alesya

I recently wanted to travel to Washington, to see the National Mall, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial, preparing to depart from Nevada.
Was the recent ethnic march in Washington serious? Is there any danger?
My friend told me to stay at home and not to go out, but I have planned for a long time.

Gretchen

Are you driving? Do you have plans to protect yourself against Covid? I don't think the protest march has been described anywhere as "ethnic".

tomfuller

Agreed. DO NOT drive your personal vehicle into Washington DC. It's going to be a long hot summer in DC and who knows what the political tensions or the Covid 19 situation will be.
Either fly to Reagan National which has its own Metro Station or drive to a city that has Amtrak service to Washington and take a train into the city. Union Station is within walking distance of the Capitol and the National Mall. Underneath Union station there is a Metro station. If you didn't want to stay in the city, you can take the Green line out as far as Greenbelt MD (end of the line).

Fra_Diavolo

My comment has some html problems, so I've deleted it.

suze

I doubt you are in any danger from the "ethnic marches" but covid is a concern and will restrict what you are able to see and do.

Why not wait until next year?

obxgirl

I think your friend gave you good advice suggesting not to travel to DC this year. It's got nothing to do with "ethnic protests."

tomfuller, your train advice is just wrong in the current scenario. Metro ridership was down 90% during the regional shutdown and many stations remain closed and trains run much more infrequently. Ditto with Amtrak into the city. The DC/VA/MD metro area is still trying to figure out how to reopen to residents who live and work in the region.

It's hardly business as usual.

marvelousmouse

OP, you really should check to see what’s open before you even decide. I don’t think the museums are even close to reopening. It doesn’t make much sense to go when so much will be closed.

socaltraveler

Pretty sure given all the fencing around the WH, you will not be going in for a tour anytime soon. And the museums are closed. Your friend is right, now is not the time to plan a vacation trip to DC.

Christina

I haven't heard anyone use the word "ethnic march" either but I don't see any reason to make fun of the OP on this point or make such a big deal of it. The fact is many different segments of the population are now joining in not only in US but other countries claiming this cause, and I don't mean they are claiming it for BLM, but for their own group. I guess it's more PC to use the term "black and brown" which I guess is now the term du jour and is deemed ok by all the latest super-liberals who decide these things
Not to mention different nationalities and age groups may not be up on the latest hip lingon, you know.

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020...acial-protests

https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news...ows-solidarity


Now as to whether these marches/protests are "serious:", well, yes they are.

AS for the original question, no, now is not a good time to come, everything is closed. It would not be your dream trip. Some small museums may open in July, but some may not this year (like Smithsonians will be a while).

You could just walk the Mall and look at the Lincoln Memorial if you really were dying to do that.

Gretchen

I would use the words "protest marches" Christina. Asking if it is "serious" seems to be naive. Just wondering.

Sassafrass

The DC/Baltimore area is still pretty high in virus cases. I live here and wish I did not. I would definitely postpone visit for awhile. This area is usually hot and humid and unpleasant in Summer anyway, so wait and see what things are like later in year or next Spring.

suze

We never did find out if this was a road trip? Or by flight? Maybe she's already on here way