i grew up in the dc area and spent many hours walking the mall and going thru the museums...they ususally close at 5:30 so you wont have to worry about going at night..if you are planning to go to the Lincoln or Jefferson Memorials or the Arlington Cememetary, the Tourmobile is the way to go as you can hop on or off at all the different sights....its a Looong walk from the museum side of the mall to the linclon memorial- it looks close until you start walking!....the spy museum is nice but pretty expensive- its not free like the smithsonian...if you are looking for Lincolns "cabin", its in Illinois....what you can see in DC is Lincolns "cottage"..just wanted to point that out as the web sites are different. FYI- Fords Theatre is right around the corner from the Spy Museum and both are only a few blocks from the History Museum...hope this helps !!