Live jazz pours over the Sculpture Garden every Friday from May to September, as DC locals enjoy cocktails and a light dinner. Sangria is the popular drink amongst the younger crowd and is served at the Pavilion Café along with other beverages and food. Some chose to sit at the tables but a majority prefer to lay out on their blankets surrounding the beautiful fountain, enjoying the artistic surroundings. 17 pieces of work are placed throughout the garden amongst beautiful flowering trees and shrubs. Jazz in the Garden starts at 5PM and ends at 8:30PM. Admission is free so arrive early to get a good spot, the best ones go quick. In September the jazz subsides and the garden prepares for a change in season.

The late September heat makes way for winter and The Sculpture Garden turns into a winter dream. The walk down 7^th St. early in the evening away from the lights of Chinatown, against the waves of tourists full from museum hoarding, is reassuring once the lights in the garden can be seen. From 10AM-7PM on Mondays through Thursdays, 10AM-9PM on Fridays through Saturdays, and 11AM-9PM on Sundays the ice rink allows DC locals to step into a dream.

Stepping towards the booth, excited looks appear on the faces of couples and families as they prepare to enter the rink. Everyone is eager to fork up $7 for admission and $3 to rent skates. The rink itself is what used to be the water fountain during the warmer months. Lights are strung up between light posts and stepping onto the ice seems like stepping onto the set of a romantic movie or perhaps even a fond childhood memory for one of the many children laughing and holding hands.

The sculptures look as if they are laughing and commenting on the skaters as they whizz by. The fresh air adds a little rouge to everyone’s cheeks and the stars add to the magic. Warm coffee and hot chocolate from the Pavilion Café completes the experience, warming up feet and easing the sores on the rear ends of many novice skaters.

At the end of the day, walking toward Chinatown, a sense of accomplishment and calm takes over as the knowledge of finding a real piece of DC in the maelstrom of tourists and monuments settles in.