We are touring DC in June with a 13 and 15 year old. ANY hints on where to stay, where/what to eat, "don't miss" sights, etc. will be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!
J2

We toured DC last summer with an 11 and 15 year old. We stayed in Virginia close to the metro line and rarely used the car. Do not miss going to the capitol and viewing the House of Reps in action. Both my kids loved this! Take good walking shoes and have fun.

First, you definitely want to stay near the metro. However, I don't feel that it is necessary to stay in Virginia, unless all hotels in DC are booked. You don't give a budget, so I am going to throw out some suggestions: The Capitol Hilton near the Farragut North metro and two blocks from the White House; the Capitol Hilton and Holiday Inn on New Jersey Avenue near the Union Station metro and in walking distance to the Capitol; the J.W. Marriott on Pennsylvania near Metro Center. Be advised that rates are higher in June, and that hotels book up very fast. You should make your reservations soon. Also, you should first assess what the kids are interested in, and then tailor your trip to that. The Smithsonian is a must see, and certainly at least one of the museums is bound to hold the interest of someone. I am a volunteer docent at the Air and Space Museum, so I can answer any questions in detail about that museum. If you want to visit the Capitol and and will be there when Congress is in session (usually Tuesday through Thursday), you can request passes from your Congressman or Senator. Passes are not needed when Congress is not in session. Be advised, however, that on a normal legislative day, you will not see all the members of the House and Senate in the chambers - usually just a handful. It usually is very quiet. You will probably want to visit the White House. There are two ways to do this. 1) Contact your Congressman or Senator at least three months in advance and ask for White House tickets. Each office gets a limited number each month for congressional tours which are held early in the morning. They are guided and less crowded than the regular tour. 2) You can get timed tickets from the White House visitors center on 15th and E street. Tours are held from 10am-12noon, Tuesday through Saturday. They are issued the morning of the tour. Frankly, I would try getting the congressional tickets. The regular tour is not guided, and very crowded. Let me know if you can't obtain your congressperson's phone number. I personally love visiting the National Zoo (Connecticut Avenue, Woodley Park Metro). One memorial not to miss is the FDR memorial. I find that it is best appreciated near sunset, when the reflection of the Washington Monument on the Tidal Basin is at its best. Well, this post is getting long and this is only just the tip of the iceberg. Let me know if you need more information. Have fun.

When I visited Washington while I was in high school, the thing I remember most was Arlingotn National Cemetery. The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns is a sight all Americans should see. Also, J.F.K's grave with its eternal flame is very awe inspiring.

Other things I enjoyed were the monuments, especially the Jefferson and Lincoln at night. These were neat! The National Zoo is great!

It might be nice to make an appointment for your teens to meet their representative. Just call a few weeks in advance to get on the schedule.

HAVE FUN! Every American should visit our nation's capitol at least once!

My husband and I took our boys (ages 13 & 15) to Washington over the Easter weekend in 1998. We stayed at the Embassy Suites at Tysons Corner in Virginia. We flew into Dulles and took a taxi to the hotel. We never had to rent a car because the hotel van would take us to the metro stop and pick us up when we returned every evening. They were GREAT!!! We contacted our Congressman for tickets to the White House and Capitol tours. I ordered tickets through Ticketmaster for the Holocaust museum. The tickets are free and they charge a $2 handling fee, but it was worth it so we could pick the time of the tour we wanted and avoided waiting in lines to obtain tickets. We also got tickets to see a Washington Wizards game at the MCI center. (We ate lunch in the sports restaurant there and spent a short time in the virtual reality area upstairs.) We went to Arlington Cemetary, Vietnam Memorial, Musuem of American history at the Smithsonian, Ford's Theater, FBI building and the National Geographic Museum. We were VERY busy the 3 whole days we spent there, but felt it was long enough with teenagers along! The weather was great and the spring flowers beautiful. We also purchased tickets on one of the trolleys which stopped at several places so you were allowed to either stay on or get off and catch the next trolley. I hear it is very crowded and hot in the summer, but maybe June won't be as bad as July and August. Hope you have as much fun as we did.

