Both Air And Space museums
Arlington
NRA museum
The Mall

Apply for a DC Handgun License
http://mpdc.dc.gov/page/applying-concealed-carry-pistol-license

Right now they are may issue, but there is a lawsuit in place to get it changed to shall issue. Maybe you'll end up getting a license for the novelty of having it, or be able to sue them later for denying you.

I traveled the beltway for work trips for YEARS but avoided inner city DC like the plague.

I did have a couple excellent meals at American Tap Room in Arlington. Excellent upscale beer and barfood.

Take your wife shopping on M street. Totally worth the stroll and window shopping. Might even buy a thing or two. She'll love you for it.

Other than that - good luck OP

Try old town Alexandria for the chowder.

I like your number one.
FBHO

Wow, some really good suggestions here.  Looking forward to the air & space annex.  Sucks to hear about the Marine Corps museum being closed during our visit .



I'm going to take this whole list with me.  Adding flipping off the IRS building to #2

Sit on Lincoln's lap and surf the Lady Bird Johnson Memorial

The National Portrait Gallery is interesting, and is one of the few museums open late.

Protip:  If you take the metro to the zoo, get off at Woodley park and walk downhill to the zoo.  When done, walk downhill again to the zoo metro stop.

I really enjoyed taking a quick stroll through most of the Smithsonians. They're all interesting in different ways.

Mount Vernon.

The wall.  I knew nobody in Vietnam, but it still was a emotional experience for me.

WWII memorial.  I felt chills when I went there.

1. Drive over to Winchester, VA and buy an authentic civil war rifle and ship it home.  
2. Eat at the Fish Market in Old Town Alexandria on a Saturday night.

Fish Market is awesome on Saturday night.  I still kick myself for not spending the the $$ on a rifle in Winchester from the big antique rifle outfit there.

I spent a year there, worked too much, and didn't take advantage of the nice location.

X100 SR71, Enola Gay, Space Shuttle ect.

Do a nice morning trip to Gtown, Dupont and see the National Cathedral. Its really breathtaking and free.  LINK

It only takes like an hour to see and walk around and go into the catacombs. Then you're close enough to Georgetown to take a nice long walk - its all downhill and have lunch at Clyde of Gtown . then you can walk around G'town. Go over two blocks and have a coffee and sit down and watch people at Dean and Deluca .  

You'll be on the same block as all the shopping and such. Then take the bus loops back to Metro.  You just spent a nice morning, had lunch and saw some cool stuff.

If you want to get liquored up. I live in Olde Towne Alexandria and sit at the back of Murphy's Grand Irish Tavern. .  I sit in the back most weekened nights. I can walk to the tavern but its close to the Metro.

Will somebody please check the fucking VAHTF?!

If you go to the Lincoln memorial, go off to the far left side and look at the profile formed by the back of Lincolns head. You can see the profile of Robert E Lee hidden in the outline of Lincoln's hair. Lee is facing back across the river towards his family's ancestral home at Arlington. The Park Service denies this story but I looked for myself and I definitely believe it is there and had to be intentional.

#1 Leave
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Be sure to go to the Supreme Court and take the tour...if you're lucky like me, you will nearly get in a fistfight with a school chaperone.

Wife and I went up in the mid-90's and were unlucky enough to get trapped behind an entire school (I think) of about 250 kids.  The chaperone at the back of the class told us that we could go up since it was only two of us, but the chaperone at the front was trying to be a tough guy to impress the other chaperones.  Cooler heads prevaled, eventually.

Holocaust Museum.  It's fascinating.

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Can't really add to what's already been suggested, so:

Go eat at the cafeteria in the Native American Museum.

Need more info on what you like. Lots to do here.

I agree; just the architecture ALONE is stunning.

If you can do two days of air and space make the second a drive out to the udvar hazy center, it's incredible.

If you're in Chinatown and looking to eat though, go to Tony Cheng's Mongolian on H street.  

Fixed

Also, are you aware that there are PRICELESS paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

You will NEVER see these anywhere else and they are simply stunning.  I almost fell on my ass when I saw then. I honestly got emotional.

