By LUCY WESTCOTT and AVIVA WOOLF
From mildly-confused and disappointed tourists milling around the National Mall taking pictures of various street signs to the busy atmosphere at Arlington National Cemetery, the government shutdown has affected visitors and residents alike.
On the shutdown’s second day, Washington was practically a ghost town. The usually bustling stretch of the National Mall was empty, spare a lone Segway tour. The world-famous Smithsonian Museums were locked shut. Arlington National Cemetery was open, though.
At the Capitol building, a few government employees held up signs and demanded they be allowed to work again, while advocacy groups found that limited access to government buildings meant limited access to congressional members.
And with fewer government employees filing into Washington every day from Maryland and Virginia, Metro announced Wednesday that it would reduce the number of train cars in service because of reduced ridership.