Welcome to Mondo DC! Come along on an adventure through the Washington, DC, area’s most astonishing, inspiring, and unusual places. You’ll visit little museums, odd archives, hidden monuments, unusual tours, and roadside art. From the Agnew Room to an insect zoo, castles to catacombs, erotic art to outsider art; gold mines, gargoyles, giants, and ghosts. Plus sex, drugs, guns, anarchy, and much more! These are DC’s secret spots, many unknown even to long-time Washingtonians-each with fascinating stories that come to life when you join the Mondo DC tour. More than a tour guide, Mondo DC collects the definitive true stories about the oddest and most interesting places in Washington. Go behind the scenes to learn the history, explore the highlights, and hear conversations with key people at each attraction. This book includes 40 articles, covering over 70 sites, including the Squished Penny Museum, Black Fashion Museum, Assassination Archives and Research Center, Joseph Cornell Study Center, National Cryptologic Museum, National Glamour Archives, and the Bull Run Castle. You’ll meet an Awakening Giant, the Queen of the Belly Dancers, a Giant Mermaid, naked mole-rats, Mr. Dixie, and Anarchy herself! There are also special mini-guides to the DC area’s mummies, planetariums, and mini-golf courses. Plus DC’s hidden belly dancing legacy, including a guide to current local restaurants that feature Middle Eastern dance. No other guide offers this level of detail about these amazing attractions-if they mention them at all. Many of these places are covered only in Mondo DC! Mondo DC will entertain life-long residents, newcomers, and travelers looking to expand their experience of Washington, DC, beyond the Mall and monument core. Cheap dates, family fun, group outings, and private retreats were never so wild! The author has written about unusual people and places in DC for over ten years for the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Bizarre (UK), Pulse!, and other pu