Claude Monet Collection

Vincent Van Gogh Collection

Long time ago....the wife and I had lunch at the Kennedy Center.  There's a restaurant in there.  Fancy place.  We strolled in on an afternoon after touring the mall/museums in our finest tourist attire.  They treated us right.  Had a table by the windows overlooking the Potomac Basin.  Don't remember the food but just the experience!  Good surprise for your Mrs.

Don't forget the Smithsonian Natural History, Jefferson Memorial and Libary of Congress.

Came here to post the same link.  

Tons to do in DC, but the NRA museum is a must for any firearm enthusiast.

You must visit the corner of Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE and Malcolm X Ave SE and around midnight for the cultural show.

Take the White House tour.  Oh wait, the "people's president" canceled the tours so he doesn't have to deal with commoners.

I went there this summer. You learn quick to not stand on the left on a Metro escalator.

Count and photograph the china. Last time the Clintons 5 fingered it.

Air and Space Museum
American History Museum
Contact your Congressman or Senator from your state. Tell them when you will be there and ask for tour of the Capitol. They have staff that do things like that and they do a better job than lining up for the official tour. Go to their office. Sign the register leave a note telling them what they are doing right or wrong….like passing the spending bill.
Library of Congress- see where the President's Book of Secrets is kept.
National Portrait Gallery
Union Station
National Archives- might as well see the faded Declaration and the thing called a Constitution that FBHO, Congress, and SCOTUS ignores.
Postal Museum
Lincoln, Viet Nam, US Marine Corps War, WWII, Jefferson Memorials.
Washington Monument
Arlington, Tomb of the Unknowns
Mt Vernon (you can spend almost day there)
Bull Run Battlefield
Holocaust Museum (really, really, really emotional)
Ford's Theatre and house that Lincoln died in.
Spy Museum

National Cathedral is nice but a PIA to get to and with their stances on many issues - I have not recommended it recently
I would not waste time with Bureau of Printing and Engraving- it is almost like watching giant copy machines spit out sheets of $100 bills from above, but behind a thick glass.

Eastern Market
Good Stuff Eatery- hate to say it, but the FBHO burger is much better than the guy it is named after
Ben's Chili Bowl
Look on Yelp for best place to eat in the areas you are in.

I would put this above just about anything else sans Arlington Cemetery.

The most humbled and grateful you will be in your entire life.

I second all of this.  Also old ebbit grill. I believe it is oldest continuously operating bar in DC.  Go to all Smithsonian's, free and interesting. Tour monuments in the evening. They are all open 24 hours a day, and at night they don't look as dirty. New circulator bus will take you around monument/capitol area for cheap $1.50 or so

Library of Congress. The architecture inside is amazing. Too bad the main reading room is off limits to us peasants.



BTW, if you want to try something different. Go to the American Indian Museum and have lunch at the Mitsitam cafeteria inside.
Try the bison steak or buffalo chili, You're welcome!

You can apply for a permit to go In the main reading room ahead of time.

I'll have to try that next time I'm out there

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The Smithsonians.  As many as you can visit.  Museum of American history should be high on the list.   Mt. Vernon is quite enjoyable.  National botanical gardens are nice if you're a biology geek.

Forget the aquarium, it's a dump.

Didn't have any trouble during the day.  We went back to the hotel at sundown, and listened to fighting, yelling, and sirens all night from the fifth floor.

I posted this on page 1. Here is the explanation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Barracks,_Washington,_D.C.

I thought Id hate being stationed in DC but between the training tempo we had in security forces there and the hours I spent at all the museums and monuments it was a pretty cool first duty station.

 
Yep lol

There is a thing called a Duck Tour, I think. Anyway it is a tour around DC in a WW2 DUKW amphibious truck, with a trip up the Potomac, yes in the water. The tour operator might even let you steer it, although when I went the bastard only let little kids do it.
It is very cool. Do eet.

Probably too cold for February but we did some kind of boat tour down the Potomac one time we were there which was neato.

