The trek downtown
I was to walk the three miles to Metro Center but I was hoping to be able to catch my usual bus, the D6. It was unclear from metro's website whether it would be able to run, since it's route takes it right through the Restricted zone downtown. After 8 blocks, one showed up and I gladly hopped on board.
There weren't many people on board. A few young white families, a couple of African American neighbors, some out-of-towners. We had to take a detour. As we crossed from NE DC into NW DC, I began to see the extent of what I'd encounter.
Long lines of parked buses. Increasing crowds. Streets blocked by city buses and military vehicles. I jumped off about 2 blocks from my destination and hoofed it over to meet Jill.
I was suprised to see G Street crammed and lined with vendors. What a festival crowd! It was unclear which streets were open to traffic and which weren't so I had to jump out of the way of cars once or twice (woops!). I found Jill in a timely manner and we strode out, trying to find an access route to the Mall.
The trek downtown
Are you out of your mind?
I voted for Barack Obama. I live two miles from the Capitol. I've never been to an inauguration. I decided I had to be there.
Despite the DIRE warnings of freezing temps, crazy crowds, overwhelmed public transport, and Orwellian security restrictions. Many many of my friends were adamant about avoiding the insanity. A few even left town. But I wanted to go.
The plan? Walk to the center of downtown (about 3 miles), meet a friend, wander down to the Mall, find a spot next to Jumbotron, enjoy the crowd, go home.
It was cold this morning. In the low 20s, with windchill in the high teens. But sunny sunny sunny and no reports of snow or other nasty precipitation. We had CouchSurfers from WV who had tickets to the (standing room only part of the) Inauguration. They left about 6 am. I headed out the door at 8 am.
