In less than 24 hours we will have a new president. It is an amazing thought. Those countdowns untill Bush’s last day are entering the home stretch.
The ceremony will take place on what is called the National Mall. It is a beautiful green between the capitol and the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument in between. Tomorrow it will be wall to wall with people. There are millions expected.
As we walked down the Mall closer to the capitol it set in that I was actually there to witness this historic moment. I had to stop and take it all in. People from all over the world were coming in to see this ceremony. Sunday’s concert played on the jumbotrons, as some people watched it for the first time.
I am fortunate enough to have attended an Inauguration before and to have been to DC numerous times and today there were so many people.For many this was their first trip to the Nations Capitol and that people did whatever possible to get there. Standing about 100 yards from the west side of the Capitol people stopped and took their photos in front of it to prove there were there. I certainly did. It was beautifully wrapped in red, white, and blue and a choir rehearsed and the words “I can’t believe I am here” came from peoples mouths. This was a Kodak moment. We took pictures of families, and families took photos of us. Everyone was chatting with each other, stopping to let people have a clear view. Everyone was there too celebrate. It was probably the nicest most polite group of thousands there ever was.
People are incredible. People traveled from all over the world. They drove, flew, took trains, and rode bikes. People from Virginia walked over bridges, and granted its not that far, it didn’t matter to them. They were going to make the trip. They wanted to be there.
While in Starbucks thawing out, I met Tariq Zehawi who is a photographer for a paper in New Jersey. His photos were amazing and much better than my photos of the jumbotron so check them out…. http://www.northjersey.com/politics/
Well if the concert wasn’t enough celebrity for the day, we saw the presidential motorcade. The question was Bush or Obama. We will never know. But either way it was not a subtle way to get around the city with out being noticed, they had all the bells and whistles going.
Then we were in Georgetown at Paparazzi eating dinner, and the secret service walked in. My cousin immediately thought the Obama’s were going to walk in, but we didn’t see anyone. Just the secret service, I guess they have to eat too. But then Nancy Pelosi walked in, not a hair out of place and dressed to perfection. People are paying hundreds of dollars to be at events with her this weekend and there she was sitting a couple tables away with her entire family enjoying the evening.
It was an all star cast today on the Lincoln Memorial. We bundled up and headed out early to spend the day with over quarter of a million of our closest friends to witness probably the best combination of politics and music combined.
I may have thought I was early for the concert but 20 people away from the security check point we were told they were at capacity and no one was being allowed in. One would think that after standing in line for half an hour the line that zigzagged for blogs would get unruly but people just found other solutions, and did nothing but thank the volunteers who kept order on the streets. We stood on the perimeter but the ticketed guests entrance. I could hear it, see the memorial, and see most of the jumbotron as long as the wind kept the tree blowing to the west. We have had the best location unless you were among the ticketed guests. My cousin who arrived at 8am to be front row was disappointed to find that a section was blocked off for ticket holders, so she too watched it on the screen and stood in the cold for eight hours.
Adrenaline
One would think at 32* for 4 hours, it would be freezing, but adrenaline kept everyone warm and in great spirits. There was a wonderful sense of awe in the air that this was a new beginning. People young and old, were listening, watching, and anticipating Tuesday. People couldn’t believe they were there. Read the rest of this entry »
People love political buttons! They flaunt them all over various articles of clothing. People often don’t enjoying showing their age, but their political buttons often give away the answer. For example, my political buttons begin with Clinton. I will admit, I am a political button collector, so I had to go on a hunt for my Barack Obama buttons! Everywhere you walk, you can buy buttons, street corners, sidewalks, stores, CVS, I chose to get mine at Union Station. The “I was there one” was worth all $2.99. There are also “official” buttons but those can only be bought through the DNC. I’ll make a stop there before I go home, but you can buy them online too and pretend as if you were there too! Theme Party! Obama greeted me in the hall way! Well it wasn’t the real Obama, it was a cardboard cut out of the Obama pointing toward the party. For a moment, I didn’t know if I was at a Hawaiian or 4th of July Party. Red, white, and blue leis were being passed out as people walked around in those plastic flag hats. I later found out that the leis were because Obama has roots in Hawaii, so obviously there had to be leis, and patriotic ones, what could be more perfect. Inside, the crowd of mostly journalist from NPR chatted about the President Elect, and their plans for this 4 day party in DC all well munching on Obama cookies. Yes, Obama’s face was even on the cookies!
Only 4 days 1 hour 27 minutes and 422.16 miles separate me from the inauguration of our 44th president. 
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