go, discusses her newest work, Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines, at Olssons Books & Records on Thursday at 7. Griest’s book begins in her racially mixed Texas town and follows her into Mexico, where she stumbles into luchadores, rebel teachers, and imprisoned political activists while investigating the story of her own roots.

The Smashing Pumpkins celebrate their 20th anniversary this year, and fans can celebrate with a new DVD—If All Goes Wrong, due in November—and concert tickets to the band’s latest tour. Two shows are scheduled at DAR Constitution Hall—Tuesday, November 11, and Wednesday, November 12. Tickets ($58.50) go on sale Saturday, September 27, at 10 AM.

The Eagles recently added a stop at the Verizon Center to their new tour, which kicked off this week in Chicago. The band, which will be 30 years old next year, will perform in DC on Thursday, November 20. Tickets ($53 to $188) go on sale Monday, September 29.

Busboys and Poets U Street location will house several Obama groups, showing the debates on its big screen as well as on televisions throughout the coffee shop.  Check out drink specials and stick around for live entertainment by Busboys’ house band, PS24.  Screenings will also be held at all three Busboys locations. busboyandpoets.com.

Ventnor Sports Cafe will not only be showing the debate on all 17 of their Hi-Def flat screen TVs, but they will be having a little fun with the event as well. Along with the regular Friday night specials, the cafe will offer a game similar to the ones played in colleges, where groups can choose a word that they think will be said multiple times throughout the debate, and every time one of the candidates says that word, they’ll offer $1 shots to the group. A big crowd is expected, so make sure to come early for a good spot.

Disappointed that summer is over and Screen on the Green is no more? Intrigued by the success of the DC Shorts Film Festival and want to be plugged into the local film scene? Tired of paying $10 for a movie? Luckily, Washington has a variety of entertaining options this fall to satisfy cravings for movie viewing outside the confines of a commercial theater. Here are ten noncinema locations that offer a diverse array of films, from documentaries to foreign to American classics.