If you go

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2001

How the locals do D.C. Beyond the Mall, the monuments and the museums is Rock Creek Park, watersports on the Potomac, art galleries and ethnic neighborhoods and restaurants. Subway wanderings The Metro is an inexpensive and virtually hassle-free way to reach the sights of the District -- the famous ones and the "insider" places.

GETTING THERE: Typical budget round-trip air fare from the Tampa Bay area to Washington's Reagan National Airport is about $115 on Northwest or Delta. Often travelers can save a few dollars by flying on Southwest and USAirways into Baltimore-Washington International, about 30 miles north of Washington. From there, visitors can take a combination of free shuttlebus and the inexpensive ($5) MARC commuter train to Washington's Union Station. (Taxi fare for an equivalent trip would be about $55.)

Note: The MARC commuter train does not run at all on Saturday or Sunday, and the last train on weeknights is 8:57 p.m.

GETTING AROUND BY METRORAIL: Metro fares range from $1.10 for short trips during off-peak hours to $3.25 for a trip from one end to the other during rush hour (in effect 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m.) Monday through Friday.

Metro offers $5, one-day passes, which allow unlimited travel after 9:30 a.m. weekdays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. These passes are available at the busier Metro stations, at Safeway and Giant supermarkets and online at http://www.wmata.com/.

Up to two children 4 years old or younger can ride free with each paying rider. Metro stations and trains are handicapped-sccessible (each station has elevators on all levels). Parking is available at some suburban stations, but the lots fill up quickly on weekday mornings. Parking is free on weekends.

Handy neighborhood maps are posted near the exits of each station showing local attractions, hotels, churches, etc., but they are a little out of date.

Metro closes around midnight, except for Friday and Saturday nights, when it closes at 2 a.m.

You cannot get to Georgetown by subway. And if you drive there, you will find parking difficult. But you can walk to Georgetown from Metro stops in Foggy Bottom or Rosslyn, or take the bus from Rosslyn or Farragut West.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the Web site http://www.washington.org.

TOURING THERE: Each of the following attractions or stops is followed by its nearest Metro station. Entry to the Smithsonian buildings, National Gallery and many of the other attractions listed below is free, but some suggest a donation, and some, for example the Phillips Collection, require a small admission fee.

Smithsonian, the Mall and vicinity: The Smithsonian station is the most central stop for most of the Smithsonian buildings and other attractions on or near the Mall, but individual sights actually may be closer to other stops, as indicated below.

• Air and Space Museum; L'Enfant Plaza station
• American History Museum; Federal Triangle
• Freer Gallery (Asian Art); Smithsonian
• Hirshhorn Museum; L'Enfant Plaza
• Holocaust Museum; Smithsonian
• Jefferson Memorial; Smithsonian (plus a six-block walk)
• Lincoln Memorial; Foggy Bottom (and an eight-block walk)
• National Archives; Archives/Navy Memorial
• National Gallery of Art (East and West Buildings); Archives/Navy Memorial
• National Museum of African Art; Smithsonian
• Natural History Museum; Federal Triangle
• Sackler Gallery (Asian art); Smithsonian
• Smithsonian Castle (headquarters building; rest and orient yourself); Smithsonian
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Foggy Bottom (and a nine-block walk)
• Washington Monument; Smithsonian
• Capitol Hill: The Capitol, Supreme Court and Library of Congress all are best reached via the Capitol South station.

White House area: For the White House tour, use the Federal Triangle station, then walk to the White House Visitor Center at the corner of E and 15th streets NW. The Corocoran Gallery (American and European art), 500 17th St. NW, are close to the Farragut West stop.

Woodley Park/National Zoo: The Zoo (also part of the Smithsonian system), entrance in the 3000 block of Connecticut Ave. NW.

Judiciary Square area: National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW; National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, 400 block of E St. NW.

Dupont Circle: Phillips Collection (modern art), 1600 21st St. NW; Textile Museum, 2320 S St NW.

