Four things stand out as things I genuinely love about this area:

(1) DC has an incredible high end dining scene for its size. I'm relatively certain it has the most Michelin stars per capita in the US (if we generously associate the likes of the French Laundry with SF). The starred restaurants are also very varied in their speciality and price point, you can probably get out of Rooster & Owl with a tasting menu & a bottle of wine for ~$130pp all in while you could do Minibar and easily blow $500+ per person.

Even outside of the star circuit, you've got places like Marcel's which are superb.

(2) There are 3 relatively easily accessible airports with almost every major city covered with a direct flight. The competition also keeps a lid on prices, you'll find a flight you can afford even if you have to trek out to BWI (my least favorite of the 3 needless to say!), we aren't hub captive like folks in Charlotte would be to AA for example.

For bonus points: you absolutely cannot beat a river visual approach into DCA sitting on the DC side on the plane, or indeed taking off to the north. A free sightseeing flight on every departure. Side note that for avgeeks here, Gravelly Point & Udvar-Hazy are fantastic to have accessible.

(3) The weather. Sure it gets hot in July/August, but we have relatively mild weather, mostly no significant disruptive events to worry about (one off derechos aside!) and a tangible 4 seasons, even if we're struggling for some powder this year.

(4) The ability to travel 3ish hours from here and get a completely different experience. NYC. Delaware/MD beaches. Shenandoah. VA vineyards. Snowshoe. Most places are lucky to have one of those things accessible.