We were there!

Now under normal circumstances, if there are more than ten cars in the Mall parking lot, I drive by on the assumption the place is overcrowded. So when my darling life mate suggested driving five hours to deliberately be crowd fodder, I had some reservations. But, we have reached that wonderful place where we will do about anything to make the other one happy, and since the weather was going to be nice, why not??
So, Friday morning we threw a remarkably small suitcase in the back of the car, loaded up with bananas and nuts, and headed for Rockville, Maryland. Rockville won the destination award because the hotel is 100 yards from the Twinbrook Metro Station, with direct service to downtown Washington DC.
Saturday morning dawned with all my desires met. It was bright and sunny and breakfast was all you could eat. We headed for the Metro confident that we were ready to execute our plan, which was to visit a couple of museums, stick our heads out about a quarter to 12 and watch the rally from someplace outside the crowd and then walk up to our favorite Irish Pub, Fado’s, on 7th street.
Mental alarms started going off when the train pulled in to Twinbrook Station. It was full. By the time we went through 11 more stops, full took on a whole new meaning. But the day was still bright, the plan still intact. We started walking the ½ mile or so from Metro Center to the Mall. By Constitution Ave., it was clear “crowded” wasn’t going to define this event.
Time to reassess the plan. OK, we would stake out a place and see what happens.
We found a very inviting recliner tree, well away from the crowd. It was comfortable and the crowd was entertaining. Maybe we would catch the museum afterwards.
By 12, we were standing in the exact same place but we had been eaten by the crowd. As to how many, my somewhat informal calculations arrived at 211, 812 give or take 3. One of my tree companions was probably more accurate when he leaned over and said, “There are a hell of a lot of people here!”
The rally itself was a lot of good natured fun, with some underlying value. For me, the best part was the video clip of all the stupid things being said around the country about other people. Rush and Beck did not surprise me with their inanities, but there were just as many Democratic idiotic statements. To be honest, that made me a little ashamed.
The rally ended with a serious speech by John Stewart that would be worth anyone’s time to listen to. I am sure more computer literate people than me, can find it easily.
Rally over, time to head up to the Pub and celebrate, only no one was going anywhere. Mob scene. Yet no one that I saw was anything but polite and considerate – sort of. Police had closed 7th street up a couple of blocks. This allowed pedestrians to fill both sidewalks and the center of the street as well. Kay and I worked our way to the sidewalk because clearly, auto traffic would soon fill the roadway. Only that didn’t bother most people, they just walked around and between the moving vehicles.
Upon arriving at Fado’s, it was obvious dining plans were in jeopardy. Every place was filled. After a short wait we got into Fado’s, found a stand up ledge and ordered Guinness, wine and sandwiches. Several hours after the rally, we reached Metro Center only to find the crowd waiting for the red line towards Shady Groove was gigantic. We waited in a largely civil, patient crowd until allowed on the platform, and then with a push and a tug, we were on board. Finally, I had a grasp of what a full metro train in Washington actually is. Nothing I am in a hurry to experience again.
In the end we made it home to Rockville, then on Sunday, home to Binghamton in time to greet over a hundred incredibly cute kids on a candy quest. The cutest was a little Lady Bug that showed up right at the end.
Great time, great experience, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a sudden outbreak of civility??