Rally on the Mall

Our day started early. Once we dropped Maya off and checked online to decide where to leave the car and take the metro from, we picked up Sid, a student from the MBL who took the train from Boston to go to the rally. It was a sunny warm day (or warm enough not to wear more than a windbreaker and a scarf) and the drive was lovely. The fall colours were stunning and the traffic tolerable. When we got to the Greenbelt metro station, we saw a long line snaking into the station. The parking lots were almost full. We skipped past the line and bought our tickets from the machines inside, and stood with hundreds of others inside the crowded metro.

We got off near the mall and waded through the crowds. Trying to get into the middle of the mall was exhausting, so we decided to walk up the sides and settled near the National Gallery, where we had a sliver view of the stage and more of a screen close by. There was music and entertainment, and watching the crowd and the many different handmade signs was amusing too. I was glad to be there and part of something, but I was not sure what I was part of. The rally was aimed 'to restore sanity' in a wild and raucous election season. Everyone appeared exceedingly polite, and the signs were homemade and covered all sorts of ideas and proposals. It was truly a free for all, with many in Halloween costumes. Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert were funny and irreverent and there was music and singing and jokes and seriousness as well.

My friend Emily ran into us in front of the museum and we wandered around some more, discovering that the place we had settled in had the best view and sound.

When the crowds broke up, Eric and I had lunch at the restaurant under the National Gallery and then wandered through some exhibits in the East Building. Taking the metro back to the car was a challenge. The stations were crowded and two of the six trains we took were put out of service in the middle of our rides, and so it took far to long to find our car and get back on the 95 and to Daphne and Julien's house, where we ran into Maya and had dinner together. We left Maya with Belina and came home early, exhausted and ready for bed. I checked CNN to see if there was any coverage of the massive crowds and the event but found nothing but election coverage. I was hoping to watch the event over again on Comedy Central or online, but did not find anything, and was too tired to search further.