Great dates

If you've been together a while, adult jungle gym Go Ape in Rockville will take your relationship to the literal next level. Couples flock to the course that blends treacherous rope climbs with zip lines 40 feet above the forest. Paul and Amy Malla of Sykesville, Md., left on a recent Saturday, feeling sweaty, elated -- and closer than ever. The first time the pair ever rode a zip line, says Amy Malla, 50, "it was a real bonding experience because I was scared, and he wasn't, and I had him saying, 'Come on, you can do it, you can do it!' "

This time was a real bonding experience, too: The couple were celebrating their sixth anniversary.

Top Golf, 6625 S. Van Dorn St., Alexandria. 703-924-2600 or http://www.topgolf.com. Open Sunday-Thursday 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday-Saturday 8 a.m. to midnight. $3-$6 for a 20-ball "game." Thursday nights through September are Patio Palooza nights, with live music, barbecue from 7 to 9 p.m. and two drinks for $20.

Go Ape, 6129 Needwood Lake Dr., Rockville. 888-520-7322. http://www.goape.com. Open Thursday-Monday through December. $55 per person for the two-to-three-hour course; participants must be 10 or older and weigh no more than 285 pounds.

For Festival Lovers

The street and music festivals held across the region each September are a great, inexpensive way to experience the city -- and they can serve as galleries, farmers markets, wine tastings and lunch dates all packaged into one blissful afternoon.

Where to go:

Chinatown's Arts on Foot festival on Sept. 11 will feature an art market, food and wine tastings and a slew of performances at the neighborhood's Harman Center for the Arts. Sept. 12 is Adams Morgan Day, which lines 18th Street NW with food and art vendors and offers plenty of people-watching. Takoma Park celebrates its deeply held granola-ness Sept. 12 at the Takoma Park Folk Festival. The H Street Festival in Northeast Washington on Sept. 18 is perfect for the 20- and 30-something set, with bands, performances and tons of bars open for the event. And on Sept. 25, Jonathan Safran Foer, Isabel Allende and Evan Thomas are among the authors you can meet at the National Book Festival on the Mall.

For details about Arts on Foot, visit http://www.artsonfoot.org; Adams Morgan Day, http://www.adamsmorgandayfestival.com; Takoma Park Folk Festival, http://www.tpff.org; H Street Festival, http://www.hstreetfestival2010.com; and the National Book Festival, http://www.loc.gov/bookfest.