Now that we’ve found ourselves in the fine state of Virginia we thought it might be a good idea to explore. Of course the Government was on shutdown at this point, being unable to reach a 
resolution on budget and healthcare, but we thought it would be nice to get a look around D.C. anyway. Besides, we needed to escape the hotel room for a bit and there were beautiful fall colors to enjoy.
I had previously visited D.C. in 2003 with a friend for half a day and the streets were packed with cars and spectators. I remember driving and finding a place to park being more frustrating than Chicago ever thought about being. I was in for a surprise this day though…
The streets were surprisingly empty. There were a few tourists 
wandering the sidewalks but nothing was open. As I heard a few talk among themselves, some in other languages, I felt badly for them. Here they had planned their vacation around seeing America’s Capital, experiencing the Memorials and visiting the Museums and none of it was open to them.
Of course, there was the extra difficulty of all the government employees who were not working at the time and therefore not being paid either. Having just moved cross country, we found ourselves in this situation. Overall the shutdown seemed like playground shenanigans to me, “I can’t have my way so I’m going to pick up my toys and go home”. How irresponsible for an elected government but they didn’t suffer for it, The People did. I have no doubt that the polls will be well attended in the near future.
