The National Archives

It's been many years since we visited the Archives. The first time I was about five years old and the second time was around 1980. Our out of town guests were interested in going, so we found a convenient parking spot right by the Sculpture Garden and walked a block over. Parking is generally easy on Sunday. We usually walk to the Mall from our house but thought we'd give it a try since we were driving home from Alexandria. It's the best time to visit places like this at this time of the year.  There were no lines and we had a very leisurely walk through the exhibits. I love John Hancock's huge signature and a reminder of what came before. It feels like the Library where many areas are kept cold and dark for the documents' sake. I couldn't work in such a dim and freezing environment. Since photos are not allowed we couldn't capture the moment except once we got outside. And it was another beautiful autumn day - so much prettier than the inside.