So the DC Metro System (at least today) stinks!
We arrive at the station in Virginia at 10 and wait in a surprisingly fast moving line for 40 minutes- then the line kind of stopped. At 11:40 we had our tickets and then the real fun began. Trains on the orange line into downtown were running an average of one every 20-30 minutes (as opposed to the "official" Metro time of one every 12 minutes during the weekend) But a bigger problem was that the stations at the end of the line were packed so every train that came in was FULL- Let me say that again FULL- like the door won't even shut full. More frustrating though was that every 12 minutes trains- sometimes empty, sometimes full (with people trying to get into town by going the wrong way and then switching trains away from the crowds) went the other way.
Anyway...
Just as we were finally about to give up at 1:30 a train that was about 1/4 empty entered the station (and yes I recognize that sane people would have given up long ago but hey we needed our sanity restored) We got on the train and then waited while more and more people crammed onto our train. Anyway we made it to the mall at 2:50 and enjoyed a nice picnic near the Washington Monument. We did have a good time on the Mall-seeing the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.
We heard the rally was awesome- I can't, sadly, confirm that fact. I will say that the people attending this rally were some of most amazing nice people out there. We actually had a good time on the station platform- and really wasn't this rally about taking back America from the crazies and giving it back to the real people- Well, the real people were stuck at all the Metro stations and at the National Mall today.
We would especially like to thank the following people
The "I live here and can't believe what a mess this is" lady at the Metro station- for not only giving us her spot in line on the platform (when we still thought we might have room on a train) but also cutting us in front of the guy next to her and telling him "you don't mind, right?"
M&M lady- who gave the kids each a little bag of M&Ms during hour 2 of the great train wait
Marines 1 and 2- who entertained X during one of the many times we were stuck in the tunnel waiting for a train to clear the station- also they did it all while having D jumping up and down on their feet and K throwing a huge fit about wanting off the train
Random Strangers 1 and 2- who would reach down to grab a child as they approached the track edge
Alex and Gabe - who answered K's question "what's your name?" 50 times in a 20 minute period
Alex's mom and sister- for stepping in front of a rush of people so that we could get on the train just in case there was a spot on the train
And winning saint of the year is Megan- who not only didn't freak out when I stuck both K and D in the seat next to her, but also entertained them by showing them pictures on her iphone (including letting them play with it) and in general entertaining them for the entire time we were on the train. However- we probably won't be making Mac and Cheese a la Megan (although D is already talking about it) since pineapples just don't seem like a good addition to mac and cheese.
I will post the photos tomorrow when we get home-
(I forgot the cord to get them off the camera)
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