“The lady with the fancy faberge eggs” I’m guessing you mean Hillwood

If you want to spend 4-5 hours you can’t see the 18 museums that are in DC. Check the website and see which exhibits interest you and concentrate on trying to get to those. Plus if you only do the Smithsonian’s you will miss out on other greats that have been mentioned. I’ve lived here 21 years and worked in museums for 15 years and still haven’t seen every to thing I want to see.

To be clear though not part of Smithsonian NGA is still federally funded.

Two biggest days of the year for museums are the day after thanksgiving and day after Christmas. When I worked in museums people who had guests in town took the opportunity after the holiday to show their guests around. No avoiding crowds. Best you can do is go first thing at opening. That way you’ll be there as the crowd builds as opposed to arriving to a crowd that is getting worse and worse. Alternative to Smithsonians is to go to the smaller historic houses and galleries. Many are open and just less popular so less crowded.

From the DC website:

Acceptable forms include: current and valid government-issued photo ID current utility bill (does not include cell phone bill) issued within 90 days of Election Day bank statement issued within 90 days of Election Day government check issued within 90 days of Election Day paycheck lease or rental agreement university housing or tuition bill another government document that shows your name and address