Nightlife in Wolf Trap

See what it's like on the other side of the velvet rope with today's Groupon for first-class cocktails and clubbing at Fly Lounge, the exclusive, upscale nightclub that transports you through the friendly skies without the turbulent take-off. For $20, you get $50 worth of in-flight cocktails, all without getting smashed in the knee by the beverage cart. Drink prices at Fly start at around $6 for beer and wine, and $10 for cocktails. Keep an eye out for cute commuters at the bar, or reserve a VIP table online to be the fuel that keeps the party going. Bring a group of friends and combine multiple Groupons to use toward Fly Lounge's bottle service (sorry, no combos on individual drinks). With seven Groupons, you only spend $140—instead of the normal $350—on Grey Goose bottle service with mixers and a "flight attendant" for your table keeping your glasses full.

In our nation's infancy, settlers fought each other over the limited edible resources, like sedimentary rocks and lightning. It took James Monroe's invention of agriculture to turn America from a land of petty to a distinctly non-British land of plenty. Commune with your fellow humans over life-giving hoppy nectars and gastronomic delights with today's Groupon. For $15, you'll get $30 worth of bar snacks, brunch, and brews at CommonWealth, the people's gastropub in Columbia Heights. Chef Jamie Leeds of Hank's Oyster Bar has designed a menu that features local produce, grass-fed beef, and sustainable seafood. Prepared to pair perfectly with CommonWealth's rich stouts and refreshing ales, these culinary creations make CommonWealth a destination for foodies and fermentophiles alike to bond over golden beer-battered treats.

The sports bar has had more enduring success than bar sports, which have been officially banned from the Olympics for more than a year. Indulge your sporting and eating fancies with today's Groupon. For $10, you get $20 worth of food and drinks at First Down Sports Bar & Grill, conveniently located in the heart of Ballston.

The newly opened eatery serves up a fresh menu, offering soups, salads, sandwiches, and pizzas. Nosh on a Legare salad ($8.25), a mélange of arugula, prosciutto, figs, goat cheese, house-made croutons, and black olives in balsamic vinaigrette, or warm up to the Gadsden pizza ($11.50), topped with hand-cut pepperoni, spinach, black olives, and fresh mozzarella and feta. Justin's Café's sandwich selections feature veggie-dense, herbivore-pleasing tastes, such as the King sandwich ($8.25), which boasts a bed of grilled eggplant and basil mayo under tomato, roasted peppers, zucchini, and spinach, as well as carnivorous dream creations like the Radcliffe wrap ($8.50), which swaddles grilled chicken, Granny Smith apples, and mozzarella cheese in a spinach tortilla.

Exposed beams, ecto-cooler-hued walls, and colorful seating give the bar a cool, futuristic, Ghostbusters'-day-off feel. Filling the industrial-looking interior are three full bars, eliminating waiting times. While sipping on bottled beers ($4–$6) or a glass of wine ($5–$7), take on a friend at one of six shuffleboard tables, seven pool tables, or six dartboards. Rocket Bar also boasts 14 draft selections ($4–$6), rail drinks ($5), and call liquors ($6.50), which provide enough throat lubrication to sing along with one of the two jukeboxes. Apply the value during happy hour (4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) to take advantage of reduced rates and specials, including $4 glasses of wine, draft of the month, rail drinks, and champagne. Challenge your neighborhood to dart games, host a Bastille Day party, or watch the game on one of 17 HDTVs.

The Iron Horse Tap Room is a welcoming space where fine-liquor purveyors can sample new libations, play shuffleboard, watch sports, or engage in vigorous debate over the best British Parliamentary debate. Standard drafts like Miller Lite ($5) and Blue Moon ($6) make appearances, while adventurous barley adherents can appraise the wheaty Allagash White ($7) or the Ommegang Abbey Ale ($8), brimming with clove and dried-fruit flavors. Beer indulgers can get more explosions for their buck at the Iron Horse's happy hour, when draft beers are $2 off. Otherwise, Iron Horse's impressive collection of bourbons and whiskeys, from Blanton's to Crown Royal, is enough to impress even a bourbon-filled floaty-pen salesman.