How to re-visit Washington DC
It made me
very happy 
"It was everything I remembered and more."
How I did it: I'm in an MBA program, and as part of that, I took a class in Washington D.C. called The Washington Campus. (http://www.washcampus.com/)
I bookended the week of classes with two weekends of sightseeing and made sure to hit my favorites before I left.
Lessons & tips:
Find some reason to go that will be paid for by some other goal. Get a client there; go to a conference or class; visit relatives.
Then the only cost associated with meeting this goal is the ADDITIONAL costs of staying longer, visiting specific sites, and going to specific shows. When evaluated this way, the trip is much easier to justify.
Resources: check your senators' websites; they usually have guides that will help you and if you plan far enough in advance, they can get you tours you might not otherwise be able to get.
