[Sable99]

I worked in DC for 26 years. DC is a beautiful city.

Traffic is always better in the summer. More so, because the colleges are out than Congress. To name a few: Georgetown University, GW University, Catholic University, Galludet University and Howard University.

My suggestion would be to stay in Virginia and take the Metro (train) into town. Crystal City, Pentagon City and Old Town Alexandria are right across the river and are an easy ride. You only have to take an elevator ride down in some of those hotels to get on the Metro! There are many stops in DC. Union Station and Capitol South are near Capitol Hill. The Metro is wonderful: its clean, safe and runs about every 10-15 minutes. Its not as frequent during off-peak hours or very late at night.

One of the easiest way to see the city is the blue Tourmobile. I can't remember the name of it. You get off at a stop and stay as long as you want and get a another bus to go to the next stop They even go out to Arlington Cemetery and Mt. Vernon. Mount Vernon is about 20 miles from DC. It is beautiful and right on the Potomac River. Some of the more uncommon places to visit are: National Cathedral, the National Zoo and the Kennedy Center. The new Pentagon Memorial for 911 is beautiful and worth a visit

Almost everything else is right in the Mall area: The Smithsonian, Union Station is beautiful and has a Mall in it, Library of Congress, National Archives to name a few.

Make sure you contact your Member of Congress as they can get you in the Senate and House galleries and make arrangements for a Capitol tour. I'm not sure if they started giving White House tours again. They stoppped them after 911

Remember that almost everyhere you go you will get your bags checked! Somethings they may keep until you are ready to leave; i.e., usually a camera.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions. I could go on and on about DC!