Originally Posted by adam34space
Im renting a car because Im staying at the Sheraton Reston and I will be arriving IAD. I thought that to get to downtown it would be better to rent a car and I dont want to bother with the hotel shuttle at like 5am on Sunday. I was also looking at the night tours through Grayline but I think maybe I could do the same myself by maybe driving to the union station and going for a walk.
so instead of the hotel shuttle, you'll have to go early to return the rental car and deal with their shuttle ... not sure I'd be in favor of that trade-off.
I agree with the above poster, plan on driving in and parking - hopefully near the mall area. Walk around the monuments (plan a drive route if you go in the evening, they are pretty when lit up at night) ... go to some museums and that'll take up your day in DC pretty quickly.
If you want something to do in the evening, head to the Adams Morgan or Dupont Circle areas.