Obama was smiling and confident throughout the day and across the miles, reaching at each stop for history's lessons. In Philadelphia, he noted the risks taken by the men who declared America independent from Britain. In Wilmington, he applauded the state that first ratified the Constitution. And in Baltimore, he hailed the troops at Fort McHenry who beat back the British navy and inspired the poem that became "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Washington pulsed with anticipation of Obama's swearing in as the nation's first black president. The city was aflutter with preparations for four days of parties and pomp, shadowed at every turn by layer upon layer of security. For every banner or piece of bunting that was going up around the city, there was a concrete barrier or metal fence at the ready as well.

Revelers eager to get a head start on the celebration already were flowing into the city.

Toni Mateo, 38, arrived on a packed train from Atlanta. It was a quiet ride at first, he said.

"I just screamed out 'Obama,' and the whole crowd erupted," he said.

For all the travelers arriving in Washington, there were plenty headed the opposite direction -- fleeing the crowds, the security, and the winter cold.