<p>In Maryland, there are hotels within one block of the Twinbrook, White Flint, and Bethesda stations on the Red Line. This is further out than Crystal City in Virginia (Yellow and Blue Lines). If you stay in Crystal City, take the Yellow Line into town at least once. The train runs above ground and offers a view of the mall as it crosses the Potomac River.</p>
<p>It’s been mentioned before, and it is worth repeating: the very best food on the Mall is at [National</a> Museum of the American Indian](<a href=“http://www.nmai.si.edu/]National”>http://www.nmai.si.edu/) I take all of my tourists over happy-meal age there. [The</a> John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts](<a href=“http://www.kennedy-center.org/]The”>http://www.kennedy-center.org/) also has an excellent restaurant and cafe on the roof. You can take in one of the free performances at the Millenium Stage at 6, and then pop upstairs to dine.</p>
<p>If you have a full carload, and fearless driver and navigator, sometimes it is less expensive to drive into town rather than take the metro. Just check for parking lots near your destinations. If you drive to the zoo, park in the lower lot off Rock Creek Parkway. That way your trip into the zoo will be uphill, and your return from the Pandas will be downhill. If you take the Metro to the zoo, remember that the Cleveland Park stop is uphill of the zoo, and Woodley Park/Zoo is downhill from the zoo. They are roughly equidistant from the zoo entrance, and there are many small restaurants near the Cleveland Park stop.</p>