Wednesday, February 4, 2009
January 20: Getting Out
After the Inauguration swearing in ceremonies ended, we were part of the mass exodus from the mall. At times, we could move freely and a portion of the street that we were on wasn't so crowded. Here, I bought a button.
At other times, there was just a crush of people again and it was difficult to move anywhere or to know where to go. Our plan was to walk south, around the west end of the mall, and then north to hook up with the Metro's red line. We figured that if we went to Union Station straight away, we'd be stuck in line for who knows how long. After standing perfectly still for so long, we chose to walk. Along the way, somewhere between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, we found a food vendor. We both ate Italian Sausages, which tasted fabulous since it was our first real meal of the day! After walking about another hour, we finally caught the Metro near the National Zoo. We had walked a long ways. We were exhausted, but there were no lines and our train was not even crowded. I slept for most of the train ride!
At other times, there was just a crush of people again and it was difficult to move anywhere or to know where to go. Our plan was to walk south, around the west end of the mall, and then north to hook up with the Metro's red line. We figured that if we went to Union Station straight away, we'd be stuck in line for who knows how long. After standing perfectly still for so long, we chose to walk. Along the way, somewhere between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, we found a food vendor. We both ate Italian Sausages, which tasted fabulous since it was our first real meal of the day! After walking about another hour, we finally caught the Metro near the National Zoo. We had walked a long ways. We were exhausted, but there were no lines and our train was not even crowded. I slept for most of the train ride!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
January 20: Inauguration
OK, so this post will be a little anticlimactic. Once we had our spot in the crowd, we basically didn't move more than 6" in any direction for nearly 3 hours. And we were crammed in, literally shoulder to shoulder and front to back. It turns out that that is actually pretty physically demanding to do. If you watched the inauguration at home, you obviously got a much better view of the real action on TV than we did. But, it was amazing to be there in person. What stands out most is the general feeling of good will. People were so happy. And that was a lot of people!! What is more, is that it was very remarkable to see so many people standing respectfully at attention. That was as powerful a statement as anything I've ever seen.
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