More awesome advice. I am starting to feel better. Breathe, I will put a trip report up when we come back so that if you haven't made reservations it might help you. I think I am going to look at the hotels that DEE3 recommended. I am definitely not looking for nightlife. I gear most of my vacations so that we are going placed that will entertain my son (tire him out) and has enough luxury that I still feel like I went on vacation even though I was chasing around a seven year old for several days on my own.
Now, I have to start researching Hershey, PA. My understanding is that it is about 2 hours away??

repete (if you're still here) -- I checked with Old Town Trolley tours and they said the following:

"Our old policy prior to April 2005, was a one loop policy. After April
2005 we created a new tour system, dividing the tour into two segments
and allowing guests to ride as many times as they wanted in one day."

I asked whether he meant that you can only ride on one segment a day. This was his response:

"One ticket is good to ride both segments of the tour if done within the
one day period. Many guests however find that they are unable to see
everything in one day because our tours are so extensive. We do not
offer any 2 day specials, but you can buy two tickets to use one each
day."

So which one do you think is better and how do I get tickets in advance?

Sheesh -- sounds like an improvement. The website definitely needs a bit of updating.

Usually, I advise folks to use the tourmobile if they want the monuments/museum/unionstation area and would only suggest the trolley for folks with a lot of time who wanted to see more neighborhoods and/or visit the National Cathedral.

With the two loops, the trolley might be better, but until they update their info, who knows?

bargains,

Thanks for the tip. the Raddison's pool, restaurant and room service is closed until 2006. I'm dissapointed. Dupont Circle seems like the place to be and I have teenagers that will want to walk around by themselves... but I really wanted that outdoor pool because of the heat. Back to the drawing board!

Breathe, you considered the Embassy Suites, so why not just stay there. It's really not that far to the Metro and has a pool, which seems like a deal breaker for you. I don't think you are going to find everything you want.

Mike, You are right. I am done researching. I have reservations right now at the Embassy Suites $239 and the Omni Shoreham $369 (for two rooms). I will decide tommorrow as Scarlett would say. Thanks for all the help everyone. breathe

I have stayed at the Omni Shoreham a couple times and it is very close to the Zoo and handy to transportation to the attractions you mentioned. You can get off the plane and hop on metro and pop-up right near the hotel. The places to eat nearby are not my favorite finds in DC, but the pool looks fine and the rooms are quite nice. I believe there is a Mc Donald's very close to the hotel for the little one if gourmet is not his thing.