Evening all,

been a while since I’ve posted. My apologies if this is the wrong place or not a worthy question as I typically travel with less adventurous family and topically direct.

I’m traveling for business later this month and would typically just fly direct but you only live once and debating a 5 1/2 hour stopover in DCA. It looks like this is enough time to leave the airport for a bit but I’m wondering a few things from seasoned flyers.

-I assume my checked luggage will stay with the airline, right? This would be a DFW-DCA-YYZ flight on AA.
-Do I just simply exit the sterile area and they’ll allow me to enter afterwards?
-How long before my flight do I need to re-enter? This is a Canadian-bound flight but clearance is obviously done upon arrival so I guessing not super early.

Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks so much!