Apologizing ahead of time - it's long.
SO, we let Calvert County about 5:30am (got up at 0400) and drove up to the Metro Station at Suitland. (Funny, the last time I drove up to that station, I could swear there were big brown "M" signs indicating the Metro Stations were at particular exits. We saw none today off of the Suitland Parkway on the way into town)
Parking was NO trouble at all at the Suitland station. We made our way from Suitland to Gallery Place, with very little effort and really not much congestion. We switched trains at Gallery Place and then rode to the Judiciary Square Metro station. That's when the traffic and congestion of people began. TONS of people. Lots of street vendors selling souvenirs and memorabilia. The Praising Jesus people with MEGAPHONE loudspeakers and very tall signs were there. In fact, they were the loudest of all until the protestors. There were tons and I mean TONS of law enforcement personnel from all types: Metropolitan Police, Police from other jurisdictions around DC as well as from other states. There were National Guardsman, Secret Service personnel (both in camo uniforms, and in plain clothes/suits). There
was no shortage of law enforcement, from what I could see.
We really didn't have much trouble walking to the "Blue" check in site, because the streets were all closed off from vehicles from the Metro station all the way there. They were only open to the pedestrians - the routes laid out very well, marked very well and everything was VERY, VERY organized. We also saw some “really docile protestors” and thought those were the only ones we would encounter. That is UNTIL we got to the D Street Entrance for the Blue ticket holders.
We were to walk down that street until we got to the screening places (which, AGAIN, were well planned, well-laid out and moved very quickly and smoothly). Right at the intersection of D & 1[SUP]st[/SUP] streets was a WALL of protestors linked arm in arm basically blocking the flow of pedestrians from being able to enter that street. They were yelling “This is a peaceful protest”. We made it through fairly safe, but it was a bit of an effort to go around them and over the barricades. We never saw any real foolishness except that. The violent stuff was not near where we were. I think the Capitol Hill area was pretty squared away except for the Jesus Praisers and the protestors. NO real ugliness that we saw and that was arriving and departing the city.
Anyway, we got through all of the security points fine and made our way to the Blue North Standing area to stake out our spots. We stopped at the port-a-john and then found a spot by the fence where we spent the next 4 hours with a group of people watching the crowds passing by us to the “better” seats. We met some fun and really great folks, we met a couple of jerks (who were also Republicans - I call 'em as I see 'em) who were pushing their way into our spaces. It wouldn't have mattered except OUR tickets were exactly the same as theirs and they were trying to horn into our space - and WE had been there 2 hours before they showed up. Low Estrogen Bann was not amused and let's just I was NOT about to give up any of my space to be magnanimous after all I went thru to get my tickets and stand in that spot.
Many, many kudos to every last one of the law enforcement personnel we had the pleasure of meeting and crossing paths with today. They certainly had their work cut out for them. I have some pics and a video of the protest I will see if I can post. All in all – such a super long day – lots of walking, standing and waiting. It was an awesome experience and I’m glad I got to do it. We didn’t have a great view from our vantage point, so unless I had a GREAT spot to be able to see really well – I don’t think I’d do it again.
I have more details, but I'm tired and I'll just post them here and there when they come up.
SO, we let Calvert County about 5:30am (got up at 0400) and drove up to the Metro Station at Suitland. (Funny, the last time I drove up to that station, I could swear there were big brown "M" signs indicating the Metro Stations were at particular exits. We saw none today off of the Suitland Parkway on the way into town)
Parking was NO trouble at all at the Suitland station. We made our way from Suitland to Gallery Place, with very little effort and really not much congestion. We switched trains at Gallery Place and then rode to the Judiciary Square Metro station. That's when the traffic and congestion of people began. TONS of people. Lots of street vendors selling souvenirs and memorabilia. The Praising Jesus people with MEGAPHONE loudspeakers and very tall signs were there. In fact, they were the loudest of all until the protestors. There were tons and I mean TONS of law enforcement personnel from all types: Metropolitan Police, Police from other jurisdictions around DC as well as from other states. There were National Guardsman, Secret Service personnel (both in camo uniforms, and in plain clothes/suits). There
was no shortage of law enforcement, from what I could see.
We really didn't have much trouble walking to the "Blue" check in site, because the streets were all closed off from vehicles from the Metro station all the way there. They were only open to the pedestrians - the routes laid out very well, marked very well and everything was VERY, VERY organized. We also saw some “really docile protestors” and thought those were the only ones we would encounter. That is UNTIL we got to the D Street Entrance for the Blue ticket holders.
We were to walk down that street until we got to the screening places (which, AGAIN, were well planned, well-laid out and moved very quickly and smoothly). Right at the intersection of D & 1[SUP]st[/SUP] streets was a WALL of protestors linked arm in arm basically blocking the flow of pedestrians from being able to enter that street. They were yelling “This is a peaceful protest”. We made it through fairly safe, but it was a bit of an effort to go around them and over the barricades. We never saw any real foolishness except that. The violent stuff was not near where we were. I think the Capitol Hill area was pretty squared away except for the Jesus Praisers and the protestors. NO real ugliness that we saw and that was arriving and departing the city.
Anyway, we got through all of the security points fine and made our way to the Blue North Standing area to stake out our spots. We stopped at the port-a-john and then found a spot by the fence where we spent the next 4 hours with a group of people watching the crowds passing by us to the “better” seats. We met some fun and really great folks, we met a couple of jerks (who were also Republicans - I call 'em as I see 'em) who were pushing their way into our spaces. It wouldn't have mattered except OUR tickets were exactly the same as theirs and they were trying to horn into our space - and WE had been there 2 hours before they showed up. Low Estrogen Bann was not amused and let's just I was NOT about to give up any of my space to be magnanimous after all I went thru to get my tickets and stand in that spot.
Many, many kudos to every last one of the law enforcement personnel we had the pleasure of meeting and crossing paths with today. They certainly had their work cut out for them. I have some pics and a video of the protest I will see if I can post. All in all – such a super long day – lots of walking, standing and waiting. It was an awesome experience and I’m glad I got to do it. We didn’t have a great view from our vantage point, so unless I had a GREAT spot to be able to see really well – I don’t think I’d do it again.
I have more details, but I'm tired and I'll just post them here and there when they come up.