Hi bbotcs, yes I think the plan is to be able to walk (a longggg walk) or bike from the Georgetown waterfront to the newly developed SW Waterfront - going down the Potomac, past the MLK and FDR memorial area, and then finally to Maine Ave. We saw a number of people on rent-a-bikes. There's also a water taxi that hits the Georgetown waterfront, the SW waterfront, old town Alexandria, and the National Harbor waterfront. It might be fun just to hop on and hop off of it for a day.
As for the US being a police state/surveillance state - yeah its been that way for a while. On the plus side, anyone dumb enough to show their face while committing a crime will get caught.
Chris