A $100 Weekend in Washington, D.C.

Assuming you're not a lobbyist in town to woo steak-loving senators, Washington can be a great place to visit on a budget. With 17 free Smithsonian museums, gratis gorillas at the National Zoo, engrossing monuments and open public events speckling the spring and summer calendar, you need not spend a dime on entertainment - as I found out during a recent visit, the 12th in my occasional $100 Weekend series.The Metro might be on the pricey side - it ate up $21 of my budget - but it does offer easy access to a wide swath of the city.FridayWhen I arrived in Farragut Square, I had hopes for a cheap lunch from the food trucks that set up shop on Fridays. The most appealing dishes were pushing $10. I ended up with a fresh and lemony hummus and tabbouleh sandwich at DC Ballers for $5.50.I planned a route crosstown to the free National Postal Museum. I spent my allotted two hours in the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery. By the time I entered the "real" museum I had only an hour to get to the Kennedy Center for its free daily 6 p.m. concert.A short walk from the theater was Farmers Fishers Bakers. I ended up spending $21, including tax and tip, before taking the Metro to my brother's house in Silver Spring, Maryland.Friday total: $34.65; remaining: $65.35SaturdayOn Saturday morning I emerged from the Columbia Heights Metro stop to follow the neighborhood's Heritage Trail, one of 15 quite manageable neighborhood walks available for download from the nonprofit Cultural Tourism DC's website (culturaltourismdc.org).I had already taken care of brunch, having stopped for the ultimate cheap D.C. meal at Gloria's Pupuseria.It was too nice a day not to shell out $7 for a day's use of the Capital Bikeshare system, and I rode down to the Mall and visited the engrossing Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. memorials.I cycled out to meet a friend. We split a $13.50 "pep pep" pizza and an $8 kale salad, sitting outdoors at Rustik Tavern.With a beer my share came to about $21, leaving enough for a $3 Stroh's at Boundary Stone bar. I took the Metro to stay with friends Joel Najar and Jessica Porras in Falls Church, Virginia.Saturday total: $49.31; remaining: $16.04SundayJoel grew up in Southern California and was desperate for real Mexican food when he moved to the D.C. area, until he found La Mexicana. We split sopes and a peppery menudo soup; my share was about $11.I had asked another friend to suggest a nature activity; he and his sons met me for a turtle-and-tadpole spotting walk through Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens.I realized I was a block from the Postal Museum, and easily rode out the remaining two and a half hours it was open seeing what I had missed Friday.Sunday total: $17.68; total for the weekend: $101.64© 2015 New York Times News Service