I thought today would be memorial for seeing the new Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Instead, it was a historic day with a 5.8 earthquake.

First the earthquake. I was in a hotel between morning/afternoon tours getting people ready for the bus. Suddenly, the floor starting shaking, a guttural noise was made, things flew off the walls and the power went out. Luckily, I was only 20 feet from the door.

I thought it was a terrorist attack. An earthquake never crossed my mind. I’ve lived around Washington for 51 years and never felt something like that. It was mind blowing even if my California tourists wondered why everyone was making a big deal out of it. Tell you what – when it snows 2 inches in Los Angeles and your city shuts down, we’ll wonder why you think it’s a big deal.

Amazingly, we continued on with the tour. It was like something in the movies where one bus goes into town while everyone else is leaving. People were on the street everywhere downtown as we picked up more passengers.

We headed to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial without incident. We then heard Arlington National Cemetery was closed, but decided to try it anyway. Sure enough, it was open. The Tourmobile was shut down and there was yellow tape around the amphitheater behind the Tomb of the Unknowns. One employee told me they were worried about cracks. Everyone watched the changing of the guard from the sides, but the cemetery was rather empty overall.

We tried to see the Iwo Jima memorial, but the entrances were roped off. When returning downtown, so were all the memorials on the mall. They’re outdoors? Oh well, better safe than sorry.

As for the MLK, I saw it in the morning. Everyone seemed very happy with it. It’s just a few minutes walk from the World War II and FDR Memorial. You can gain a good look from the Jefferson Memorial, too. There’s also as large setup for President Obama’s speech on the west side of the memorial and cones were set up on the Lincoln Memorial’s steps where King’s “I had a Dream” speech was given.

I started the day thinking what great weather. This will be an enjoyable day. Oh well.

Now get ready for Hurricane Irene on Friday.

UPDATE: The Washington Monument is closed indefinitely with cracks near top.