UP
SPEED
Spring Fever
It’s that time of year again, when we awaken
from our winter slumbers and begin to think
about getting out of the house and having
some fun again. If you require proof that
spring is upon us, take a quick trip to our nation’s
capital for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, be-
ginning March 31. In fact, Amtrak has your ticket to
myriad cultural events, art exhibits, Broadway shows
and more along the Northeast Corridor this spring.
Enjoy a concert featuring folk music superstars
Peter, Paul and Mary; an evening with NPR satirist
David Sedaris; a musical feast of Monty Python; an ex-
hibit featuring the work of a real Renaissance man; or
witness the return of Breakfast Clubber Molly Ring-
wald. Be sure to note the discount rail fares to select
destinations as well as discount tickets to shows, at-
tractions and events. There’s no end to where Amtrak
can take you. —Compiled by Michael Hammett
Kicking back in D.C. is
Alvar Aalto’s Paimio
Chair, circa 1930.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Modern love: Corcoran
Gallery of Art presents a
groundbreaking multi-
media exhibition featur-
ing industrial and graphic
design, architec-
ture, painting,
film and pho-
tography. The
show, “Modern-
ism: Designing a
New World 1914-
1939,” includes
works by artists Piet
Mondrian, Fernand Leger,
Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso,
The nation’s
capital hosts
the creme
de la creme
of modern
design at the
Corcoran.
Kasimir Malevich, Man Ray,
Charles Sheeler and Stuart
Davis; architects Mies van der
Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank
Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius
and Richard Neutra; designers Marcel Breuer, Gerrit
Rietveld, Marianne Brandt
and Alvar Aalto. Exhibition
highlights include the first
fully fitted modern grotto—
the “Frankfurt Kitchen”—
discovered recently in
Frankfurt after 80 years of
continual use as well as the
prototype for all subsequent
kitchens. Also on exhibit is
one of the rarest modern-ist cars—the streamlined,
dorsal-finned Czech Tatra
T87 and futurist and utopian
fashion from Italy, Germany,
Russia, France and the United States. “Sitting on Air,”
an installation of chairs,
features the most radical and
imitated designs of the 20th
century. For more information on the exhibition, which
runs March 17–July 29, visit
corcoran.org.
Cherry, oh: The 2007
National Cherry Blossom
Festival, Washington, D.C.’s
signature springtime event,
features over 90 events and
200 cultural performances
and demonstrations. Festival
highlights include a parade, of
course, a Japanese street festival and a fireworks display.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival remains a significant celebration of the gift
of 3,000 cherry blossom trees
from the people of Japan
to the people of the United
States. The two-week festival
runs from March 31-April 15.
For a complete schedule,
visit nationalcherryblossom
festival.org. Discount code:
X87M-908 (see page 66).
Art of the world: The first
modern and contemporary
art fair in our nation’s capital,
artDC brings together internationally acclaimed galleries from Europe, Asia and
the Americas, with some of
D.C.’s finest—including the