Rosslyn and Arlington Cemetery: Just over (or, because you are using the subway, "under") the Potomac in Virginia, near the Rosslyn station, is the Newseum, a museum of the news industry at 1101 Wilson Blvd. (Closed Mondays.) The Marine Corps (Iwo Jima) Memorial is six blocks from the Metro. At the next Blue Line station are Arlington Cemetery, the Robert E. Lee Memorial and John F. Kennedy's grave.

STAYING THERE: Most major hotel and motel chains are represented in Washington and its suburbs. A recent Internet search disclosed dozens of options in the $80 to $100 per night range for a double in the suburbs. Rates in Washington itself run about $50 more.

EATING THERE: There is fine dining to be found, but you have to work at finding it. In particular, there's not much of it -- cheap or expensive -- on the Mall.

The following restaurants all are in D.C., and they use the 202 area code, except as noted. Except at places designated here as "Cheap eats," entree prices typically run from about $12 into the low $30s. An * indicates reservations recommended.

Cheap eats:

• Ben's Chili Bowl (chili, dogs, chili dogs), 1213 U St. NW, at Ben Ali Way (Ben Ali is the "Ben"). (U Street/Cardozo station); call 667-0909.
• Cafe Dalat, Arlington, Va. (Vietnamese; $4.95 weekday lunch buffet), 3143 Wilson Blvd. (Clarendon Metro); (703) 276-0935.
• Jonathan's Gourmet (pay by the pound for a pan-Asian and heartland American buffet; eat a lot for about $5), 1120 19th St. NW (Farragut West Metro); 296-2924 (open 6:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays). Market Lunch (basic American), 225 Seventh St. SE (in Eastern Market), 547-8444.
• Park Place Gourmet (similar to Jonathan's; near the White House), on Farragut Square (Farragut West or Farragut North Metro), 783-4496 (open 6 a.m.-5 p.m., weekdays).
• Sala Thai (Thai), 2016 P St. NW (Dupont Circle); 872-1144.

For celebrity watching:

• The Palm (steakhouse), 1225 19th St. NW (Dupont Circle), No. 300; 293-9091.*
• West 24 (contemporary Southern; owned in part by the pre-eminent, bipartisan fun couple, Mary Matalin and James Carville), 1250 24th St. NW (Foggy Bottom); 331-1100. *
• Bis (a bistro from the owner of Vidalia, below), 15 E St. NW (Union Station Metro); 661-2700. *

Restaurants listed by Metro neighborhood:

Metro Center:

• Jaleo (Spanish tapas), 480 Seventh St. NW; 628-7949. *

Dupont Circle:

• Al Tiramisu (Tuscan; pastas and grilled fish recommended), 2014 P St. NW; 467-4466 (closed Sundays). *
• Johnny's Half-Shell (creative seafood), 2002 P St. NW; 296-2021 (closed Sundays).
• Nora (new American; emphasis on fresh ingredients), 2132 Florida Ave. NW; 462-5143 (closed Sundays). *

Foggy Bottom and Farragut West areas:

• Galileo (the the luxury liner of the local Italian fleet), 1110 21st St. NW; 293-7191. *
• Goldoni (creative Venetian), 1120 20th St. NW; 293-1511. *
• Kinkead's (best in town for seafood), 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW; 296-7700. *
• Malaysia Kopitiam (best satays in town), 1827 M St. NW; 833-6232.
• Vidalia (imaginative Southern), 1990 M St. NW; 659-1990. *

Woodley Park/Zoo:

• Animal Cracker Cafe (above-average soups and salads; handy for zoo-philes), 3000 Connecticut Ave. NW; 667-0503.
• New Heights (new American; charming setting), 2317 Calvert St. NW; 234-4110.*

McPherson Square:

• DC Coast (gorgeous room with open kitchen; seafood with occasional Asian touches), 1401 K St. NW; 216-5988 (closed Sundays). *
• Georgia Brown's (nouvelle Southern; fried chicken that would make Grandma envious), 950 15th St. NW; 393-4499.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright