Obamy about D.C.

IT must be great being America's First Lady- getting your hands on that li'l ol' White House.

And, oh, the power and Hollywood-style romance of it all . . . like that famous scene in The American President where Michael Douglas first kissed Annette Bening in the China Room.

Next week either Michelle Obama or Cindy McCain will know which of them will get the chance to re-enact it with her man among all those priceless pots . . . as she starts thinking about ordering new curtains.

The White House is the pride of Washington DC, capital and political heart of the US. And it's a great place to visit if you like holidays steeped in sightseeing, history and drama.

The town is buzzing with election fever. Barack Obama's campaigners didn't waste any time projecting him like a Hollywood star.

His face is plastered on souvenirs like mugs, stickers, fridge magnets. You can even have your picture taken next to a life-size Obama cardboard cut-out!

The White House (it's got 32 bathrooms but then muck has a habit of sticking to US presidents!) stands in immaculate gardens edged with black railings with a constant stream of faces peering through hoping for a glimpse of THE main man.

Lively

And if Obama, viewed as the most charismatic candidate since John F Kennedy, replaces George W Bush, there'll be a lot more faces for the CCTV cameras to keep their eyes on.

Local real estate salesman Bud Spencer told me: "You tell your Brits to come on over and we'll show you how to have a good time. It's a fun, lively city that just gets better and better."

Start seeing Washington by following in the Presidents' footsteps. The inauguration route starts from the Capitol Building with its 180ft Rotunda, home of Congress, and goes up Pennsylvania Avenue, nicknamed America's Main Street.

And just like Disney's Main Street USA, there's plenty to entertain along the way-the Peace Monument, National Gallery, the Old Post Office, the tourist centre in the Ronald Reagan Building and the "Watergate Courthouse", as it's known following the Richard Nixon scandal.

The city's latest museum (there are scores of them, dedicated to almost every subject imaginable), is the Newseum, on Pennsylvania. It's a massive glass-fronted building where the public can "Meet the Press".

It's great fun-you can play at being a reporter or a TV presenter-but it's serious too. There's a moving exhibition of 9/11 and a huge remnant of the Berlin Wall. Entry costs about £12.

Also very popular is the Spy Museum. Kids will love learning how to become a CIA agent or a James Bond!

One of the best things about this city's clean streets is that the pavements are as wide as Obama's smile so they're perfect for Segways- motorised scooters that you stand on. Not boasting, but I was a natural and whizzed past the white marble memorial to Abraham Lincoln and the 555ft Washington Monument where you can enjoy astonishing views of the city from the top.

What you'll notice is just how green the city is with lots of trees and open grass spaces.

A hop-on-hop-off bus, with a two-day ticket costing about £18, will get you further afield. See the Pentagon and Arlington military cemetery containing the headstones of 250,000 US servicemen and the Eternal Flame marking John F Kennedy's grave.

Another highlight for me was walking through Union Station. I was cursing the bus driver for ending his run for the afternoon here but after stepping inside, was delighted he had. The vaulted ceilings are set off by 70lb of glistening gold leaf.

Washington has restaurants for all budgets-try Oyamel on 401 7th Street for great-value Mexican dishes.

And for scrumptious American food with a French twist, go for Central Michel Richard which won an award this year for the best new restaurant, on 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue. The Avenue is THE place to stay, if only for a night. The Willard InterContinental is dubbed "The Residence of Presidents"-they've all been guests there. And it's also where Dr Martin Luther King wrote his famous I Have A Dream speech.

The hotel's movie credits include Tom Cruise's Minority Report-and if it's OK for Tom it should be fine by anyone!

Impress

The Georgetown area, named after our King George III, is also a good place to eat and shop with a fabulous mix of chains, such as GAP and Banana Republic, and one-off outlets.

In the past Washington's had trouble attracting Brits away from New York. But if you think the capital is stuffy and boring, you'd be wrong.

While it may be full of suits, they're all shaking in their shiny shoes waiting for Obama or Republican rival John McCain to step through the door. And for months afterwards, they'll be too busy trying to impress the new boy to get in your way.

So give Washington a try-if only to peer through the White House railings.

Getting there

FOR information about Washington, DC and Baltimore visit www.capitalregionusa.co.uk or call 0208 339 6048.

Virgin Atlantic offer return flights from Gatwick to Washington from £361.50. See www.virginatlantic.com or call 08705 747747.

Rooms at the Willard start at around £200 a night. See www.washington.intercontinental.com For Segways from £30 an hour see www.segsinthecity.com