<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Correction for part 1 - Café Dalat in Arlington has gone out of business

HOTELS
Embassy Suites in Alexandria, Va and the metro was right  across the street.
.............................................

The hotels in the DC area are usually expensive and many people stay in
surrounding areas and just take the metro downtown.  There is a DoubleTree
Hotel in Rockville, Md. and the metro picks you up right behind it.  Just
check www.google.com for hotels in Bethesda, Rockville, Alexandria (VA),
Arlington (VA) and see what looks best to you.  If I were you, I would try
to get a place with a refrigerator and maybe a small kitchen like the
Marriott hotels that have suites for families.  The Residence Inn by
Marriott has kitchens and two bedrooms.  It would be best to find one near
the metro.
.................................................

JW Marriot another trip and that was nice and perfectly  located but you
will pay dearly for this location.
.................................................

Embassy Suites seemed to be a favorite choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PLACES TO GO
As for "Must Visit" ... it depends on your taste. Go to the website of The
Washingtonian magazine and see what plays and special museum exhibits are
going on while you're here. All the museums in Washington are free except
for three of them (the Corcoran, the Phillips and the Spy Museum). The
American History museum is closed for renovations. I think they moved all
the "greatest hits" (the Ruby Slippers, etc.) to Air and Space.

The new permanent exhibit at the National Archives is fascinating. They have
original documents -- everything from presidential orders to the Homestead
Charter for the little house on the prairie that Laura Ingalls Wilder's
family lived in, to letters from kids to presidents. It's a lot of fun.

The National Cathedral. The grounds are beautiful (as are the stained glass
windows). On the national Mall; the Natural History museum is good unless
you hate crowds. It's always mobbed with families with kids. But it's a cool
museum. The Hope Diamond is there. A lot of people like the new WWII
Memorial. I think it's a little over-done.

If you're on Capitol Hill, walk through the lobby of the Library of Congress
main building. And go up to the top floor to take a look at the main reading
room. It's beautiful. While you're up on Capitol Hill, stop into the Folger
Shakespeare Library. They have unusual exhibits in their exhibit area. And
make sure you go into Union Station. The interior is breathtaking.

The National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of American Art have
both just reopened after 5 years of renovation. They did a very nice job.
There are some fascinating little "finds" in both museums. Look for the
giant aluminum foil "Jesus Throne" in the American Art musuem and the paper
mache heads of celebrities from old Time Magazine covers in the Portrait
Gallery.

I don't know if you like bar hopping, but the neighborhoods for that are
Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan. Only Dupont it accessible by subway, though.

There are 83 theater companies in Washington, so if you like theater, you
will find something to see.

...................................................................

If you want to tour the White House or State Capital Building, you need to
schedule through your state senator's office at http://www.senate.gov/  The
White House tour has to be scheduled 1-3 months in advance.

..............................................................

Highly recommend the Botanical Garden, Museum of American Art, and Museum of
Natural Sciences (even if you don't have kids; lots of really interesting
things to look at).  Eastern Market is nice on weekends when it's warm.
...............................................................

Washington, D.C. DC Tourism: Especially for Kids - SideStep Especially for
Kids: Washington, DC DC tourism - SideStep's Washington, DC travel guides
are the most comprehensive source for information and reviews of ...
      www.sidestep.com/travel-info-t0035021105-especially_for_kids_washington_dc



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GETTING AROUND
You will need a car if your hotel is not in downtown DC or near the commuter
rail (Metro).

The standard sites include the museums and monuments.  I would  encourage
the use of the tour bus.  It has several on and off points that make the
sites easily assessable.  It is easy to take the commuter train (Metro) to
the tour bus sites with a mild walk.  The Metro is relativly easy to use and
you can purchase a day pass for $5.

We have a very good metro system to get around in the DC area but there will
also be a good deal of walking unless you go to Union Station on the metro
and take one of the trolley tours to see the monumets, etc.  You can get an
all day pass and get on and off as much as you wish.  There is no place to
park a car in the DC area.  You can also buy passes for the Metro which will
save you some money if you use it the week.
........................................................
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
      Metrorail and Metrobus transit services in Washington, DC, Maryland
and Virginia communities.
      www.wmata.com/ - 49k - Cached - Similar pages
      Trip Planner - www.wmata.com/tripplanner_d/tripplanner_form_solo.cfm
      Metrorail stations - www.wmata.com/metrorail/stations.cfm
      Find a stop/station -
www.wmata.com/metrorail/stations.cfm?fromMenu=MapsA...
      Bus timetables - www.wmata.com/timetables/bus_timetables.cfm
      More results from www.wmata.com »

Metro - Metrorail System Map
      Metrorail System Map. Looking for a text-only version? ... Orange
Line - Vienna, Rosslyn D.C. Area - Metro Center, Gallery Pl./Chinatown,
L'Enfant Plaza ...
      www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.cfm - 38k - Cached - Similar pages

washington dc metro system map

*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CELIAC List*
Archives are at: Http://Listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?LIST=CELIAC