Washington D.C.: The Women's March -- Getting There No Matter What
As you read in Staci's post yesterday, the Women's March on Washington was an uplifting and rousing success. Yes, there's still a ton of work to be done, but it's great to know how many people around the world are on the same page about our new Cheeto-in-Chief.
So many people, in fact, that it took us five hours to get into D.C. Saturday morning. Though my friends and family left at 6:30 a.m. to catch a 7:50 a.m. train, by the time we arrived at the BWI MARC station, this is what we saw:
We couldn't even get onto the platform.
When Staci texted us from Baltimore that the MARC train we were supposed to catch didn't let enough people on to make the line move into Penn station several stops ahead of us (the line was wrapped around the block outside!), we knew we were in trouble. At that point, we knew we'd be taking the D.C. metro. So, we ran to the car and drove to our most familiar metro stop, College Park. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone else had the same idea.
For context, we're standing in the middle of this line.
After waiting an hour and a half to get a Metro card, we were elated to finally be on our way to D.C.
This elation was short-lived.
Once we boarded, we realized that this 30-minute trip would take somewhere between one to two hours because the Metro had to pause 15 minutes at each stop in order to prevent a major train back-up. You see, the stations near the march (Gallery and Archives) were so filled with people that they couldn't get anyone off the train because the stairs were so backed up.
Finally on board!
This was all a huge positive sign for the march, but bad news for us, who had already missed the first part of the rally. Crammed together, side-by-side, tempers flared and people got restless, but eventually we made it. And this is what awaited us when we exited the metro (which was on a side street 10 blocks away from the rally):
Every street, small or large, within 15 blocks of the march looked like this.
We couldn't have been happier. Based on our commute we had expected a large crowd, but this was next-level.
Because we didn't arrive till noon, the main rally was completely barricaded for crowd control purposes, so my family and friends couldn't find my brother or Staci. Cell service was also a bit dodgy, as expected, so we tried to make our way onto the Mall and near the main event. We were able to hear the speeches, but couldn't see a thing. It didn't matter though. The fact that we were literally surrounded by so much positivity and love made the journey and the waiting all worthwhile. (Oh btw, some suspect our dear leader dead-bolted half the port-a-potties, so finding a bathroom wasn't easy.)
We joined the march around 14th Street, not knowing at that point that the march route had actually changed due to the overwhelming crowds. You wouldn't know it because on the route we marched, there were bands, thousands of people, and a ton of amazing signs (of course).
Though we never got to meet up with Staci, I'm so glad to know that we were both there and were part of a historic moment. I'm incredibly grateful to have spent the day with my family and friends and to be surrounded by so much love and support. Check out my photos from the day.
If you're wondering what to do next, as Staci mentioned yesterday, there are a ton of great resources. Personally, I'll be continuing making donations to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, NOW, the Obama Foundation, NRDC, NAACP, Nature Conservancy, International Rescue Committee, and the Center For Reproductive Rights. I'll also be calling and writing my senators as much as possible.
Peace and love,
Jen
