Heinrike and her family have an amazing basement apartment not far the national mall. The apartment was clean, well furnished and a great size for myself, my wife, and our 7 month old. There was no issue finding on-street parking right in front of their place. We only used our car to drive out to Arlington Cemetery and the Air and Space museum at the Dulles Airport (I highly recommend both). To get to the National Mall just jump onto the Metropolitan Branch Trail to the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro stations. Take the Metro one stop (using the Smartrip cards provided) to Union Station. Once there, get on the Circulator bus, which also accepts the Smartrip card. This bus is not a “tour bus”, but it will take you all over the mall and comes way more frequent than the regular “Hop-on Hop-off” busses (as well as much cheaper, $1!). Heinrike made our trip easy, memorable, and comfortable; she had some great suggestions. I highly recommend this apartment if you are visiting DC!