In nation’s capital, first day of shutdown disappoints visitors at closed federal attractions

Some Americans were already feeling the pain, or at least disappointment, from the first day of the government shutdown on Wednesday.

In the nation’s capital, visitors and tourists were confronted with closures at sites including the Washington Monument on the National Mall, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Botanic Garden at the base of Capitol Hill.

Ray Skunda, 66, a retiree from Texas, drove all the way to Washington in a recreational vehicle in hopes of touring the Washington Monument. Instead, he found a National Park Service sign taped to a door at the base of the 555-foot-tall obelisk stating that it was closed until further notice “due to the government shutdown.”

“We camped in the KOA near here, and we just came here to take a tour — a lifelong dream,” Mr. Skunda said. “And things being closed is disappointing.”

He said of the government shutdown and next year’s congressional midterm elections, “I think the decisions being made here are going to decide which party is going to be stronger.”

Haywood Thomas, 51, a retired refinery worker from Amarillo, Texas, also wanted to tour the Washington Monument for the first time.

“I knew the government shutdown was coming up [Tuesday] night, so I figured everything would be shut down,” Mr. Thomas said. “But, you know, you walk around and see it on the outside, so that’ll have to do for now.”

He blames “party politics” for the shutdown.

“Same s—-, different day,” he said. “It feels like whenever one party is in charge, the other party wants to shut them down at every opportunity.”

Mr. Thomas said he voted for President Trump last year but isn’t impressed with his second-term performance.

“Trump’s been a disappointment this time around,” he said. “I was hoping it’d be more similar to the first time around. He’s been a little off the f——— hook this time.”

At the Botanic Garden, Angeles Hermosillo, 34, a lawyer from Chile, couldn’t get in to see the indoor oasis of orchids and other exotic plants. She is traveling with her mother and infant.

“We were also talking about how in Chile, we don’t do this,” she said. “It’s a way of making people conscious of how these decisions impact them — everyday life decisions.”

But she also said of the shutdown, “If it is a form of resistance towards the government. I think it’s a great measure for all.”

A multitude of non-essential federal workers were facing furloughs or layoffs on Wednesday. In Montgomery County, Maryland, at least 48,000 federal employees reportedly were furloughed.

Kelley Keller posted on X that her husband, an instructor at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was among many federal workers who had to fill out furlough-related paperwork Wednesday morning at his workplace.

“The DoD got the shutdown order this morning about 9 am,” she wrote. “My husband had to go on post (the Carlisle Barracks) and sign papers acknowledging this disaster and that he won’t be paid until it ends. When he comes home, he won’t be allowed on post again until funding resumes. Meanwhile, his students (senior military officers from the US and our allies) have lost their instructor and will have a substitute whose funding comes from elsewhere. This isn’t the way.”

In Philadelphia, tourists enjoying a crisp fall morning on Independence Mall were thwarted in their hopes of visiting the Liberty Bell. They were being turned away at the entrance and could only steal glances of it inside a glass pavilion.

Access varied widely across the more than 400 sites overseen by the National Park Service as the shutdown began, according to on-scene reporting by The Associated Press. Some tourists chafed at the limited services remaining for visitors, while others didn’t notice the changes or simply soldiered on.

A shutdown contingency plan released by the park service late Tuesday said “park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors.”

However, given sharply reduced staffing, parks without “accessible areas” will be closed during the shutdown. And sites currently open could close if damage is done to park resources or garbage is building up, the plan says.

&8226; This story is based in part on wire service reports.