Things to Do in Takoma Park

Listen. You’re a creative person. You know it, we know it. So what if you spend your life hunched in a cubicle, writing reports summarizing and aggregating multiple reports in a daily report in preparation for the weekly and monthly reports. There’s something inside you, something bright and starlike that burns in your soul like a fire-breathing dragon (only smaller and maybe without wings or fire breath, but with some impressive firelike appendages coming out of its nose instead, like star-nosed moles).

Terrapin Adventures offers an array of activities for indoorsfolk seeking enthralling outdoor expeditions. With the Terrapin Tower adventure package, guests get two hours of climbing time, with a climbing lesson and climbing equipment included, on Terrapin Adventures' 43-foot-high outdoor climbing tower. The four-sided tower serves up a dozen different ascents, with a canopied platform at the tower's pinnacle offering a peaceful view of the Little Patuxent River and its ghosts of Revolutionary War–era extreme sportsmen. Terrapin Tower allows scalers of all skill sets to conquer the edifice with ease. The tower offers flat routes, overhang routes, and cargo nets for a variety of scaling surfaces, and climbers can simulate the digestive process of a timber rattlesnake by descending the tower headfirst through the stretchy Rainbow Serpent tube net.

The Writer's Center offers up to 300 workshops in a variety of genres each year, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, playwriting, songwriting (or "rap-smithing"), and literary translation. Workshop topics run the gamut from structuring your sci-fi/fantasy world to setting up your blog. Take a two-session class to master on-the-job report writing ($80 for center members, $125 for non-members) or learn techniques and strategies for crafting short stories in an eight-session exploration of the genre ($315 member, $360 non-member). Get started on your poetry portfolio before you apply for a MFA with an eight-session class on writing free-verse poetry ($315 member, $360 non-member) or take a one-day intensive workshop on the screenwriting process ($85 member, $125 non-member).

Clubgolf Performance Center members receive unlimited access to the indoor facility's myriad game-improving services. Observe, critique, and apply subtitles to your swing with video analysis and exchange golfer trading cards with experienced, PGA-certified club-wielders on the 1,200-square-foot putting green. During a professional diagnostic, Clubgolf's instructors will analyze and evaluate each knee bend and balance shift of your game, then prescribe a training regimen to help ensure better dimpled-ball smacking. Members can also attend complimentary golf classes, choosing from more than 15 courses offered each week, and golf-specific fitness programs, such as tee-lifting and knickerbocker-modeling practice.

Wine & Food Festival

Learn the fundamentals of fine art while quickly becoming the sharpest, most dangerous crayon in the box. A skilled and accomplished artist leads each class, introducing prospective Leonardos to new and exciting techniques that will inspire first-timers and advanced colorfully decorated veterans. The classes focus on painting and drawing in a cozy, laid-back environment. The student-to-teacher ratio is about 7:1, ensuring personal attention and strict adherence to the golden ratio. All the necessary materials are provided, including canvases, brushes, paints, and berets. Currently, two morning and two night classes are offered, but more will be added to accommodate additional students. Check out the schedule for adult workshop dates and times.