Contact your congressman NOW to request a White House tour pass. Also ask if they would have an intern/aide available to give your family a Capitol tour. You'll get a better tour and skip all the lines. While you're there ask to speak to the Congressman's 2nd Amendment issues guy and express your views. Maybe you'll get to meet the Congressman and tell him and either thank him for his support of the RKBA or express your displeasure (whichever is more appropriate). Maybe I'm weird but I think visiting your Congressman is one of the coolest things about a D.C. visit. It gives the whole visit a different vibe. You might want to dress up a bit for this activity. Also, while you're doing this, take note that the Congressional building cafeterias offer great food at reasonable prices. You never know who you'll see there, too.

The ranger talk at Ford's Theater is a must. It's very interesting. Make sure you go downstairs to the museum. While you're in the neighborhood, walk two blocks to the Old Post Office. Rumor has it that Donald Trump has bought it and is turning it into a hotel so it may not be open, but the last time I was there you could grab a quick lunch at the food court and then ride the elevator to the observation tower. Very cool spot. Two blocks in the opposite direction from Ford's Theater is "Gallery Place". There are three cool Smithsonian Museums there. The National Portrait Gallery is really neat and the Museum of American Art has some amazing stuff. The building itself is incredible. It was once called the most beautiful building in D.C.. Make sure you wander around the top floors. The Spy Museum is across the street but for the life of me I can never figure out why people recommend it so much. I'd rather save the money and spend  my time at Gallery Place. Chinatown is here, too.

The NRA Museum is great if you're into guns. Not much there for the kids though. You pretty much have to have a car to go there.

Personally, I enjoy the original Air and Space more than Udvar Hazy. The new facility has more complete planes and it's very impressive but the original museum is more educational and interactive.

I do not recommend the Holocaust Muesum for a first time visitor, especially if you have kids with you. It takes about 3 hours and is very depressing. It's certainly  worth going to if you have time and you are in an reflective mood. Save it for another trip, I'd say.

If you want to go to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving stop by the ticket booth in the morning and grab a time slot. That way you don't have to wait in line. Though, in February lines shouldn't be bad anywhere

Definitely go to the National Museums. There is some amazing stuff there (I personally marvel at Danial and the Lion's Den). If nothing else you can pass through there on your way to the Capitol. You really should spend some time. Next to the National Gallery, there's a Museum of Modern Art that's also cool. Across the Mall, the Hirshorn Sculpture Museum is worth a quick walk through as well.

Skip the Indian Museum. Boring.
Definitely go to Natural History and American History

Never walk on a sidewalk when you can walk through a museum instead. If you've got to walk, you might as well see shit.

When you do Arlington Cemetery, buy tram tickets. You'll see/learn more and walk a whole lot less.

The Newseum is the one museum that's worth paying an admission fee to enter. Very cool.

The Supreme Court does a lecture/talk in the courtroom. Takes about 45 minutes. Interesting if you're a nerd, which I am . . .

Nighttime is tough in D.C. unless you have money to spend for long fancy dinners. There really isn't a lot for families to do on the cheap. Evenings are a great time to visit monuments since they're lit. The Lincoln Memorial is good at night (But definitely see Vietnam while there's still light in the sky). The Jefferson is also good at night. So is World War II. I'd visit FDR during the day, though.

Another great thing to do at night is go see a play or musical. This won't be cheap but it's a great experience. Check the schedule at Ford's Theater and he Kennedy Center. I wouldn't suggest Sheer Madness in the roof theater at Kennedy but anything in the big hall should be good. Seeing a performance at Ford's Theater is simply amazing! There's just something about dressing up a bit and going to a show at Kennedy Center that raises a D.C. visit beyond the usual tourist experience.

A lot of great stuff mentioned,  I didn't see this in there so I add the Holocaust museum.  There is a fee and it is somber and a good 3 hours to get through it but worth checking out.

Eta: damn mentioned 2x .   Bladeswitcher is correct though,  I would not bring young children.  I'd say younger than 14 or 15. My daughter was 13 and loved but she was pretty mature then and was also going through a WWII phase.