Inauguration Day – Part 4 - We Stop to Rest, Meet Amazing People

Exhausted, cold and thirsty for beverages, we wandered around trying to find anything resembling a restaurant. So many roads were blocked off for the parade that we were pushed completely off course. We eventually found ourselves near the Farragut West Metro, which is near the Lombardy Hotel and features a cute little bar. We decided to step inside for a drink.

There were no seats available, but two very nice women made room for us. After more than seven hours of standing in the cold and our muscles aching, God bless these beautiful women for making a place for us to sit down. My vodka martini ended up just being straight vodka with a few olives in it, but being that I could barely feel my toes, I wasn't exactly complaining. Christopher ordered a beer and as we defrosted, two more people joined the area we were sitting in.

The newcomers were filming a documentary about the inauguration as it related to race. They had found that younger people at the inauguration were not as focused on race, but more on Obama’s ideals and outlook on the world. We all began chatting and found out that one of the women who had made room for us was actually an ancestor of Booker T. Washington . Her sister who joined later, Sarah Rush, is a public speaker from Oakland who talks about their family history. The other woman who helped make room for us was originally from the South and had experienced segregation first-hand. When she was young, her father insisted that she and her brother attend one of the white schools in town and they had to be walked to school accompanied by the National Guard. The gravity of the day struck us.

We were eventually decided to head "home." We popped into a Starbucks to get a couple of coffees and in the long line, I ended up chatting with a chemist and doctor from Switzerland. She kept saying how happy she was to see that Obama had become President and that Bush was out of office. "Bush not only ruined America," she said, "he reeked havoc on the entire world." Beyond her hatred of Bush, she had incredible insight into American politics. I asked what her advice would be for Americans, on our new journey with President Obama. "I just hope that people realize Obama's not a magician. He can't snap his fingers and make the world instantly better. He can help lead your country to a better place, but it's up to you to get the work done."

Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is one of my favorite places in the world. We were lucky enough to visit on Inauguration Day. Such a peaceful, wonderful place to be, even with about 100 other people.

Guantanamo Detainees Tour DC

When we said everyone was out for the inauguration, we meant it! The Guantanamo detainees even showed up. Well, it was really a Human Rights Watch protest, but still a nice shot. I mean, uh, photo.

Who Throws a Shoe?

After going to the Korean War Memorial in honor of Christopher’s grandfather, we headed to the Lincoln Memorial. We were disappointed to see that the monument was still blocked off with the concert stage from the Friday before, but luckily we had to walk around because we saw this:


Some genius had a blow-up Bush statue that they were tearing down like it was the Sadaam Hussein statue in Iraq. The best part was that crowd-goers were throwing shoes at it (arrow points toward flying shoe). Ah, political humor at its best.

Inauguration Day - Part 3 - We Wave Good-bye to Bush

Shortly after President Barack Obama (yay!) gave his speech, we turned to head towards the Lincoln Memorial. We had seen what was in front of us for more than five hours, but had no idea about the amazing mass of people who spanned from the Washington Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial. It was awe inspiring.

As we walked toward the Korean War Memorial, the Marine One helicopter with President George W. Bush inside, circled overhead. We waved a happy good-bye, while others behind us shouted, “Eat a dick, George!” Some people just have a way with words, you know?

Inauguration Day - Part 2 - Hope Happens

It was as if everyone around us was collectively holding their breath, waiting for it to happen. Was Barack Obama really going to be elected President of the United States? For so long we had heard and shouted "Yes We Can!" We made calls, organized get out the vote campaigns and knocked on doors. We did it because we wanted to see Obama elected as President and it was actually happening.

Yes We Can!



Yes We Did!

At the moment President Obama said the following, we both teared up. That our new President said something this profound and powerful, makes us grateful that he is now the voice of our country.

“We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth. To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.”

More powerful excerpts from Obama’s speech:

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

“Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage. What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.”

“With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waver in its defense. And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that, ‘Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.’”

“Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.”

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship.”

“America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words; with hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come; let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

Inauguration Day – Part 1

Apologies for the late post on how the actual Inauguration went, but due to camera difficulties, we had to go old school and actually get film developed.

About the day - Wake up time: 4:45am. Departure from hotel: 5:30am. Temperature: Not Hopey warm, very cold. The bright spot: It wasn’t raining, snowing or pelting freezing rain. We heard that some people, including Ben Affleck, stayed out all night to hold a place along the parade route and on the National Mall. With the wind chill, how only 34 people got hypothermia is miraculous.

Thankfully, our hotel was just three blocks from a Metro station. The Metro wasn’t packed at first, but steadily got very crowded. We arrived at the L’Enfant Metro station near the National Mall around 6:45am and emptied out into an incredible mass of people. With little breathing room, everyone shuffled slowly towards the exit. A couple of important items to note:
- No one we saw was rude and people were very patient. The crowd was in good spirits, even at 6:30am. The excitement of the day, of the moment to come, seemed to overtake any pettiness.
- The escalators at the station were out of order and everyone was forced to climb the steps one by one. One woman asked if this was Obama’s “get in shape” plan. When each group of people reached the top of the long set of escalators, a cheer rang out. “Whaa-hooooooooo! Obama! Obama! Obama!”
- Not only did the Metro trains run frequently, but all of the ticket machines worked. Bravo Metro! Really, cheers to the Metro workers who made things run so smoothly.

On our way toward the National Mall, we grabbed a couple of “coffees” from a stand at the price of $3.25 each. The coffee was pretty laughable. Really, it was water with a drip or two of coffee. To all of you who know how much coffee means to both of us, you’ll appreciate that Christopher cursed this woman throughout the day. If Karma means anything, this woman’s coffeemaker is in ill-repair right now.

Post-coffee, there were thousands of people around us, all trying to cram in to get the best spot in front of the Capitol. We realized that we might not get a close spot and opted to head towards the Washington Monument to find a good viewing area. Although we couldn’t see the inauguration stand, we had a view of the Capitol Building, could see a big screen TV for a close-up and could watch the event happen before our eyes.

At 7:15am, the area around us was fairly empty:

For hours, we watched as people poured onto the National Mall in front of us toward the Capitol. The sea of people was astonishing. People literally flowed from all directions. Where were they all coming from? And where were they all fitting?

By 10am, there was little breathing room around us:

While Christopher froze his butt off saving our spot on the cold hard granite around the Washington Monument, I stood in line waiting for hot chocolate and food for an hour and a half. The man behind me was disappointed to find out (after 45 minutes) that there was no coffee available, but was happy to know that there was at least something warm to drink. He was from Seattle and had made the trip out to DC for not only the Carter inauguration, but also for both of Clinton’s. He said that Clinton’s first inauguration had also been especially cold and I determined that cold on inauguration day was like rain on a wedding day – a good sign.

As the big moment approached, Christopher realized that two kids near us (whose parents were already crying tears of joy) couldn’t see the big screen and he lifted the kids up in front of us for a better view. Part of the reason I mention this is to say kudos to Christopher. The other is to say that this was the general spirit of the day. With the exception of a few, there was no shoving for a better view. Many times, the woman next to me asked to make sure that I could still see and held me arm in arm so that neither of us would fall off the platform. Even if we couldn’t see much, the good in everyone made being there worth the while.