Washington, D.C.'s Tourist Trap

Every spring, hundreds of thousands of tourists arrive in Washington, D.C., with a singular destination: the pink cherry blossom-lined Tidal Basin that serves as the focal point of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This year, the event's centennial celebration, D.C.'s tourism boosters hope visitors will also take some time to visit a labyrinth of weeds, a light installation designed to attract hordes of insects, and a performance art piece involving an artist wrapping himself with three grades of postage stamps and asking to be mailed at a local post office.

These unusual attractions are all part of 5x5, the District of Columbia's latest effort to lure tourists off the National Mall and into the city's neighborhoods. The city gave five curators $100,000 each to bring five temporary public art pieces to Washington. The exhibit is on display from March through August, scattered throughout the city.