I am meeting a friend at Reagan National in DC next month, and we are going from there to another friend's apartment just north of Arlington National Cemetery. Her flight gets in at 7 PM, and mine was originally scheduled to get in at 5:45 PM, but now it's been changed and I will arrive earlier, around 4 PM.

Should I just hang around the airport for three hours, or is there something else interesting I could do in that amount of time? Is Reagan an interesting airport? I've only ever flown into Dulles before.

National (DCA) is a nice airport with a few restaurants and shops. Its not large at all. Not sure what you'd be interested in doing, but u could easily hop on the metro and go to Pentagon mall which has a ton of stores, a food court and restaurants. U could go into DC and see a museum. Guess it depends upon what u might want to do. The metro is right at DCA so makes for easy access.

Reagan National has some nice public art incorporated into the design, including great murals on the floors. But.. that is 15 minutes to check out, tops. Unlike most airports, there are some restaurants there you would actually enjoy, but I'm assuming you will eat with your friends after 7:00, so why sit around eating in an airport watching the security lines?

In 3 hours you could:

Take a cab (about 12-15 bucks) to Old Town Alexandria to stroll historic King Street and look in antique shops, go off on the side streets to check out the charming colonial architecture, look at the Potomac River, shop, have tea or a glass of wine, etc.

Or have the cab drop you at the Masonic Temple at the top end of King Street (check for tour times, though).

Or have the cab take you to the Del Ray neighborhood (closer to Reagan National- about 9-11 bucks in a cab) for a short and accessible main street, Mt Vernon Avenue, with cute local shops, gourmet foods, friendly restaurants, a great coffee shop called St Elmo's, Wisconsin frozen custard at the Dairy Godmother or hot chocolate at the AKCK Cocoa Bar, and many, many places for a massage or facial or acupuncture treatment.

They call it Well Ray because of all the wellness places. You can be strolling home from the metro and see signs outside on the sidewalk saying "We have massage appointments available today." A number of places for yoga, pilates, etc, too.

Take a quick stroll and get a massage, then have a coffee, or wine and cheese at Cheesetique, or frozen custard. A few hours of total self-indulgence. Just be sure the cab driver knows you want Mt Vernon AVENUE (parallel to route 1 near the Target) not Mt Vernon, George Washington's house (about a 25 minute drive- a mistake cabbies occasionally make). I'm biased because I live here, but it our main street will take you no more than a couple of hours to poke around; it is safe, a little funky, and literally 8 minutes from the airport.

If you want to go into DC, just be aware that although it seems counter-intuitive, there can be a lot of traffic heading from Virginia over the 14th St bridge into DC at that time of day, people commuting from Virginia over to homes in Maryland. So you may sit in traffic unless you metro.

If the weather is nice and you are a good walker with little luggage, you could walk from the airport out onto the Mt Vernon trail and walk along the Potomac to Gravelly Point, where it is cool to watch/feel the planes take off right over your head, then continue north along the river for less than a mile to the small but lovely Navy-Marine Memorial. in spring this is just a gorgeous place to walk or run, but watch out for demon bikers.

Thanks for the good ideas. I am interested in starting to figure out the metro system; are there any good short hops on the blue or yellow line from Reagan? Also, though I will only be traveling with a rolling carry-on, I wonder if there is anyplace to stow it at the airport while I am exploring?

Stowing your carry-on at the airport is a good idea - especially if you want to go into the city and visit any of the museums or government buildings as they won't let you in with it, and they generally don't have storage.

Definitely get familiar with the metro. The metro is your friend in Washington. A good website about the metro can be found at http://www.stationmasters.com/. Click on the "Metrorail System Map" icon. Then, clicking on any of the individual station names will bring up a map of that station and the surrounding buildings. There's even a picture above the map that shows you what you will see when you emerge from the station.

The metro station at DCA is right outside the doors of the terminal. Just follow the signs. Self-serve ticket & pass/card machines that accept credit cards or cash are at every station. Get a METROCard there and throw $10 on it, then I'd do one of two things:

1) Get on the Yellow line and head north into Washington (at DCA this train will arrive on the side of the station platform closest to the airport terminal). Get off at the Archives-Navy Memorial stop. This will put you in very close proximity to the Archives - if it is still open, (it may close somewhere around 5:30) go in and take a look at the Declaration of Independence & Constitution and other interesting memorabilia displayed around the rotunda. And/or head across the street from the Archives and visit the National Gallery of Art and/or it's outdoor sculpture garden.

OR...

2) Get on the Yellow line and head south to Alexandria (at DCA this train will arrive on the side of the platform furthest away from the terminal). Get off at the King Street station. A free trolley runs every 20 minutes along King Street (the main street of Old Town Alexandria) from the metro station, all the way down to the waterfront (http://alexandriava.gov/Trolley). As BlueSwimmer noted, there is lots to do along King Street.

The ride to either destination is about 15 minutes and will take $2.30 off your metrocard each way at the most - maybe even less.

There is no luggage storage at National Airport, so you'll have to take your luggage with you. http://www.metwashairports.com/reagan/1283.htm

Also, for more info on Metro, you can check their website: www.wmata.com There is a "Trip Planner" feature there that tells you when trains arrive, how long it takes to your destination, and how much it will cost.

Why head back to Regan to meet your friend. Pick a place near where you will be to meet up with her. Will be easier if you each have a cell phone. Have your friend get on the Metro and come to you, even if you meet on the platform of a Metro station.

Do you like to shop? If so, get on the Metro and go over to the Fashion Center...I think it is 2 stops from the airport....DON'T hang around DCA...

Hmmm...well, the news that there's no place to store luggage at DCA sort of limits my choices...as I mentioned, I travel with just a rolling carry-on, but don't want to have to lug it all over with me during the 3-hour wait. Suggestions welcome! And thanks for all the great stuff so far!

Do you have a backpack that you could fit your stuff into and carry on the plane instead of the rolling carry-on?

You still couldn't get into any of the museums or government buildings in DC with it, but it would make it easier to get around places like Old Town Alexandria.

Does anyone know what happens to "checked" luggage that isn't claimed for 2 1/2 hours?