Everybody Loves a Parade

The next westbound train will be leaving in 30 seconds …

That was the announcement that greeted me as I hit the platform at the metro train station this morning. I almost couldn’t have timed it better.

I drove to the station this morning to avoid the madness that will be downtown traffic during an All Star Game. Oh. And with a presidential visit thrown in – during rush hour! (Obama is throwing out the first pitch.) If I waited on my regular bus, I’m betting I wouldn’t get home before 7 – if then.

While I could have driven to a station closer to home, I drove to one closer to food. See, I haven’t had a real decent meal in way more than a week. I’m sick of frozen. I’m disgusted with fast food. I want some SERIOUS take-out! So I’m heading to Lotawata Creek. The mother didn’t want to meet me at the train station and go to dinner. So, I just drove there and road the train in. (20-minute drive plus a 20-minute train ride. That means it didn’t save me too much time off my bus commute (around 5 minutes) though I left home 20 minutes earlier than normal. Can’t wait to get me some Chicken Atlanta!

I wasn’t alone in my planning. The train was jammed. I found a seat and had it most of the way. As we got close to downtown, an old black lady got on. For nearly two stops, I watched her set her butt into the door to try and not fall. Meanwhile, the two WASPs sitting across from me, stared right at her. They did nothing, so I gave her my seat. I guess their mothers didn’t raise them as well as the mother raised me. (Can you believe even after I addressed this lady directly, someone else was trying to take my seat?! So I sat back down ‘til I got her attention.)

She didn’t say thanks. Oh well.

From my office window, I watched people line up for hours to watch the All Star parade. This is what would occasionally distract me. Notice the “red carpet” lining the streets. Pretty cool! I never could tell who was in any of the trucks as they passed, but considering that I was several blocks away and 19 stories up, these aren’t half bad.

This was the view from my window.

Another view ...

If I looked in the opposite direction, I saw this: the staging area for all of the MLB trucks that were taking the parade participants down Market Street.

This is the view after the parade had already been going on for a while. That's a whole lotta pick-ups! It was fun watching them turn because they were then going the wrong way down a one-way street. (Legally. It was closed for the parade.)

And for the past four days, both a blimp and a small plane have been circling downtown. I haven't seen the blimp but i've seen the plane more times than I can count.

Finally, I got to snap a pic of it as it flew past the Arch.