Arrived at the Vienna Metro station in Fairfax shortly after 9:00 AM to take the train into town. When we arrived, the lines for the ticket dispensers were huge, extending far into the parking lots on both sides of the station.
PLEASE CLICK ON ALL PHOTOS TO SHOW THE FULL PICTURE
METRO
It took us 90 minutes to get a pass for the boy and get to the train. Everybody was polite. The crowds were helpful and friendly. There was almost a party atmosphere, even on the train which was packed tightly like sardines in a can.
We got to Freedom Plaza shortly after 11:30. Yes, an hour Metro ride! - Metro was doing scheduled maintenance and rail was restricted to a single track for trains going both directions on ALL of the main lines coming in from Virginia. I am sure that this was incompetence in scheduling and not malice...
Anyway...
The main body of protesters having already left, we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Capitol with some of the late arrivals. Now remember, we had a few thousand people in line behind us at the Vienna Metro station, just like the reports I heard from people at other stations leading into DC. So, hundreds of thousands in front of us, and many tens of thousands behind us and this was after the official 11:30 start time of the march. Here are some pictures of the march down by the late-arrivers following the main group.
LEAVING FREEDOM PLAZA
10th and PENN
IN FRONT OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Aerial photo of Capital grounds and East end of the Mall The march route was down Pennsylvania from Freedom Plaza (14th and Penn) to the Capitol Building.
CONSTITUTION AND PENNSYLVANIA
The crowd was just about stopped out to here and movement forward became more difficult.
By 3rd Street, you couldn't move hardly at all.
The entire area from 3rd street forward to the Capitol, and bounded by Constitution and Independence, was a solid mass of people with more continuing to stream into the area from all directions. The police had to redirect the people coming down Pennsylvania onto 4th street and down to Maryland Avenue to handle the flow of people streaming onto the Capitol grounds.
Here are some more images to give you some perspective on the scale of the crowd, and also that this was a peaceful event:
AMERICA'S FUTURE
Gadsden Flags, First Navy Jacks, Culpeper Minutemen flags, and The Stars and Stripes were well represented (and are all available HERE). Although, you can certainly tell that the mood of the country is "back against the wall" given the number of Gadsden Flags compared to all of the rest.
I think that this sign about says it with regard to the feeling of Middle America. People who treasure our Republic and want it preserved want to know:
There is a storm brewing in the Nation's Capital.
For the politicians who fail to heed the people, a warning:
(Note: Sorry for the late posting on this. Trying to sort out the photos and give it contextual coherence took longer than I expected.)
Newbius
|||
1 comment:
Thanks for giving us your perspective- Obviously the count was WAY off... Interesting spread of folks too- Wish I could have made it!
Post a Comment