COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Not everyone booked a five-star hotel for this week’s inauguration events.
Visitors flocked to the Cherry Hill Park campground in College Park, where assistant general manager Chris Lim says there’s a bipartisan crowd: about 200 parties of Trump supporters, including Bikers for Trump, and 50 groups here for the Women’s March on Washington are settling in.
The campground can accommodate up to 400 groups and features a dog run, cabins, laundry facilities and more. RVs dotted the park, some of them decked out with American flags and large signs, including Trump posters and placards.
Lim says the visitors get along just fine, and really have one common goal: “Everybody wants to know how to get to D.C. and the easiest way — which would be Metro picking up here to get them downtown.”
Robert McMichael from Philadelphia, Mississippi, spent two days driving up to the campground with his wife.
“We stopped at every Sam’s Club and every Camper World on the way up, and we had a good time,” McMichael said.
Jim Sturm and his wife Maureen from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, said he’s looking forward to Friday’s events.
“This is a first for us,” he said, referring to the inauguration. “We’re looking forward to seeing the events take place and to get the energy of the people that are looking for positive change in this country.”
Jodi DiTerlizzi and her husband Michael drove up from Stuart, Florida. Before coming to D.C., the couple drove up to New York and visited the Trump Tower. Jodi proudly showed off her “Make America Great Again” red hat.
Michael said it’s important for him to make the trip to the nation’s capital.
“Most importantly, to me, is the swearing-in ceremony. I mean, to be there to be part of that, to be part of a new era for the United States.”
Jodi was excitedly putting together all the details of their visit for the inauguration, including laying out the tickets that will put them on the bleachers for the ceremony. She’s optimistic about what the next four years will bring.
“You know, we just need hope that our business will thrive in the community. This country needs a change.”
Mary Osteen, in the neighboring RV space at the campground agreed.
“We have been on the ‘Trump Train’ since day one! We knew there was something in this man that we believed in.”
But Monique Pilie of New Orleans, who is also staying at the Cherry Park campgrounds, was here to take part in Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington.
“I am here to not just have my voice be heard, but also to let other people know who are feeling threatened — whether they’re Muslims, or immigrants or African-Americans or other women — that I’m here to stand alongside of them,” she said.
“And I’ll fight for their rights as much as my own.”
As to the climate at the campgrounds, where Trump signs dot the landscape, Pilie said, “I’m telling everybody hello, and everybody’s been friendly to me, and that’s fine.”
