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.
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.
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.
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