In case you hadn't heard... Richard and I joined 2 million of our closest friends to attend Obama's 2009 Inauguration swearing-in ceremony yesterday.
Reader's Digest Version: Crowded, cold, awesome.
Getting ThereOur adventure-filled day began when the alarm rang at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Well, it actually began the night before when we set out our clothes, toliet paper (!), snacks, camera, money, etc. before we went to bed. This ended up being a very good idea as we most surely would have forgotten everything if we rested solely on our early-morning brains.
I was very nervous about the chilly weather as I am getting over a cold, so I may have overdone it a bit on the layers. By the time we left the house, I had on underarmor, jeans, track pants, a t-shirt, a sweater, another wool sweater, a puffy coat, a scarf, ear muffs, a hat, gloves, wool socks, sneakers, and an extra blanket. I felt a bit like Ran
dy from "A Christmas Story." Richard was similarly dressed, but somehow managed looked much more urban and chic than me in his clothes (how DO men do it?).
Our game plan was to drive to Richard's school at Virginia Square, take the metro about 12 stops (no transfer, woot!), get off at the mall, breeze through security and find a spot on the lawn. Sounds easy enough, right? I foolishly thought we would have our seats by 8-ish. Umm... yeah. Didn't happen.
I should say here that I was actually very impressed by the Metro. They managed to accommadate millions of people without any major problems, which is WAYYYY better than anyone expected. But we did end up waiting quite a while for our orange train to come at Virginia Square, which we later found out was because of a "sick passenger." Luckily, our car didn't smell like puke.
We finally were able to get onto a train car! It was insaaane. I have been on the NYC metro during rush hour traffic and was nothing compared to this. I could not move, could not see my feet, etc. Once, the train stopped abrubtly, but I didn't even move an inch because there was literally nowhere to go. It was crazy, and we were glad to get off and be able to breathe again!
Lines, lines and more linesSince Richard was able to score us some tickets to the swearing in, we were pretty close to the festivities. Upon exiting the train, we were informed to go to the blue section, and followed a "line" which went up the street about 3 blocks and then coiled in on itself in a parking lot. As you may have guessed, the coiling didn't go so well, and as soon as the gates opened, the line dissolved and people just started running toward the security gate. It was pretty frustrating, as there was no direction, no police or volunteers trying to keep people under control or anything. You just sort of had to fend for yourself. And fend we did. We ran like our lives depended on it (well, they actually might have, because if we would have stopped, we might have gotten trampled!)
After securing our spot in line, we waited... and waited... and waited. Luckily, everyone was in a very good mood, and Richard and I met some fun people in line! It was really a festive and patriotic morning. We finally made it through sercurity, and found a decent spot on the lawn (about 1,000 feet away) about 5 minutes before the festivities began (around 10:15-ish). We were right around here:
Which was a LOT better than being here:
Well, the rest is history. Obama came, everyone FREAKED OUT (good). Bush came, everyone FREAKED OUT (bad). I felt really bad for him, and unsuccessfully tried to shush the people around me. Seriously, they were just being so rude; we're not 5-year olds. But I digress. After the Inaugural Address was over, we wiped our tears and bolted to the nearest metro stop. Since we were so close (as opposed to people in the latter photo) to a stop, we were able to get on, get a seat and head back home before the crowds hit. Good thing, too, because I heard that after we left, people were waiting in line for over 2 hours to even get on a train!
Basically, it was an awesome day!! I'm glad that I finally decided to go and be a part of such a historic moment. I felt really proud... er, pleased, to be an American and to welcome in a new president. Here's to the next 4 years!
dy from "A Christmas Story." Richard was similarly dressed, but somehow managed looked much more urban and chic than me in his clothes (how DO men do it?).
