Washington DC - Day 2

Before heading out for sightseeing on Thursday, we went to James Hoban's for lunch. It is an Irish Pub across the street from the restaurant we ate at the previous night. To my dismay they were out of bangers and mash, so I settled for Chicken Pot Pie while Eric chose the Shepard's Pie. Both dishes were delicious. With full stomachs, we headed to the nearby subway station. We both found DC's subway system to be very nice; it was clean and easy to navigate. We ended up getting day passes each of the remaining days we were there. Eric and I took the subway to the nearest stop to the National Archives. We had to wait in line outside the museum for almost an hour before getting in. It was pretty hot, and there was no shade so it wasn't much fun waiting. Admission to the National Archives is free and there are lots of interesting things to see. Besides the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights you can see a variety of documents such as the Magna Carta, a map of the battle of Gettysburg, Rosa Parks' police report, and a number of additional items. The lighting in the room where the Declaration of Independence is shown is kept very dim, and the temperature felt cooler than the rest of the building. There are beautiful murals on the upper portion of the domed room. The documents themselves are faded and somewhat difficult to read.

After we left the National Archives we walked to the Capitol Building. I had to take more pictures of the ducks in the pond in front of the Capitol. There is a clear view of the Washington Monument from the front of the Capitol. Unfortunately we were not able to go in the Capitol Building. Our sightseeing was cut short because a storm came up. We quickly made our way to the nearest subway stop and headed back to the hotel. Eric and I got cleaned up and went to dinner at Sala Thai, which was recommended by Frommer's. Frommer's is usually pretty spot on with recommendations, but was wrong about this place. We were not impressed at all. After our disappointing dinner we went back to James Hoban's for a few beers before calling it a night. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the bar had a talented live performer, Willard Dickie, who played guitar and sang cover songs.