If you do end up contacting your congressman's office, ask if you can have a tour of the Capitol by a staffer. This is obviously much more detailed and personal than the regular tours. You can try to make an appointment to meet with the congressman. However, after you call, you will need to send a letter of request to the scheduler (this is the preferred method on the Hill). Be advised that even if you are scheduled for a meeting, scheduling conflicts (committee meetings, votes, etc.) and other things may prevent the meeting from taking place. I only say this because I don't want you to get your hopes up. I personally find the Tourmobile tours a waste of time - you can get to and from the attractions for less money than you pay to take the Tourmobile. The only time you may want to take one is at Arlington which is so sprawling.

Whatever you do while you are here, please take the previously posted advice and see the monuments at night. It is not necessary to actually tour them, but at least drive by and see them as they are lit in the darkness. A very long time ago, one poster suggested (and I can only imagine the impact) walking up to the statue of Lincoln in the monument and not turning around or looking back until at the very base...then turn and look down the mall. I get what must be a similar patriotic rush when I use Metro (the subway) and exit at the Smithsonian exit. It's as if you come up from the catacombs and as soon as the bright sunlight reaches your eyes, the gloriously green grass of the mall leads your eyes WAY down to the Capital and all around you are patriotic things you have only seen on TV and in pictures. I almost stand there with my mouth open every time.

We did our Washington trip when the kids were in 6th and 9th grade. We stayed at an Embassy Suites near DuPont Circle, an area that has lots of great restaurants. Do stay somewhere close to the Metro, but we switched from our first hotel near the Mall because it was dead at night and hard to find somewhere to eat. We walked or used the Metro--cabs seemed very expensive.

We had congressional tickets for the White House and FBI, both of which the girls loved (especially the weapons demo at the end of the FBI tour). Ford's Theater is easily combined with the FBI building, and we had a GREAT docent there. We even succumbed to the girls' pleas to have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Arlington was also very inspiring. The Holocaust Museum was very draining but in the end inspiring, and we cheered up by going to see the First Ladies dresses at the History Museum. It is an underappreciated delight, and a real help to lessening friction when the kids can't last very long, that the attractions are all free!

The most inspiring thing for me personally, a child of the 60's, was the Vietnam Wall: I was in tears after the first few yards walking along it, and I still get choked up if I think about it.

Jean, you're getting some superb advice here; enough to keep you busy for a week, at least. Let me offer a few possibilities that might grab the interest of 13 and 15-year-olds.

First, Debbie, above makes passing reference to the "National Geographic Museum." I think she means Explorers Hall, which is kid heaven. It's at 17th and M, and occupies the ground floor of the National Geographic Society. The exhibits constantly change, but are generally themed to what's in the current issue of NG's magazine.

The new gem hall at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History is just superb. Very interactive and geared to the interests of teens (you can slam a meteorite into the earth and assess the damage, for example). You can walk into several mines and, of course, there's the room holding such items as the Hope diamond and Star of India sapphire. It takes about two hours to see it, even without crowds.

I'd also not hesitate to take your kids to the Library of Congress, just east of the Capitol. Beautifully restored, the building is jaw-dropping lovely to look at, just for itself. Inside, there's a constantly-changing set of exhibits themed to things literary and cultural. We've seen the history of the English-language bible, the best, original works of the editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant, and a room dedicated to George Gershwin's music. There's also a constantly changing exhibit of what I call, "America's Greatest Hits," original documents of U.S. culture, like the handwritten Gettysburg Adress juxtaposed to the handwritten first draft of the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations."

Restaurants? Dupont Circle and the area above it on Connecticut Avenue abounds in restaurants that you won't find back home (Ethopian, for example). If you want to dine as close to a Parisian brasserie as you'll get in the US, Les Halles (Pennsylvania Ave. at 12th St.) has superb food and an atmosphere that can't be beat.