Sunday afternoon:
We went to the Inauguration kickoff concert that was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Because it was free we had to get their early and stood for four hours waiting for the concert to begin along with hundreds of thousands of other people. We made friends with our Brazilian and Canadian neighbors and even though we were fairly close to the memorial we couldn't see the stage because there was a podium for VIPS that had been built in front of it. We rocked out to Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, U2, Beyonce, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, Will i. am and many many others. One of my favorite moments was during the invocation, the speakers weren't on and after waiting four hours for this concert we were not about to let a technical glitch keep us from enjoying it. Various chants broke out in the crowd, like "We can't hear" and "We want sound" etc continued until the crowds parted and a sound tech guy made his way to the front and to chants of "Yes, you can", yes he did and the crowd was ecstatic.
At the time, this seemed like a lot of people. Multiply this by about seven, and that's what we were dealing with at the inauguration.
I wore five layers, that's why I'm smiling.
We were exhausted after the concert. Luckily Jenn (new roommate), had a room at the Willard, about three blocks from the National Mall where we crashed on her king size bed and watched a re-run of the concert.
View from the Willard in the Day
And at night (Photo credits go to Andy)Tuesday:
We decided it would be smart to stay at Jenn's hotel room Monday night to avoid the crowds on the metro Tuesday morning. Seems really logically considering that her hotel is only a mile and a half walk to the capitol building. I received two standing tickets to the inauguration and we figured if we left at 7:00 a.m. we could walk and get in line by 7:30 and then even if it took us three hours to get through security we'd still have an hour to get our spot. Boy were we wrong. It took about two and a half hours to walk that mile and a half. Due to gridlock like this:
and this:
Even though all road were closed off to traffic, there were so many people and not a lot of direction or authority telling us where to go. I felt really bad because later I read that a lot of people didn't end up making through security even though they had tickets and had arrived very early. I would have been disappointed if it were me, but I live here. These are people who had spent a considerable amount of money on plane tickets, hotels etc to be here for this moment and instead they were stuck in tunnels or on roads like those pictured above. Read here.
Third and final crowd we had to make our way through. This was supposed to be some sort of line, but it was more like this mass of thousands of people going through a funnel. We got really lucky and did make it through a half hour before the ceremony started. But at 11:30, when everything started, it was obvious that not everyone was going to get in, I could see thousands of people still stuck outside the gate. Then I looked over, heard screaming and just saw a flood of people running towards us. It was like the red sea had parted and people were running everywhere. In the moment I thought that was a really bad idea, but no one got hurt, and most of the people did have tickets, so I'm glad they decided to jump the barricades.
I'm somewhere in that mass of people by the reflecting pool. Despite the disorder, crowds, cold I was shocked at how well behaved everyone was. It was obvious they were just so happy to be there. A lot of times the crowd would get antsy and people would start pushing a little and then someone would say "Hey, it's Barack Obama's day, let's show some respect" or "What would Barack Obama do" or just start chanting "Yes, we can" and miraculously this would calm the crowd. Man, this guy has some high expectations to live up to. I really think though for all the millions of people there was maybe only 1/1000 that was grumpy, pretty good stats on any given day and especially considering the circumstances. Watching the inauguration was incredible, the only thing that really disappointed me was when everyone booed President Bush, that was really bad taste. Whether or not your agree with his policies, you have to show respect for someone who has spent eight years serving their country and still holds the office of President. There are things that I disagree with and I'm glad Barack Obama was elected President, but you still have to respect current and former Presidents.Parade:
Next it was back to the Willard for a buffet lunch and to watch the parade from Jenn's room again. We had an eighth floor view of Pennsylvania avenue, it was absolutely perfect. Although that parade lasted so long. I felt bad for everyone who was after the Presidential motorcade because the spectators had to be there by 7 o'clock in the morning to claim their seats so by the time the parade was ending (7 pm) there was really no one left watching.
Not a great picture. It's through the window, but that is the Presidential Motorcade.
We were like little kids gathered around the windowInaugural Ball:
Jenn scored us tickets to the Michigan inaugural ball. It was at the American history smithsonian, which was an awesome venue. We had a great time dressing up and we pretty much dominated the dance floor.
They had some great live bands
Dominic and Kathy. The saxophonist from one of the bands was obsessed with Kathy. He was taking pictures of her from the stage.
Half the crew at the Willard on our way to the ball.It was an epic weekend, I wish I had more pictures from the ball, but I'm still waiting to get them.
