A few things to do in DC

National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum

Two museums in one, directly across the street from Hotel Monaco, and FREE! Your tax dollars at work... so be sure to stop by! It is a beautiful museum and rarely crowded. It is Lauren's favorite museum in the city. Open 11:30am-7pm daily.
Links: National Portrait Gallery American Art Museum

National Air and Space Museum
Two locations: one on the national mall and the other near the Dulles airport. This is Sameer's favorite museum in DC. Check out the Dulles airport location to see a full size Concord and the space shuttle Enterprise. Sameer actually wanted to hold the wedding here; but the Smithsonian doesn't allow weddings or wedding receptions....
Links: National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles


The International Spy Museum
This is a fun museum and very popular. It is also located very close to Hotel Monaco. Not free though... admission is $18.
Links: Spy Museum

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http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/guide/dc

an over all good site for things to do
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Bus tours
A great way to tour the whole city very easily. The bus tours take you all around the mall, through Georgetown, and the the Arlington National Cemetery.
Links: DC bus tours

Other Transportation information


Airports

There are three metro area airports which is helpful in finding competitive airfare.
BWI: located north of the city near Baltimore. Usually has the cheapest fares but is the least accessible. There is a train (MARC) that travels from BWI to Union Station in DC, from which you can transfer on to the red line Metro or catch a cab to your hotel.
IAD (Dulles): located in Sterling, Virginia. No metro access, but you can take the Washington Flyer bus to the West Falls Church metro station on the orange line for $18 round trip.
DCA (Reagan or National): located in Arlington, VA just across the river from downtown DC. Also located on both the yellow and blue metro lines or a short cab drive in to the city. This is by far the most convenient airport but usually has higher fares (note, Airtran does fly here).
Links: BWI IAD DCA

Metro

The metro is a great way to get around Washington, DC. All Souls Church is located closest to the Columbia Heights metro on the yellow/green line. The Hotel Monaco is located just steps from the Gallery Place-China Town metro stop on the red/yellow/green line. The metro also serves Reagan National Airport (DCA) via the blue and yellow lines.
Links: Metro Map

Cabs

Cabs in the District of Columbia are an easy way to get around the city and operate on a metered fare system (the zone system was abolished in 2008). While always easy to catch a cab, it isn't always a very fast way to get around.... take DC traffic in to consideration when planning how long it will take to get to your destination!
Links: DC Taxi Fares