visiting the district in a couple of weeks for the first time, staying near dupont circle. libs/magnus: where should we eat? what should we see (other than the obvious sights)? any areas to avoid so as to not get shot or stabbed?

What kind of sightseeing do you normally like to do? Obviously start at the capital and walk towards Lincoln Memorial, you'll be a stones throw from everything DC is famous for. They have a subway and its cab friendly. I usually like a lot of the bars that are old apartment buildings redone. Food wise they are pretty solid overall. I like some of their BBQ and Italian spots. I don't think you'll find any out of this world spots in the food department. It's not like Baltimore or even Philly. But they have a solid if general selection. Any type of search will find you something good for what you are looking for.

We?

Do the Air and Space Museum, definitely. The best one of the Smithsonian.

dress like a terrorist & visit the pentagon

Oooh fun.

My favorite restaurant in D.C. is Founding Farmers (their offshoot Farmers Fishers Bakers in Georgetown is fun too). Fantastic brunch. MAKE RESERVATIONS NOW. If you don't make reservations, you're looking at 3-4+ hour wait times for brunch.

Other worthy restaurant recommendations: Bonchon, Fogo de Chao ($$$), Rose's Luxury (if you can get a table, also $$$), Old Ebbitt Grill, Rosa Mexicano, Tortilla Coast (Hill staffers love to go here), Georgia Brown's, Ray's the Steaks.

Aside from all the usual White House/Capitol/monuments/museums sightseeing (definitely check out things like the Holocaust Museum and the Newseum, which might not be as readily obvious as going to the Smithsonian), I love to paddle board on the Potomac. http://www.yelp.com/biz/boating-in-dc-a ... washington

Woodley Park and Cleveland Park are a lot less touristy and more "local" than other parts of DC. Although this is where the National Zoo is.

Go to a Nats game. The stadium is very easily accessible by metro (as are most things in DC honestly).

I'd avoid Georgetown. It's largely tourists and college kids (although school is done for the year), and it's just a lot of expensive shopping and food.

In terms of "bad neighborhoods," just stay out of Anacostia and most of SE DC at night.

Bar hopping: H Street, Adams Morgan, U Street/Logan, Clarendon in Arlington, VA.

me & your mom

thanks for all this. unfortunately touring the white house is out as it's only open to american citizens, but we're definitely going to the newseum and the spy museum, and maybe the holocaust museum as well. there's only one home nats game while we're there but we might try to check it out. we're also going to mt. vernon and alexandria, what's the best way to get there? we were just going to rent a car but if there's an easier/cheaper way then we're all for it.

aww fun!

yeah, she said you can start calling me daddy now

I already had, so that works for me, daddy.

Alexandria is my hood! I grew up right near Mt. Vernon.

You can take the metro as far as King Street/Old Town on the yellow/blue line, but that's still a 10-15 minute drive from Mount Vernon (granted, it's a really nice drive zipping down the GW Parkway). I might just do the metro and take an Uber to Mt. Vernon, it'll probably be cheaper than renting a car.

Old Town itself is delightful. It's really picturesque and it has a ton of adorable restaurants to stroll along. There's a free trolley that takes you from one end of Old Town (by the river) to the other end (the metro).

I did not like the Spy or Air and Space, but Natural abd American History are fun, as are the memorials. The National Zoo has pandas, I've never been but I'm sure they're cute.

Spy Museum was underwhelming, Washington Monument was a highlight.

i would probably suggest one of jose andres' restaurants. he's already hit celeb chef status outside of dc, but he's been a dc fixture for years... and most of his restaurants are pretty good.

some other restaurant picks...

birch and barley (logan circle -- great beer selection)
mintwood place (adams morgan; $$$ -- probably my fav pork chop in the world)
chez billy sud (georgetown -- pleasant, non-touristy bistro in the heart of a very touristy place)

i'd also second ben's chili bowl and founding farmers. neither is a favorite of mine, but they're quintessential dc establishments (ben's chili bowl has become a must-stop for any incoming president and has been around since the 50s; founding farmers as a modern landmark that shook up the city's restaurant scene -- which is much riskier/ interesting than it used to be, particularly as far as large-scale operations are concerned)

and agree with libs that there's no real point to rent a car for getting around once you're in the city.

however, be aware that taxis from dulles (which is prob where you're flying into) to the city are somewhat expensive (i think $50 to $70), and if your hotel happens to have a reasonable valet parking price (eg, $20 or so a night), renting a car may actually make a ton of sense just in terms of getting from the airport. i was in dc just last week and rented a car for about $25/ day from hertz... so it could be a good option.

also - i'd put the holocaust museum above the spy museum.