Library Of Congress National Book Festival

We have been going to the National Book Festival since we moved to DC. But this is the first time I went as a retiree rather than an employee. It used to be held on the National Mall. For the last few years it has been housed at the Convention Center. We used to attend in the early afternoon. We now prefer the quieter time of the later evening. So after dinner we drove over hoping to find a parking space up close and personal like we did last year. It's a little too far to walk both ways. It took a bit of driving around, but we did get a spot just a block away right in front of the entrance. This year we had to pass through a security checkpoint, which almost made us late to the 7 PM presentation in the ballroom. But we did make it, and sat through two programs we wanted to see - because they were scheduled at the time we preferred, and the subjects were interesting. It was nice to use the downloaded app on my iPhone to quickly review the schedules, authors, and topics. One program was about Jefferson and the other about the Salem witches. Both of them were in the same room so we didn't have to run over to another location. There still was a lot of activity even at this hour, and of course, I had to pick up the 2016 red festival bag. My husband didn't say this evening how he would miss the city of we ever left here. But I know he was thinking just that.