5 things to do with your old guidebooks

It's a penny-pincher's nirvana: The Cheap Bastard's Guide to Washington, D.C., which lists about 1,000 freebies. Here's a sampling of some favorite (but lesser known) finds that visitors and locals can enjoy any time of the year, courtesy of the book's author, Rob Grader. Catch a free performance Most evenings (often around 6:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. Daily performances run the gamut from classical music, jazz, and popular music to theater, dance, and circus performances, each lasting between half-an-hour and an hour. Take a free tour of the capital city DC by Foot Free Monuments Walking Tours offer 90 minute free tours of the national mall that will fill you in on all of the history, symbolism and architectural details of the monuments around the mall. Guides set out most weekdays at 6 p.m. and most weekends at 2 p.m. No reservations are required. dcbyfoot.com Wholeness for Humanity leads eco-tours around D.C. to highlight the greening of the city. The tours can lead you to many surprising destinations, including the Nationals' ballpark, the roof of the Department of Transportation, the National Geographic Building, and a stroll along the Anacostia River. Tours run a few times a month and reservations are required. wholenessforhumanity.com Attend a blues Jam Every Saturday at 2:30 in honor of the musician Archie Edwards. The jam brings together musicians of all levels to revel in the Piedmont Blues that Mr. Edwards championed for more than 50 years at his D.C. barber shop. acousticblues.com BONUS TIP Enjoy a day on the farm. A drive of a few miles outside of D.C. in Oxon Hill, Md., visitors can get their hands dirty milking cows and working with the chickens or just have a good time petting the farm animals, overlooking the Beltway. nps.gov/archive/nace/oxhi

One of the best ways to explore San Francisco's killer hills is by venturing through the many, often hidden, stairways in the city. Most are lined with picturesque gardens, many offer benches along the way (phew!), and all offer stunning views of the city or the Bay. The better-known steps are adjacent to the winding Lombard Street, but some secret stairways traverse parks and wind through residential areas, affording you a glimpse that only locals usually get. Here are our five favorites. Telegraph Hill: The popular Filbert and Greenwich Street staircases leading up to Coit Tower. Highlights: Gardens of roses and irises, a picnic table overlooking the Bay, and trees filled with the famous wild parrots. Start at Telegraph Hill Blvd and either Filbert or Greenwich streets. Inner Sunset: The 16th Avenue steps, covered in mosaic tiles, were a neighborhood project inspired by the Santa Teresa Steps in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After you've done the 16th avenue steps, continue down 15th Avenue to the Aerial stairway (one of the longest in the city) or head up the hill to the Grand View Park staircase, whose benches are one of the best spots to watch a San Francisco sunset. Highlights: Native plants like Bush lupine and the endangered yellow Franciscan wallflowers, as well as views of various angles of the Golden Gate bridge and the ocean. Start at 16th Avenue and Moraga Avenue. Presidio: The Lyon Street steps lead from Pacific Heights through the Presidio park down to the Palace of Fine Arts (where you can check out the Exploratorium science museum) and the Marina neighborhood. Highlights: Tiered gardens and breathtaking views of the ocean. This is a favorite running spot for hard-core athletes. Start at Lyon and Broadway. Upper Market: The Saturn and Vulcan stairways lead through the residential neighborhood above the Castro district. Highlights: Lush gardens of rhododendrons, hydrangeas, azaleas, and fuchsias; quirky cottages whose residents have only stairway, not road, access; and views of the city streets below. Start at Levant Street near Lower Terrace. Pacific Heights: The Baker Street and Fillmore Street stairways pass through the Queen Ann Victorian houses and decadent Italian Renaissance mansions, near the Alta Plaza Park. Highlights: Some of the city's most breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and Palace of Fine arts. Start at Broadway and Baker. For more information, check out Adah Bakalinsky's guidebook, Stairway Walks in San Francisco.

New Orleans is on a roll! Fresh off the Saints' first-time win at the Super Bowl—which got its own raucous parade last week—came Mardi Gras, still America's craziest street party. We sent photographer Michael Mohr out to capture the wild costumes, impromptu parades, and energetic, bead-hungry crowds. See the results in our slide show, and look out for photo #9 of couples in clothes and hats made with iconic plastic beads and doubloons. Michael grew up in New Orleans, and one of his fondest memories, as a boy at Mardi Gras, was getting a prized Zulu coconut. His family and friends lined up along parade routes each year as early as 4 a.m. to claim their territory. They came prepared with tons of food: red beans and rice, Zapps potato chips, jambalaya, beer, and two boxes of Popeye's fried chicken and biscuits. "There is an energy about Mardi Gras that is beyond explanation," Michael wrote me. "You have to be there to feel it and understand it." True, but his photos get you close!

In synch with the Winter Olympics, Zagat has released its latest Vancouver guide. The 2010 Vancouver survey covers ratings and reviews for 298 of the area's finest restaurants, hotels, nightspots, and attractions, including locations in Vancouver, Whistler, Vancouver Island, and Victoria. As usual, the guide shows the cost of each establishment, spotlighting the best values. I recently interviewed via e-mail Tim Zagat, cofounder with Nina Zagat of Zagat Survey. He shared the latest travel recommendations for Vancouver. What's new to eat in Vancouver? According to surveyors, Maenam, a reasonably-priced Thai restaurant located on the West Side is the top newcomer. Other exciting fresh faces include the affordable French Au Petit Chavignol, Downtown's Cibo, West End's Nook, and Les Faux Bourgeois on the East Side. Vancouver surveyors also report a revival by Spanish-style tapas specialists like Mis Trucos and Café Barcelona. What are Zagat's top bang for the buck restaurants in Vancouver? In order: 1. Nat's New York Pizzeria 2. Pajo's 3. Go Fish Ocean Emporium 4. Vera's Burger 5. Tomahawk Barbecue 6. Café Medina 7. Saravanaa Bhavan 8. Nuba Restaurant/Café 9. Vij's Rangoli 10. Gyoza King Where are the most affordable excellent restaurants in Vancouver? The West Side has become the focus for not only new restaurants, but for great values. While some top restaurants have opened affordable "siblings" on the West Side—including Trattoria Italian Kitchen (sibling of Italian Kitchen)—meanwhile, Fuel, has scaled back to re-open as refuel, with a more moderately priced menu, joining a trend among some other eateries. Biggest change in a Zagat rating for any one property/restaurant, that's eye-catching, from a previous edition? Blue Water Cafe & Raw Bar appears to have made a prominent jump into the Top 10 on our Top Food list and Top 5 on our Most Popular list for Vancouver restaurants. Has there been any overall trend in how people have been rating restaurants? The current state of the economy has certainly left surveyors more focused on how to get the best meal at the best value. But, in terms of categories, we've continued to see service as an industry weak-link, with 79 percent of surveyors making it their top restaurant complaint. We've found that more surveyors are voting via their mobile phones, too. Any other must-see sights in Vancouver, beyond the Olympics? Perhaps some of the Olympic venues post-Olympics? According to surveyors, the most popular attractions in Vancouver include: 1) Stanley Park 2) Vancouver Aquarium 3) Museum of Anthropology at UBC 4) Capilano Bridge 5) Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden ZAGAT is offering free access to the Vancouver book through the microsite zagat.com/olympics MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL My Town: Vancouver Canada's Secret Slopes