Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Bridge and Jefferson Davis Highway Arlington, Va. 22211 (703) 607-8000 www.arlingtoncemetery.org

Tomb of the Unknowns, Amphitheater, Arlington House and the grave of president John F. Kennedy. The Memorial Amphitheater. Changing of the guard at the tomb every half hour in the summer and every hour the rest of the year. Many other famous Americans are buried at the cemetery along with 175,000 fallen soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines from every war and conflict in our history. A guided tour bus runs daily.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg

www.buschgardens.com (757) 253-3350

Busch Gardens Williamsburg is an action-packed, European-themed park with 17th century charm and 21st century technology, boasting more than 100 acres of unparalleled fun and adventure for the entire family. "America's Most Beautiful Theme Park" is home to the world's top-rated roller coasters, more than 40 thrilling rides and attractions, eight mainstage shows, a wide variety of award-winning foods and world-class shops, and a magical children's area.

Located three miles east of historic Williamsburg, and 150 miles from Washington, the park is open weekends in March, daily April 6 through Sept. 3 and weekends until end of October.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania (540) 371-0802 www.nps.gov//.

No place more vividly reflects the Civil War's tragic cost, in all its forms. A city bombarded, bloodied, and looted. Farms large and small ruined. More than 85,000 men wounded; 15,000 killed, most now in graves unknown. The fading scars of battle, the homeplaces of bygone families, and the granie tributes to those who fought still mark these lands. A virtuous tragedy that freed four million Americans and reunited a nation.

Mount Vernon

George Washington Memorial Parkway, 16 miles south of Washington (703) 780-2000 www.mountvernon.org

This Georgian-style, circa-1743 mansion was the home and plantation of George Washington. Located on the south bank of the Potomac River. Guided tours of the grounds and gardens are conducted daily from April through Labor Day.

U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial

See the largest statue ever cast in bronze, which honors all U.S. Marines who have died in combat since 1945. It is located at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington. Within striking distance of the National Cemetery, this statue depicts the raising of the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi, Feb. 23, 1945. The statue was modeled after a photo taken by Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Joe Rosenthal. The memorial also features a sunset parade concert performed Tuesday evenings from May to late August. Call (703) 285-2598 for more information.

Women in Military Service for America Memorial

October 1 through March 31, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 1 through September 30, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Christmas day. (703) 533-1155 or (800) 222-2294 www.womensmemorial.org

This memorial honors all military women, past, present and future. Situated on 4.2 acres of land at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, the women's memorial is the nation's first major national memorial honoring women who have served in our nation's armed forces during all eras and in all services. There is no public parking at the memorial, but parking is available at the visitors center at Arlington National Cemetery (about two city blocks away) for a fee.

Wolf Trap, Filene Center

The Barns of Wolf Trap

1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Va. (703) 255-1860, tickets www.wolftrap.org

Wolf Trap, "America's National Park for the Performing Arts," presents a variety of musicians, entertainers and concerts throughout the summer in the Filene Center outdoor amphitheater, as well as in the Barns of Wolf Trap during the winter.

Washington

Bureau of Engraving and PrintingHours: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 14th and C Streets, S.W., Washington, D.C. Metro Exit: Metro Center/Gallery Place-Chinatown (202) 874-3188. http://www.moneyfactory.com

See millions of dollars of paper money printed. Guided tours take 25 minutes. Closed Saturday, Sunday and federal holidays.

Capital Children's Museum

Daily -10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $6 for adults and children $4 for senior citizens, children under 2 are free 800 Third Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. Metro: Union Station (202) 675-4120, www.ccm.org

This hands-on museum helps children and their families learn by doing with exhibits ranging from Mexico to communications to computers, including an ice age cave. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Corcoran Gallery of Art

Daily - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Closed on Tuesday. Suggested Donations: $;3, adults, $1, senior and students are Free, children under 12 $5, family groups. 500 17th Street at New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. Metro Exit: Farragut North or Farragut West, (202) 639-1700 www.cocoran.org

One of the three oldest museums in the United States, the collection includes Greek antiquities, American and European paintings, and changing exhibits.

