Our first night in DC left us wanting more. Waking up the second day of our road trip, we were eager to start. Finding a place to park was not quite as simple as the middle of the night had been, but while strolling the previous night we discovered a free lot that had plenty of parking the next morning as well. With our car stuck in place, we explored the National Mall on foot.

Jefferson Memorial was near the lot, and our first stop. This was probably my favorite structure. Reading Jefferson's words on the marble memorial found me wondering how long the politically correct would allow it to stand with the repeated mention of God and his essentialness to liberty. The architecture was beautiful. It was tough narrowing down what photos to attach here.

From Jefferson, we continued circling the mall, seeing the George Mason Memorial, Martin Luther King, Lincoln, Washington, etc. We got a good amount of walking in each day of our trip.

The Capitol, Hall of Congress, Smithsonian and other sites were a bit out of the way and would have required more walking to get to than we wanted to add to our tired feet; so we made our way back to our vehicle and managed to find closer street parking. This would have been more difficult had it not been a Sunday afternoon.

We stopped by the National Archives, which fortunately wasn't closed, to take a peek at influential documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution (pictures were not permitted inside). Here was our introductory experience with the required security of these historic sites, similar to airports. We wondered at the disingenuous filming of National Treasure as we didn't recall seeing Nicolas Cage subjected to such screening. The ink on the Declaration was so faded, it was difficult to make out, but phenomenal to see.

Walking and driving around DC brought us back in time, with the pillared buildings on every road, and old structures preserved. Content with the day, we continued on our way to Philadelphia. I lost count of the road tolls we paid this trip - it was ridiculous. Once in Philly we decided it best to head straight to our hotel and catch up on sleep to prepare for the following day in the city.