I know this is old news by now, but I figured, better late than never!
So we had our location and now it was time for the loooong wait in the cooooold weather. We had read online that they were not allowing blankets into Inauguration, but we realized once we were there, they only meant in the ticketed areas. The general public didn’t even have to go through security. So, blanket-less everyone in our group tries to make themselves comfortable on the hard and very cold ground. I attempted to lay down the newspaper I had grabbed at the Metro Station to avoid laying in the dirt/straw that was covering the floor. After lying down for maybe five minutes and feeling the cold from the ground seep through my layers of clothing and staring, wide awake up at the dark night sky, I decided I was better off standing. So I stand, jump around, stare at the crowd, and watch the sun come up to keep my mind off how cold it is. The time between 6am-8am is really a blur, it was still dark out and we were bored but too cold to do anything but huddle together for warmth. Eventually the sun began to rise and at 9:00 they turned on the big screens and replayed the events from the day before that took place at the Lincoln Memorial.
Joel and I seemed to be the ones in our group that had the smallest bladders and we had been strategizing on when and where to take our bathroom breaks. Port-a-potties lined both sides of the Mall, but the map we had showed that there were going to be restrooms available inside the Museum, which luckily was directly to our right. Around 9:00 we decided it had been long enough since our last bathroom break but soon enough that we wouldn’t get stuck in a huge line and miss all the events starting at 10:00. We worked our way through the very thick crowd doing our best not to step on any of the people still lying on the ground. We get up to the museum entrance only to find out it won’t be open until 10:00! Not wanting to wait and risk miss seeing Obama’s entrance we settle for the port-a-potties which had only a five minute wait. On our way back we notice the souvenir booths and decide this is probably the best time to wait in line. We buy a bunch of buttons and are then on our way back through the crowd using the landmarks surrounding the Mall to find our group in the sea of bodies.
A little while later Mike and I realized our toes were getting quite cold and not having planned this adventure in advance, we hadn’t bought the toe warmer packs. So back through the crowd we wiggled to the souvenir booths in search of warmth. We see the long line to the souvenir booth that is selling the hand and feet warmers and decide we have nothing better to do and the warmth will be worth the wait. We took turns standing in line while the other person walked around to check out the different booths and crowds. They had set up ‘warming stations’ which were essentially a giant generator-looking thing with a 3-sided tarp around it that people huddled in to get warm. The swarm of cold bodies struggling to get close to the heat made me laugh and I decided walking around was accomplishing the same task just as easily. The booth is sold out of toe warmers so we settle with the hand warmers and quickly put them in the inner-layer of our socks. And once again, I begin the journey back through the sea of people to our spot.
It was finally nearing the start to the ceremony. The arrivals began, the large screens were now broadcasting what was happening just a few hundred feet in front of us, and it couldn’t have started soon enough. Personally, I was a bit bored during all the announcements and arrivals … senators…important political people … celebrities … I just wanted them to hurry up and announce Obama! After what felt like forever, the important people of the day arrived! The sound of the crowd cheering, everyone waving their American flags, and the collective positive spirit that filled the air is something I will never forget and cannot be justified in words.
You have all seen the inauguration ceremony, or at least portions of it on television. It feels so surreal to think back to those moments. We were all so tired and so cold but we were all there because we believed in the change that we were witnessing. I teared up several times during Obama’s speech. I found it immensely powerful to look around at the older generation of African Americans standing beside me and wonder what their life experiences have been and what this moment meant to them. Never will I forget the sense of pride I had in my country at that moment.
The ceremony was ending, Obama was president (oath slip-up and all) and it was time for us to begin our journey home. A water main had broken that morning and shut down a few of the key streets open for inauguration attendees to exit the Mall. Deciding we were better off completely avoiding the parade route, we made our exit up and around the capital building. I have attached a map to this blog tracking our movements for the day. After literally being carried along by the crowd the five us manage to make it out to the street in one piece and begin another long walk back to the Metro. The entrance to the Metro is swamped by a large un-moving crowd. We realize the police are only letting certain amounts of people into the station at a time in order to prevent overcrowding on the subway platforms. Eventually it is our turn and we push our way onto the crowded subway car and head back to Bethesda where the car is parked. In Bethesda we revive our bodies with some Chipotle followed by coffee and are on the road back to NYC. We arrive back on our street at 8:30pm that night, exactly 24 hours since we left the day before. Were we tired? Absolutely. Were we stiff from standing in the cold? You bet? Were we happy to be home? Of course. Would we do it all over again? Without a doubt!
INAUGURATION MAP
Blue Line = walking route we took into inauguration
Pink Line = walking route we took out of inauguration
