Washington Court is a very nice hotel. We stayed there about 5 years ago for business. The price you got is great. It is handy to Union Station, but the area is pretty quiet on weekends/holidays. More lively when Congress is in session.

If you have never been to Mt. Vernon, you may want to consider a trip. We enjoyed it very much and found it well worth the trek. You can do a morning bus trip and be back in time for afternoon activities.

Mt Vernon is definitely on our list. How possible is it with public transportation?

I know you can use public transport. A combo of metro and bus. Do a search here: I know it has been addressed before. Hopefully others more knowledgable will chime in. Or their website may have directions.

There are also the Greyline type tours. They leave about 8 or 9 am from Union Station(handy to your hotel) and drive thru Alexandria on the way to Mt. Vernon. You would be back by 12:30 or so. We did this. It was fine, but felt our time at MV was way too short and would have liked more time to explore the grounds and giftshops

Mt. Vernon was beautiful and interesting. The setting is spectacular. Well worth the effort to visit.

Here is the link to Mt. Vernon website with transport info. Boat transport is also available.

http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/plan/index.cfm/pid/824/

Seems to me like you should catch a New Britain Rock Cats game when you get home!

Seafox, I go to them all of the time. First road trip we did was Pittsburgh, Cincy, Detroit and Toronto. Got home and went to the NB game that night.

Michelle, thanks for the link. Thought there was a boat tour which I will look into.

I recommend getting tickets in advance for the Washington Monument and Ford's Theatre. Tickets are required for both and, while they do have some available on a same day basis, if you get them in advance, you don't have to worry about getting to the site early in the morning and waiting for tickets (and possibly being disappointed.) The tickets are free, but there are small service charges. See the respective websites for details.
You may also want to see about getting a reserved time to enter the National Archives. (There was not a charge for this 2 years ago when we did it.) This reservation allows you to bypass the general admission line which can be quite long during the tourist season. You may still have to wait in line after you get inside to see the Declaration of Independence, etc, but we saved a lot of outside waiting time in line by getting a reservation.
Finally, the tickets for the Newseum are valid for 2 consecutive days. I found so much to see and do when I went there last October that I went back the next day. It's a great museum and one of the few "pay" museums in D.C. that I actually recommend.

Also, you might want to get your Washington Monument tickets for the morning or evening. We often get short thunderstorms in the afternoons in August which close down the Washington Monument for a couple of hours. (They have to wait until the thunderstorm is a significant distance away before they can re-open.) This actually happened to us in August 2008 and we couldn't wait for the monument to re-open because we had tickets for a Segway tour, which is a ton-o-fun!

Will definitely be getting timed passes. Would have gone for first thing in the morning regardless as I try to avoid lines as much as possible.

We went to Arlington and Mt. Vernon on the same day. Click on link below for all the details (and pics). Have fun. My report has lots of other stuff including some restaurants we really liked. The Newseum was fantastic!

http://web.me.com/tomfielding1/Tom_%26_Tracy_Home/DC_Part_2.html

We took a boat to Mt. Vernon and thought it was a great way to get there. We had plenty of time to explore (would have had more if we didn't have to wait in line to tour the house). Suggest you buy your tickets online before you leave for your trip.

http://www.premieryachts.com/Washington_DC/Mt_Vernon/home

There is a special MARC train from Union Station in DC right to Camden Yards in Baltimore, no need to rent a car for the Orioles game or pay for an AMTRAK train. (This is a regular route but they hold the trains there till post game). Very convenient.

If you wanted to spend the night in Baltimore, you could still do this same run. MARC runs M-F from Union Station to the Inner Harbor Baltimore on the Camden Line.

bookmarking

Please be careful with the MARC trains. They don't run all the time.

They usually run during commuter hours - 6-8am, 4-6pm. Weekends there are fewer trains running.

http://mta.maryland.gov/services/marc/schedulesSystemMaps/Camden_Jan10.pdf

I'd suggest making certain that you can catch a MARC train, otherwise, you will have to go up to Penn Station Baltimore and take Amtrak to DC. Staying in Baltimore might be a safer choice. There are any number of good hotels within walking distance of Camden Yards.

ET, http://mta.maryland.gov/sports/orioles/

This the train that the previous poster mentions. Runs until 1 hour after the game. Seems like a good alternative to Amtrak.

tchoiniere: I like the MARC trains, please don't get me wrong.

It's just that, on two separate trips last year to the East Coast, the MARC trains were not on schedule or didn't run at all. Just my luck, but I had to stop off in Baltimore to go to Obryski's for their crab (you know how that is).

If, for whatever reason, the return MARC train doesn't run or you're late for that train, it seems like such a chance to take. You did mention that staying in Baltimore one night is another choice, which, IMHO, would be the wiser decision. There are several MARC trains running in the morning instead of just one.

Whatever you decide, this sounds like an exciting trip! Have fun!

How is the Washington Plaza hotel? Seems my friend quoted the wrong hotel to me...

Seems ok but a little further from a Metro stop.

I don't know this hotel but I stay frequently in this part of town and like it a lot. McPherson Square metro is a very easy walk.

The hotel is a little tired, but a great location. It is about a 5-7 minute walk to McPherson Square but close to one of DC's hottest neighborhoods, Logan Circle

Completely OT - my son is living near Logan Circle this summer - good to know it's a hot neighborhood!

Last fall I visited Baltimore and DC. I took the MARC train from Baltimore to DC and back with luggage. Very convienient and economical($7 one way). From Penn Station it runs almost every hour to DC. Penn Station is about a $12 cab ride from Camden Yards. If you miss the train at Camden Yard you can take a cab up to Penn Station. Overall much more economical and less frustrating than renting a car, driving in Baltimore and parking.

I stayed at the Mt Vernon Hotel in Baltimore. Very economical as well. It is about half way between Penn Station and the Inner Harbor. If you have time, do not miss the Museum of American Innovation. Very interesting.

Um, did I just hear that Monument was shut down?