You have the option of tipping with lyft but it is not required. A page comes up on the app but you can bypass it. Thus, you get out of the car and, just as you can take a moment to ‘rate’ your driver, you also have the option to tip. It doesn’t delay anything, certainly not your ability to get out of the car. My D says she feels better tipping just $1-2 each time (generally short distances in DC) so that’s what I do too. I could have been told incorrectly but I heard that it was now an option to tip on Uber as well.
No tipping option on Uber yet and I tried to give a cash tip to an uber driver who helped me load and unload some unwieldy objects into and out of his car and he turned it down.
Reporting back - safe, sound, smiling - what a great trip!!!
THANK YOU all for your help. I can’t tell you how many times I thought of you all and your comments and thoughts on here during our trip.
Traveling went perfect. Saturday morning early flight to BWI, shuttle to Amtrak, MARC train to Union Station and Uber to the hotel. Like clockwork. Same on the way back. The MARC train is easy and well worth saving $$$ flying into BWI over DC. The Baltimore Amtrak station was a little sketchy but tolerable. 
Uber was our mode of transportation unless we were on our feet - which we were - 8-10 miles a day! With 4 of us it made much more sense to pay $6 for an Uber ride to the farthest spots rather than metro - suppose we could have figured out the Circulator but again, Uber, so easy and fast. Every driver we had was a good experience - nice people, clean, newer cars, safe.
We were VERY happy with our hotel. They were accommodating to store our luggage until a room was ready (we arrived at the hotel by 9:40am!) and even invited us to partake in the free very, very nice breakfast buffet that morning while checking in. Three free breakfasts for four people was worth a good savings. The location was three blocks from the national mall. The rooms were very nice, clean, staff friendly. We did do Hotwire for this purchase - we were only guaranteed a king bed and pull out couch - BUT the hotel clerk kindly said she could give us a room with two queens - and a “living room” area w/sectional and ottoman even though they were 99% booked. I was VERY grateful. I would definitely recommend this spot for ease and great for families too.
As far as sightseeing we saw all the monuments, took a bajillion pictures (I did of the three girls!), toured the botanical gardens, did our own night tour each evening - phenomenal to be at the buildings at dusk! Went to mass at the Basilica. Went to Eastern market and walked the neighborhood (this is a thing we like to do - visit the neighborhoods where people LIVE). Spent some time around the White House - later at dusk while walking past the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument saw Obama’s helicopters land - we were SOO excited! Saw the lines for the White House garden tours - VERY long and big - at least a couple hundred people for each 1/2 hour tour - we had to punt this idea since we wanted to do mass - just couldn’t manage to take the time to wait in line for tickets so, so early. Spend Monday largely in Georgetown. Mass at the Basilica was beautiful - one of the girls is a devout Catholic (we are Catholic, but devout??? ) - and we walked the Catholic University campus which she really wanted to do.
We did minimal touring inside museums due to the lines. We were more interested in being outside and viewing things that way and lines were LONG - easily an hour wait. We just didn’t want to spend our time that way. We went in a couple art galleries/museums that we could walk into with no wait - that was fine.
I am a runner and ran both mornings - managed to do the national mall loop, Capitol to Washington Monument - a bucket list item!
We ate simply but good. The girls were “easy to please” food wise and each stop we made was a hit. Places included: Ted’s Bulletin, Nando Peri-Peri (such a big hit - thank you! They need to expand!) the Chinatown location, an Irish Pub in Georgetown, &Pizza for a quick snack break one day (really, very good! - take it out and find a nice place to sit outside!) and Baked and Wired where I we got truly amazing cupcakes (much better than GT cupcakes I think!) and I brought home some “hippie crack” - their homemade granola. Plus we picked up some snacks from the Eastern Market.
All in all, a “10” trip - many thanks to you all! The three college girls accepted me as “one of their own” - it was a trip I think we will ALL remember for a long time!
@abasket Truly well planned trip. I’m amazed with all the walking you were able to do. The fact that you went running between the Capitol and Washington Monument - that is quite a distance. I have yet to visit all the places you got to in a small weekend. I purchase the nando’s peri peri sauce at the grocery store and use it as a marinade. Have yet to try Baked and Wired but now plan to. Keep us posted when you plan your next trip as you seem very thorough in your planning and some of us could really benefit from your expertise.
Thanks for the report ,abasket. Glad it was a good trip and I am impressed by how much you did/saw. I have lived in the DC suburbs for over 30 years now and still haven’t gone to the botanical gardens. I need to get downtown more!