Dear Daytrippers,

As you read this it is Inauguration Day – I had high hopes of attending the Inauguration in person this year. Something I have dreamed of doing – to witness history in the making.

On a bitter cold morning last January as I departed the American Bus Association Convention in Omaha, Nebraska I saw that dream coming together. The previous evening, I had attended a party promoting the attractions of next year’s convention city – Baltimore, MD – scheduled to begin just a few days after the January 20, 2021 Presidential Inauguration. I immediately saw this a custom-made opportunity to attend a Presidential Inauguration and set my plans in motion. But we are in a much different place this January…

When I set out on this journey and despite all the predictions of the winter bringing a resurgence of Covid cases, worse than ever, I remained hopeful that by Inauguration Day, I would be in DC. Hopeful, I continued on my path – even when I learned there would be no parade down Pennsylvania Ave, no standing in the crowds on the mall. I would just get as close as I could and see what I could see. Then January 6 and the horrific take-over of the Capitol, I finally had to face facts, I would not be in DC on Inauguration Day.

Still, here I am a few days before the Inauguration a few miles away in Alexandria – so why not just take a drive through. I entered DC crossing the Potomac River over a bridge considered the “ceremonial entrance to our Nation’s Capital” – the Arlington Memorial Bridge. The Memorial Bridge connects in a direct line the Lincoln Memorial and the Civil War General Robert E Lee’s home, Arlington House, on the hill overlooking Arlington National Cemetery. A deliberate connection designed to symbolize the re-joining of the north and south after the Civil War. Just down the hill from Arlington House on that same direct line, is JFK’s gravesite.
It is a clear day, the most beautiful I have ever seen in DC. As always I am surprised at just how huge every monument is, just how close together everything is and how stunningly beautiful. My eyes follow the line of the reflecting pool from the Lincoln Memorial to the towering Washington Monument and then in the distance across the Tidal Basin – the Jefferson Memorial. The last time I was here the Cherry trees circling the Basin were in full bloom, the crowds were massive, and the traffic was gridlock – I spent more time swearing than appreciating the majesty of my surroundings. I slow as I pass the Martin Luther King Memorial and see the likeness of MLK standing just ahead of two huge slabs of granite signifying the Stone of Hope emerging from the mountain of despair. And for a minute – I forget that this isn’t just another day in DC. Driving along Independence Avenue at first I think what I am seeing are preparations for the Inauguration but as I attempt to turn onto the National Mall I come upon police barricades at every intersection preventing access to the Mall. The Mall has been called “America’s Front Yard” – home to monuments, memorials and marches – our public space – where we tell the story of America and reaffirm our ideals of democracy and today it is off limits. Within two blocks of the Capitol, the Nation’s Capital is quickly looking much more like Fort Knox. Metal barricades are being erected, members of the National Guard are mingling with local law enforcement and it feels time for me to turn back. A last minute decision, I take Massachusetts Avenue towards Dupont Circle and the National Cathedral. This route takes me past the embassies of Luxembourg, Ireland, Japan, and the United Kingdom with it’s massive Sir Winston Churchill statue – Churchill, who’s mother was American, was given honorary American citizenship in 1963. To my right, across the street from the Vatican and Norwegian Embassies is the US Naval Observatory Gate – the gate has a screen broadcasting the “official US time” based on the master atomic clock at the Observatory – then just visible through the fence is the distinctive ‘Victorian looking’ rooftop of the stately 128-year old Vice-Presidential residence. A quick right turn and I am in the Cathedral Close, the 59 acre sanctuary surrounding the National Cathedral and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. All is quiet here and I am almost alone. With the Cathedral temporarily closed, no tour docent to tell me what to admire I take time to appreciate the architectural masterpiece. I remember being told it was “designed to point eyes and hearts to things above” and it does. I try to remember bits and pieces from past tours; did you know the “Creation” Rose window celebrates when God declared, “Let there be light”, the Cathedral houses a tiny piece of the moon – delivered personally by the men who brought it back down to earth. The moon rock is encased in an air-tight, nitrogen-filled capsule in one of the stained glass windows. Among the whimsical and fearsome gargoyles which act as waterspouts are rattlesnakes, raccoons, Darth Vadar, an elephant balancing a book on it’s head, a birdwatcher and that the Cathedral is the spiritual home for the Nation – I come away inspired.

A short drive through historic Georgetown with it’s beautiful old buildings, cobblestone streets and my day is over – I am sad that I didn’t have a drink at the Willard Hotel, dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill and it would be another four years before I could attend an Inauguration but I feel my day in DC gave me a glimpse of the good that endures and in some small way a sense of history in the making…

Be Well,
John