Women’s March on Washington Trip (Day 4)
Today was a travel day, with us making the approximately 9-hour drive to DC. We got started early, hitting the road by about 7 AM. We skipped a big breakfast in order to get on the way.
First stop was to fill up the gas tank for the drive, then, in rain/drizzle conditions, we left Gatlinburg.
We stopped just inside the Virginia border at a visitor center to get the scoop on what we might do along the drive. We had started so early, we felt we had a few hours to spend on sightseeing. (We didn’t want to get into DC too early and chance running into any inauguration traffic.) So we settled on having lunch in Roanoke, perhaps visiting some sights there, and then making a stop in the Shenandoah underground cave.
We (I) actually drove about 20 miles past the cutoff for Roanoke. After a short discussion, we decided it was worth going back, so we did, even though that cut our time a little short. We easily found the Taubman Museum and stopped in there for a little advice. We found out what the exhibits were and found out the admission was free. Then we got directions to some lunch options. We ended up eating right across the street and then heading back to the museum. You’ll see a picture of a very interesting exhibit, the Sonya Clark Hair Craft project. There were actually 11 of these pictures showing a picture the hair artist (facing the camera) with their handywork on the back of Sonya Clark’s head. The picture at the bottom showed a creation the artist made when given a blank canvas and some thread (yarn?). They used their hair weaving skills to design and execute a different type of art. Very cool.
The colored hangings were also at the museum, hanging in the lobby area display space. I just thought that looked cooly colorful.
Next we planned to see some underground caves a couple of miles down the road. Unfortunately, we got there a few minutes after they closed for the afternoon, so we were out of luck. We opted to stop at the next town for some ice cream instead. 🙂
Then it was on to DC. Soon we started to see evidence of fellow travelers heading to the march. We passed a van that had a lot of blue stars in the windows saying things like “Not My President.” We honked at them, indicated we were going to the march, too, and gave them a thumb’s up, which they reciprocated with big smiles.
At a rest stop, we saw a few cars of ladies wearing pussy hats. They had some “liquid chalk,” and kindly loaned us one of the pens. I wrote “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” on one side window, “Citizens” on the other side, and “Peace and Love for All” on the back. And so we headed to DC, after saying “See you there!” to our pink-hatted new friends.
We got to Dulles Airport about 7 PM to turn the car in, then took a bus to the metro station. From there it was a real adventure to get our card passes and find the right rail line to get to our stop, but we managed.
Along the way, we saw several people in fancy dresses and tuxes. When we asked where they were going all dressed up, they said an inaugural ball. Oh my! They asked us if we were in town for the inauguration, and we said we were there for the march. Despite obviously being on opposite sides of the political spectrum, we didn’t talk politics. We were all friendly and even shared a bit of conversation along the way. We wished each other well.
Once we finally reached our stationd (about a 50-minute ride), Lynn, our hostess, picked us up and invited us into her lovely home. After a pizza dinner, we three pretty weary travelers hit the sack anticipating an early start in the morning.
Next, the March!
