Before and After

We arrived at the Federal Triangle metro station at 8:30AM. We walked out to the 12th Street entry gate to this crowded scene. That's the IRS building in the background. Security was only letting about 100 people at a time through the entry gates so they could pass through the magnometers without crowding the TSA workers.

After being jostled and squeezed by the crowd for about a half-hour, one of the security workers yelled (without a megaphone) that the 10th Street entrance was wide open. We decided to give it a shot, so we squeezed out of the rabble and walked the two blocks to the other gate. The crowd WAS much smaller, and it only took about 20 minutes to clear security and gain access to the parade route.

Our bleachers were located right at the intersection of 10th and Pennsylvania Ave., right by the Department of Justice building and across the avenue from the FBI.

And then at 5:30PM, thoroughly frozen, we walked right through the gates to the Metro. Because so many people had already left, the Metro was hardly crowded. After about a 15 minute wait to allow the train platform to empty, the police let us enter the station. Just as we got to the platform, our train pulled in and it had room for us to board. 25 minutes later we were at East Falls Church, where we drove to an Applebee's for dinner.

We were able to watch the end of the parade live on TV from our table.