5 Things: Kids Books, Dragons, ThighMaster, Baseball Boat and Blues on the Potomac

Patch editors highlight some of the best events in the West End and nearby for Wednesday, July 24. If you've got any suggestions of fun things to do around town today, feel free to add them in the comments section.

Encourage kids to read. Don't miss out on the chance to save on discounted children's books and CDs at Beatley Central Library in Alexandria’s West End. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. All proceeds benefit The Friends of Beatley Central Library, 5005 Duke St., 703-746-1702.

Baseball boat. Skip the traffic and ride the baseball boat from Old Town to see a game at the Washington Nationals stadium. More information is at the Potomac Riverboat website. It departs Old Town at 6 p.m. today.

Were dragons real? These and other questions will be pondered over at a National Gallery of Art talk and tour at 1 p.m. on “Dragons in Art,” looking at the gallery’s own collection. The 50-minute discussion begins in the West Building’s Main Floor at the Rotunda. The gallery is located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th streets NW along Constitution Avenue. 

ThighMaster mystery. Suzanne Somers may have popularized the ThighMaster in the 1990s, but who created it? Mystery solved when you go to National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum, located in the atrium of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 600 Dulany St. in Alexandria. The current exhibit, “Exercising Ingenuity,” highlights patents, trademarks and inventions that emerged from the fitness, nutrition and exercise industries. The museum is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. It is accessible from King Street and Eisenhower Avenue Metro stations.

Blues by the Potomac. Enjoy a noon concert with music by Anthony “Swamp Dog” Clark featuring blues, beside the Potomac River at Alexandria’s Canal Center Plaza amphitheater. For more information, call the special events hotline, 703-746-5592.