Let's make this the year you do all the fun stuff you've been meaning to do around Washington. The museum that has been on your list, that garden people keep telling you about, the fancy tea at that ritzy place downtown. All those things that just slip by as you tread further in your old, reliable comfort zone. We'll start you off with some ideas, one for each month.

'The Exorcist' Steps

You've probably always known that the spooky stairwell from "The Exorcist" (where a Jesuit priest fell to his death in the 1973 movie) was somewhere around Georgetown, but unless you're a former Hoya, you might not know exactly where. Which is a shame, because they're really worth a quick visit, if only to be able to say you've done it.

'Drag Queen Brunch'

The doors for Perrys weekly "drag queen brunch" open at 10:30, but the line often forms 30 minutes earlier. Double dates, housemates, birthday revelers -- who doesn't love a little gender-bending entertainment with their buffet-style eggs and pastries?

Pay-What-You-Can Shows

These are chances to catch a show that would otherwise cost you $40 or $45 for, well, whatever you can pay. Five bucks? Fine. $20? Great. Local theaters offer these shows regularly: Washington Shakespeare Company's Saturday matinees are always pay-what-you-can. The first two shows of every Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company production are also pay-what-you-can, as is often the case at Theater J.

Pope-Leighey House

The only Frank Lloyd Wright house open to the public in the area, the 1940s-era Usonian-style Pope-Leighey House is considered one of the finest examples of the famed architect's small homes. Two bedrooms, 1,200 square feet and an original price tag of $7,000. You could walk the length of the thing in 10 seconds, but that won't happen under the tutelage of the home's devoted guides.

Spot Bald Eagles

There are plenty of those majestic birds still around, of course -- if you know where to look. With all the protected land in and around Washington, there's an almost overwhelming number of choices. Here's one we particularly like: Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge. It's just off Route 1 in Lorton, but it's the type of place that can make you forget that urbanity even exists.

HR-57

HR-57 doesn't go out of its way to pull you inside, but maybe that's the point: You have to sort of know. And it's worth knowing, especially if you're into jazz. (Or if you're looking to impress a date with pseudo-sophistication.) This nonprofit jazz house is the antithesis of those haughty table-service-type places.

Temple of the Scottish Rite

You've walked past and glanced up at the hulking sphinxes perched over 16th Street. It's imposing. A little spooky. And they'd love for you to drop by for a quick visit. Seriously. Though it might not be that quick. Every weekday, the Temple of the Scottish Rite opens its doors to visitors, in part to dispel that sheen of spookiness. The fact that there are two dudes buried in its walls might not help that agenda, but it's certainly a tour highlight.

Drum Circle

It's dusk on a Sunday in strait-laced old Washington, and a dozen locals are dancing wildly in the park. They're barefoot and bohemian and, in some instances, excruciatingly out of step. But no one seems to care. This weekly rhythm-and-love fest takes all comers. In a tradition that stretches back decades, musicians from across the region pile into a little plot at the head of Meridian Hill Park's highest plane each week and set up their drums.

Washington Monument

This, for sure, is one of those instances when a cost-benefit analysis is required. Spend two hours waiting to get to the top of the Washington Monument and you'll probably be happy when the whole thing is over. But if you're able to saunter up, zip through security and have the whole place more or less to yourself, it's a spectacular experience.

Changing of the Guard

If you've been to Arlington Cemetery before and it was on an eighth-grade trip, well, it's time for a return visit. Especially now. It's easy to skip the four war stories printed in any given newspaper, but it's impossible to ignore a caravan of slow-moving black cars or the expanses of uniform gravestones lining the quiet hills. Most majestic is the Tomb of the Unknowns.

U.S. Supreme Court

Come stand while the nine Supreme Court justices file into the courtroom from behind a red velvet curtain and begin their work of maintaining fairness throughout the land. Anyone can hear oral arguments, in which attorneys on either side of an issue make presentations to the justices and are questioned -- sometimes vigorously -- about their positions on the case. But you do kind of have to know what you're doing to nab a spectator's seat.

Swing Dancing at Glen Echo

Smiles might be the only constant at Glen Echo's Spanish Ballroom. Weekly swing dance sessions in this historic art deco building attract all kinds: serious dancers and beginners, ruby-lipped women in saddle shoes and schlubby men in jeans. There are plenty of engaged couples, practicing for a wedding dance. But just as many singles, looking for a good time without a bar tab.

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