March 18, 2009

Inauguration Week, Day 2


On Sunday, January 18, I met the two high school groups that I would be leading for the next four days. One group was from Kansas and the other from Texas. I took the Metro to Washington National Airport to meet them when they arrived. There were a lot of people on the Metro that day heading downtown for the pre-Inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial. I knew already that the day would be filled with challenges due to road and bridge closures. It would be nearly impossible for the bus to get into DC from Virginia, so the plan was to spend most of the day outside of the city. The groups were arriving too late in the day to even think about going to the concert, so that was never an option.
On Sunday, January 18, I met the two high school groups that I would be leading for the next four days. One group was from Kansas and the other from Texas. I took the Metro to Washington National Airport to meet them when they arrived. There were a lot of people on the Metro that day heading downtown for the pre-Inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial. I knew already that the day would be filled with challenges due to road and bridge closures. It would be nearly impossible for the bus to get into DC from Virginia, so the plan was to spend most of the day outside of the city. The groups were arriving too late in the day to even think about going to the concert, so that was never an option.

The groups arrived one right after the other. It took quite a while for them to retrieve their luggage because there were so many school groups coming in at the same time. In fact, there was something like 12 WS groups alone arriving at National that day within just a 3-4 hour period. There were lots of groups for other tour companies coming in, too. By the time everyone had their bags and we got them loaded on the bus, it was around 2:00 pm and they were starving, so the first stop was for lunch.

We headed to Pentagon City Mall to hit the food court. At this point, I should probably explain that one of the downfalls of being a tour guide in DC is the amount of time I spend eating at various food courts! When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense – it’s cheap and they can handle a lot of people at one time. There are about 6-7 food courts in and around DC that we frequent; Pentagon City Mall is one of the most popular. We obviously weren’t the only group going there that Sunday, either. As our bus driver, Tom, approached the mall, we saw wall-to-wall busses parked along the road. We got lucky, though – one was pulling out as we came up, so Tom grabbed the space and we unloaded.

I was very lucky to have Tom as a driver for all four days of this tour. I’ve worked with him before and he’s one of the nicest drivers I know. He’s from southern Virginia, but frequently works in DC and really knows his way around. He also knows all of the familiar routines, like where to drop and pick up groups for all of the monuments and memorials, which made my job much easier! I hope to work with him again this season and in the future.

After lunch, we boarded the bus and headed up the road to Arlington National Cemetery. Now remember, I had just been to ANC the day before with a different group. Remember, too, that I said it’s one of the most physically demanding places we go, so imagine how thrilled (?) I was to be back there again, especially on another cold day. Actually, I shouldn’t complain – it was much warmer than Saturday. The temperature was actually in the 20’s! The cemetery was a lot more crowded, though, than it had been the previous day. This time we headed straight for the Tomb of the Unknowns instead of first going to the JFK gravesite. I wanted to be sure that we were in time to see the changing of the guard on the hour. We ended up being a few minutes early, so we visited the memorials for the two space shuttles, Challenger and Columbia, and for the Iran Rescue Team. We even had time to stop and sit in the amphitheater so the groups could take pictures. Then we walked around to the Tomb. There was a huge crowd because so many people were visiting DC, but wanted to avoid the National Mall and the concert. Both groups were able to find places to stand so they could see the ceremony. There were also a couple of wreath-laying ceremonies that they were able to see.

The rest of the visit to ANC was routine – we visited the JFK and RFK graves, and then headed back to the Visitor’s Center and the bus. It was when we left Arlington that things started to get interesting. If you’re familiar with the area, you know the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) is literally right next to ANC. It’s usually a 5-10 minute drive from one to the other. Not this day! The roads around the Iwo Jima Memorial were closed off to traffic so people returning to Virginia from the concert across the river would be able to walk on the roads. We were stuck on the George Washington Memorial Highway heading west, towards the Beltway, and had to think fast before we ended up going an hour out of our way! Tom got off onto Spout Run, which took us towards the city of Arlington, VA. Neither of us had a map of that area or a GPS with us, so Tom just drove through town by the seat of his pants. Bless his heart; he’s one of the best! He maneuvered his way through Rosslyn (actually part of Arlington) and was heading back towards Pentagon City when he realized he could take a different road to get us to Iwo Jima. A couple of turns and there we were! I was so pleased that the students would get the chance to see this magnificent memorial! We spent about 20 minutes there with everyone walking around and taking pictures from every possible angle.

By the time we left the Memorial, it was apparent that the concert was over because of the number of people walking around and coming across the bridges from DC. We went back to Pentagon City Mall where the students were to pick up dinner to go and then head to their hotel in Baltimore to check in and get ready for a dance that night. I left them at the mall and jumped on the Metro to head home. The trains were packed, especially once I got to Metro Center to switch to the red line. Everyone was happy and talking with each other, strangers as well as friends. It was totally unlike it usually is on a crowded Metro train. I heard people talking about how great the concert was, but I had to wait until I got home and could watch it on the news.

All in all, it was a pretty good day without too many complications….but I also knew the worst was yet to come as we got closer to the swearing-in on Tuesday. Still, it was exciting to hear the buzz all around me and know that all of these tourists were here for such an historic occasion as this Inauguration. As a citizen of our wonderful country, I was thrilled to be a part of it all. As a tour guide, though, I knew the next few days would be spent working our way through crowds, dealing with lots of security checkpoints, closed roads and various hassles.

I got home, ate dinner and got my things together for the next day. First stop on Monday was going to be Mount Vernon…..us and 17,000 other tourists! Stay tuned….

1 comment:

  1. I'm so glad you are blogging! This is an excellent post! You had shared with me some of your Inauguartion adventure, but when we get together and begin to chat...we travel around the world at lightning speed! It is so good to have this opportunity to read all that happened!
    Hmmm...by saving all of these memories, you may have workings for a book on your hands...one day!
    I'll be back to read more, soon!
    ~AM

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