The wife is attending the SHRM conference in June or July. We are making a little vacation out of it and taking along the little one as well (8 years old).

We're staying in the

Hilton Washington 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, District of Columbia,

Is this in a good location? What are my options and your suggestions for getting around the city? Subway, Taxi, drive myself?

Planning on touring a few of the buildings in the capital (Washington & Lincoln Memorial, Congess, etc), Smithsonian, Washington National Zoo. Any other suggestions? Good places to eat?

Even though I'm only 5 hours north, I just don't know very much about the D.C. area.

Thanks guys!

I've stayed there it's decent. All of downtown DC can be a little seedy but is generally safe in the business districts.

Have you been to DC before? My must sees: Vietnam War Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Library of Congress to see the Constitution, Lincoln Memorial, Congress/White House. Smithsonians are all great, National Art Museum and Hirshorn is good. Holocost Museum is well done but can be very disturbing, National Zoo is worthwhile.

What type of food do you want? The Washingtonian Magazine publishes two great lists

Very Best
http://www.washingtonian.com/dining/06vbcontents.html

and Cheap eats
http://www.washingtonian.com/dining/cheapeats/05.html

My goal when I lived in DC was to get to all those that appeared on both lists

I would not bring a car as parking in most of the places you want to go is nearly impossible. The Metro will get you to most all of them, can take taxis to the food at night.

I've been here over 10 years and I'm yet to tour some of those places mentioned. Like dave said parking can be a pita. Between some of the bad roads and all those speed radar cameras I rarely drive in DC. Adams Morgan and Georgetown are some nice spots to visit to get some food both accessible by train or cab.

I've lived in the DC area all my life, not that its been that long but i guess 21 years is enough. If that hilton is the one im thinking about, its in a decent location. Not really in the middle of things but not bad. All the historical stuff (monuments, white house, capitol) are all on the national mall. That is right on Constitution ave. You're best bet would be to take the metro (train). Proally the easiest way to get around town. You said June/july so expect long lines pretty much everywhere u go. If you wanna hit everything, think about taking a "tourmobile" guided tour though the city. I believe u can take that around to each of the sites and get on and off at each stop as you please http://www.tourmobile.com/. I thinks its $20/person/day. I suggest the air and space museum, its pretty cool, we used to go on a lot of field trips there in grade school. Also the American history museum has a pretty cool collection of autmobiles/trains. Those are all located on the mall as well. The zoo is real nice too. Lots of animals that you proally wouldnt see at any "other" zoo (pandas, primates, etc). The only problem w/ the zoo is its a ways from downtown, but you can get there on the metro.

Its late and i cant really think, but if i think of any more stuff, i'll post later on.

oh yeah, when u know exactly when you'll be in town, we can have a neloc g'town meet. hahaha, not sure how many ppl will actually drive their cars into the city tho .

1) hotel is nice .. pretty much anything in NW DC is going to be nice.

2) places to see white house (call ur congressman and get tickets from him/her)
national mall -- pick a few museums that ur interested in
georgetown -- nice bars, shopping
Adams morgan -- lots of good places to eat.
Waterfront/kenedy center/oddessey (sp?) boat tour in the evening

3) parking can be a pain .. but it is a lot easier then NY, Chicago, or any other major city I've been to. Street parking is available, and the garages are reasonable.

4) just like any trip check out zaggots or other online resources before visiting. ALso check to see i fthere are any events or festivals in town that week. Also throw in a quick trip to B-more. Basically just stick to the inner harbor.

Sites -
Check out the Zoo. I haven't been down there in a couple of months but my team did the engineering of the Asia Trail, and when it's done it's going to be insane.
Natural History museum will be good for the youngster.

Eats -
My wife and I really like 'Red Sage'. They have a pretty exotic menu, and it's not far from your hotel in NW.
'Capitol Grill' is really good as well. The steaks are insane. If you go there have a Stoli Doli (if that's your thing) It's a pinapple martini and are fantastic.
'Jaleo' is a pretty good tapas restaurant right there in NW and they have great Sangria.

The Hilton is in a pretty decent part of town.....IM in the tradeshow biz, im up there quite a bit. Staying there your real close to the zoo, and Adams Morgan is right there as well. I would cab it around town personally, driving will be a PITA due to parking, ecspecially if youre not familiar with the area. It wont take alot to get yourself in an area that you dont care to be. As far as restraunts go, there are a ton, from middle to high end eats. Personally, I like to hit The Palm. Its pricey though.....fortunately for me, its usually on my companies dime!!