Getting more spoilery for Fallout 3:

I was still trying to get to the National Archives, but the route through the downtown area gets rather twisty due to a lot of blocked-off paths. Along the way I figured I’d stop in at the Jefferson Memorial, one of the main quest locations, and found a bunch of tapes recorded by my dad there along with a bunch of water purification equipment. I imagine I’ll be coming back here later…

Near there I found a crazy guy with a megaphone, and shot him in order to get him to shut up. And keep him from blowing up the alleyway, I guess… I eventually arrived at the Capitol building and fought my way through the large number of the tougher kinds of super mutants in it, including a super mutant behemoth for the first time.

It took quite a while to work through the whole building, but it eventually led out to the National Mall, where a raging battle between super mutants and Talon mercenaries was going on. And, finally, I found the National Archives nearby, along with a Museum of Technology. Actually entering them will have to wait until tomorrow, though…