Daughters of the American Revolution Museum

8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Period Room Tours

Closed Saturdays and for two weeks in April. 1776 D. Street N.W. between 17th and 19th Streets,Washington, D.C. Metro Exit: Farragut West, (202) 628-1776

The museum of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution features a gallery with changing exhibits, as well as 33 period rooms with a superb collection of pre-1840s furnishings. Youngsters can view the Children's Attic filled with the playthings of the past and play with similar reproduction toys.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Open Monday through Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Free E Street, between 9th and 10th Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. Metro Exit: Gallery Place-Chinatown, (202) 874-3019 http://www.fbi.gov

Museum displays of the history of the bureau, modern-day activities for catching drug runners, terrorists, and the Ten Most Wanted list, as well as glimpses of FBI labs are on the one-hour tour.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

900 Ohio Drive, S.W., Washington, D.C.(202) 228-2491

The FDR memorial consists of four outdoor rooms with granite walls, statuary, inscriptions, waterfalls and thousands of plants, shrubs and trees along the famous cherry tree walk on the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. Each of Roosevelt's four terms in office are portrayed by American sculptors whose works relate memories of the man and his period in an enclosed landscape emphasizing ornamental trees and shrubs native to the mid-Atlantic region. Park rangers are available from 8 a.m. to midnight every day except Christmas day.

Folger (Shakespeare) Library

201 E. Capital St., S.E., Washington, D.C.(202) 544-7077,10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday,Closed Sunday and all federal holidays 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., April - October, Every Third Saturday. Metro: Union Station or Capitol South Free www.folger.edu

Ford's Theater and Lincoln Center

511 10th Street, NW, Washington, D.C., between E & F Streets.

Metro Exit: Metro Center. (202) 347-4833 www.fordstheatre.org.

Tours are given daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except when rehearsals or matinees are in progress. Museum remains open. Free except for theater performances. Call (202) 426-6924 for tour information.

Georgetown

Shopping boutiques, restaurants, nightclubs in the old colonial section of Washington, includes the Old Stone House on M Street, the oldest standing house in Washington, Georgetown University and the C&O Canal. West of Rock Creek Park from the Potomac River north to Massachusetts Avenue.

Jefferson Memorial

900 Ohio Drive, SW Washington, D.C. 20024 (202) 426-6821 or (202) 619-7222

A monument to our third president, this 19-foot bronze statue stands beneath a rotunda inscribed with passages from the Declaration of Independence and Jefferson's other famous writings. Open daily except Christmas. Park rangers are in attendance from 8 a.m. - midnight.

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

2700 F Street N.W., Washington, D.C. (800) 444-1324 (202) 467-4600 www.kennedy-center.org

Overlooking the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. the nation's busiest arts facility, presenting more than 3,300 performances each year for audiences numbering more than 2 million. The Kennedy Center continues to fulfill his vision by producing and presenting an unmatched variety of theater and musicals, dance and ballet, orchestral, chamber, jazz, popular and folk music, and multi-media performances for all ages.

The Kennedy Center contains the Opera House, Concert Hall, Eisenhower Theater, the Terrace Theater, Hall of Nations, and the American Film Institute Theater. The Millennium Stage presents free performances in the Grand Foyer every night at 6 p.m. Open daily for public viewing, 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. For group tour information, call 202-416-8341. Shuttle available from Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro.

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Across the Reflecting Pool from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall. Daily, 8 a.m. to midnight. (202) 426-6841

Commemorating the 628,000 troops who were killed in the Korean conflict, this memorial consists of 19 giant polished steel statues.

On an adjacent black granite wall, you can see more than 2,000 photographic images from the war that have been sand-blasted onto the wall.

Lincoln Memorial

900 Ohio Drive, S.W. Washington, D.C. (202) 426-6841

The classic Greek temple memorial is located at West Potomac Park overlooks the Reflecting Pool. Inside, the 19-foot marble statue of the 16th president is flanked by inscriptions of his Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address. Open daily, 8 a.m. - midnight. From the nearest metro, Foggy Bottom-GWU, walk 8 blocks south along 23rd Street N.W.

