$5 Thursdays at Constitution Center

from our friends at the National Constitution Center:

Gather your family and friends and start the weekend early with the return of the popular $5 After 5 p.m. promotion: discounted admission during extended museum hours from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays from June 30 – September 1, 2011. The promotion also coincides with the Center’s first-ever Kids Free Summer (beginning July 1), making this the perfect opportunity to enjoy everything the Center has to offer!

For only $5, visitors can explore the Center in an intimate and affordable way, accessing the core exhibition, The Story of We the People; the award-winning theater show, Freedom Rising (show times at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m.); the highly acclaimed Spies, Traitors & Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America exhibition (through August 21); and the must-see exhibition of the summer, Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon (beginning July 1). In connection with Discover the Real George Washington, visitors also can view The President’s House: Their Untold Stories in Quilts in Posterity Hall, featuring a collection of beautifully crafted art quilts that celebrates the humanity, dignity, and courage of the nine enslaved persons owned by George and Martha Washington at the President’s House.

In addition, visitors can join in a variety of interactive activities, guided tours, and special programs. Food and beverages will be available for purchase in Delegates’ Café, and the Center’s gift shop will remain open during the extended hours. On site parking will be available at a discounted rate of $9 after 5:00 p.m.

During the first $5 After 5 p.m. event on June 30, guests ages 21+ will have the option to join the General George’s Beer Garden on the Center’s outdoor terrace (an additional $15 charge applies.)

For families, there is the “Curious about George” show, where visitors will discover what life was like for the hardworking George Washington growing up on a Virginia Plantation. At activity stations, children and their families can explore Washington’s life at Mount Vernon and as General of the Continental Army! The activity stations will include puzzles, a game about 18th century food, and a six-man wedge tent. Additionally, children can have their faces painted and participate in craft activities, such as colonial printing, candle dipping, and paper mill demonstrations. Other fun activities will include living bronze statues and a moon bounce where children can “pin the teeth” on George Washington.

Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon runs through September 5, 2011. Organized by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the exhibition provides a new and refreshing perspective on Washington, his achievements, legacies, family, intellectual pursuits, and entrepreneurial ventures. Full-scale figures of Washington, architectural models, decorative and fine art items, maps, manuscripts, and paintings reveal his personal side and uncover his roles as an entrepreneur, farmer, and businessman.

On exhibit through August 21, 2011, Spies, Traitors & Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America dramatically illustrates the challenge of securing our nation without compromising the civil liberties upon which it was founded. Created by the International Spy Museum, the exhibition features artifacts, multimedia elements and interactive exhibits that uncover stories of espionage, treason and deception in the United States from 1776 to today. Guests will discover little-known accounts of foreign agents, militias and radicals, and learn how responses to domestic attacks have driven counterintelligence measures that continue to affect our everyday lives.