Looking for advice for a DC trip.

[Alvin Walton]

So this will be a family trip with my wife and daughter.
Probably four days of sightseeing. We will be driving there from Michigan. We will be going in June. ( yes I know, hot and crowded)
The best advice I’ve seen on Trip Advisor is to find a hotel just outside of the city near a subway station and use the subway instead of driving in and out of the city.
Does this sound like a good plan?

I could stay even further out (like Tysons Corners) where the hotels would be cheaper but I don’t want to spend extra time riding the subway.

Also looking for advice for dinner/dinners near the main drag (Smithsonian and memorials)
I would like to see some of the old colonial style pubs maybe any famous ones.