+1 on staying out of DC and using the Metro. Used to live in Laurel and rarely drove into DC. I did used to ride the bike in and pick up the spouse when she worked at a Hospital in DC. That was back in the day when Penn. Ave was open. DC at night is a great site...assuming you know where you are going.

If you happen to be around Gaithersburg I'd recommend making the effort to find "Roy's Place". It's a "sandwich" shop in the old train station. We keep Roy's on our "must do" list when in the DC area.