Happy crowds fill mall as Obama prepares to take oath for second term Police and National Guard officials said pedestrian traffic around the monumental core mostly was moving without incident, although a few glitches were reported. Up-to-the-minute updates available on our Liveblog. Metro station parking facilities filled up throughout the morning, and some stations near the Mall were overflowing, even though federal workers and many others had the day off for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. On the Mall, the non-ticketed public viewing area east of Seventh Street was full as of 9:34 a.m. and closed to additional visitors, U.S. Park Police said. There was still room further west. As the 11:30 a.m. start time for the festivities approached, throngs of well-wishers rushed through security checkpoints, eager to claim a place to stand. Obama and his family attended services at St. John's Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square before arriving at the Capitol and greeting a crowd of reporters and staff by the Senate entrance. "I miss this place," the former Illinois senator said. Members of Congress and other VIPs took their seats on the inaugural stage - senators stage left, and representatives, stage right - and did what mere mortals for blocks around were doing as well: taking photos of themselves. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), an avid photographer, snapped pictures of his colleague, Sen. Debbie Stabbenow (D-Mich.) at the presidential podium. Over among House lawmakers, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) captured a few images of the crowd and his colleagues, while Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) took pictures of Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) who wanted a shot of himself in front of the stage crowd. In one row, from left to right, sat former president Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, former president Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter - next to Caroline Smedvig, and her husband, singer James Taylor, who will perform at the ceremony. A short time earlier, in the green ticket area near Second and C streets SW, several people left in frustration, declaring that the area was too crowded and there was no way to actually see the ceremony. Brian and Ruth Cantwell, from Palo Alto, Calif., gave away their tickets outside the gate and said they would head to the Mall, hoping to get a spot near a Jumbotron or along the parade route.. "You couldn't really move," Brian Cantwell said. When you get in there and try to get access to get to a view, you end up in a gridlock situation. A security checkpoint at Seventh and D streets NW opened more than 90 minutes late, after the waiting crowd had swelled to more than 1,000. At least two other checkpoints also stayed close well past the scheduled opening time of 6:30 a.m. The Secret Service could not immediate give a reason for the delay.