MCI Center

601 F Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. (202) 623-3200 Metro Exit: Gallery Place-Chinatown

Home of the NBA's Washington Wizards, WNBA's Mystics, NHL's Washington Capitals, plus entertainment, cultural and sporting events. This new sports center also has a three-level Discovery Channel Store, the MCI National Sports Gallery, Modell's Sporting Goods Team Store, and two restaurants -The Velocity Grill and Levy Restaurant.

National Air andSpace Museum

6th St. and Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20560 (202) 357-2700

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport

14390 Air& Space Museum Parkway> Chantilly, Va. Metro Exit: Smithsonian www.nasm.si.edu

The National Air and Space Museum is open daily, except Dec. 25. General admission is free.

Exhibits include the Wright Brothers' flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Langley Theater IMAX films, the Einstein Planetarium, as well as hundreds of other aviation and space exhibits. Cafeteria and restaurant facilities are available. The new construction of the National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport opened in December 15, 2003. The new facility will display hundreds of additional artifacts and offer events, educational programs, IMAX films and more.

National Arboretum

Hours: Daily - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Christmas Day Bonsai Collection Hours: 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 3501 New York Ave., N.E., Washington, D.C. Free www.usna.usda.gov

An education and research facility encompassing 444 acres of world-class gardens, including the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, the National Herb Garden, the Asian Collection, the Gotelli dwarf and slow-growing conifer collection, and fern valley native plant collection.

National Archives

Daily - 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m., Main Exhibit Hall Constitution Avenue, between 7th and 9th Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. Metro Exit: Archives-Navy Memorial (202) 501-5000 Free www.nara.gov

See the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and the Bill of Rights, among the more than three billion records and documents housed here.

National Zoological Park

3001 Connecticut Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. (202) 673-4717 Free www.natzoo.si.edu

Highlights include the Great Flight Cage, Amazonia and the Great Ape House. Visit creatures ranging from giraffes to boa constrictors to big cats to the new panda bears. Open daily, except Christmas. From May 1 - Sept. 15 - animal buildings are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the grounds are open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. From Sept. 16 - April 30, animal buildings are open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and grounds open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closest Metro is Cleveland Park or Woodley Park-National Zoo.

Navy Museum

Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Summer months, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Weekend and Holidays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 9th and M Streets, S.E., Washington, D.C. Metro: Eastern Market (202) 433-4882. Free Presents the history of the U.S. Navy from the Revolution tothe present.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

21st Street /Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. Metro Exit: Smithsonian (202) 393-0090

This three-part memorial includes "The Wall" where more than 58,000 names are inscribed chronologically by date of casualty to depict the series of individual human sacrifices. The Frederick Hart statue of the "Three Servicemen" faces the wall, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial shows three women coming to the aid of a serviceman.

Washington Nationals

RFK Stadium 2400 East Capitol Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. (866) 800-1275 http://washington.nationals.mlb.com

Baseball is back! The newest major league baseball team is centered right here in Washington, D.C. Baseball has a long history with the American League, the team play in the National League East Division, which in fact marks its return to its baseball roots. RFK Stadium, where the Washington, D.C. franchise will play until a new stadium is completed.

Washington Redskins

(202) 432-SEAT www.redskins.com

Washington Redskins, professional football team and one of four teams in the East Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). The Redskins play at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, and wear uniforms of burgundy, gold, and white. George Preston Marshall founded the Redskins franchise in 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves, sharing Braves Field with the Boston Braves baseball team. A year later, Marshall moved his team to Fenway Park and changed the team's name to the Redskins. The Redskins were not profitable, and even an Eastern Division championship in 1936 failed to excite Boston fans, so in 1937 Marshall moved the club to Washington, D.C.

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. (202) 456-2121

Construction on this hallowed residence began in 1792 and ended amongst much patriotic fanfare in 1800. Though never inhabited by George Washington himself, The White House was nevertheless conceived by the Father of Our Nation as a Holy Fortress from which to guard against the tyranny of "big government" and "social programs".

The President's house is one of the most popular sights in D.C. Only the public rooms on the ground floor and the state floor may be visited, and the hours are limited. The White House may be closed at various times due to security concerns and special events. Nearest Metros are the Farragut West, McPherson Square or Metro Center.