<p>You can get free tickets for the Washington Monument from the NPS website. There is a $1.50 service charge per ticket. They will either mail them to you or have them available for pickup the day of the tour. Otherwise, they are very difficult to get since the tour bus operators snatch them up first thing in the morning.</p>
<p>The Old Post Office Tower is a good alternative if you can’t get monument tickets. There is very rarely any line at all and there is also a food court in the Pavillion. There is also a food court in one of the other buildings near it, but I can’t think of which one it is. The food is cheaper than that in the museums.</p>
<p>Tickets to the Capitol have been more plentiful since the Visitor Center opened, but I’d still recommend getting them from your Congressman if possible. I’ve been on three tours in 6 months and each tour guide pointed out completely different things in the building. They don’t use a set script. </p>
<p>The Capitol Visitor Center connects to the Library of Congress via an underground tunnel. The main Library is well worth a tour, but you can only access the Main Reading Room if you are a bona fide researcher and can prove it in order to get a card. You can walk underground to the other Library buildings and see the preservation rooms, etc (or at least the signs on the doors) and one of the buildings has several very old, large world globes that are fascinating. </p>
<p>The Mint is not in DC; the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is. You can get timed tickets early in the day, then come back at your set time. </p>
<p>Don’t miss the FDR Memorial; it is a bit off the beaten path, but well worth it. </p>
<p>Don’t miss the exhibits in the roll out metal drawers in the American Indian Museum. Last time I was there, they were not marked as holding exhibits.</p>
<p>If you can’t get White House tickets, you can still visit the Visitor Center. </p>
<p>Union Station has shops and a food court and adjacent to the Postal Museum and is a good place to eat if you are on the Capitol end of the mall. </p>
<p>You can tour the Kennedy Center even if you don’t have show tickets.</p>
<p>The National Cathedral is beautiful, but you pretty much need a car to access it. The National Shrine is on the grounds of Catholic University and accessible via Metro. </p>
<p>Arlington House at Arlington Cemetary was being renovated and I’m not sure if that was completed or not. It is the home Robert E Lee’s wife lost during the Civil War because she could not pay the taxes in person.</p>
<p>Mount Vernon is a short drive, as is Manassas Battlefield. Gettsyburg, Harper’s Ferry and Antietam are easy drives also.</p>