10 am (after a night of Inauguration partying) and head down to the National Mall to join the millions of people who had traveled near and far to witness the historic swearing in ceremony and parade. We felt we couldn't take for granted the ocassion and if so many people could travel half way across the world to be there, we really needed to be in the moment.... 
Unfortunately, by the time we got on the train (got great seats because the masses who rose early to get on the Mall had already passed) and walked to the Mall, the police had decided to barricade access to the mall. So we, and thousands of others were stranded and forced to strain our ears to listen. There were no speakers or Jumbotrons for us on the periphery...
Fortunately for us, we were standing next to a smart woman who decided to walk with her own portable television. She was a Godsend and the folks in our little section of the crowd all huddled around her. 
check out the "real" jumbotron situated along the mall for those who woke at the crack of down to make the trek down to the mall and get a good space
by the time we were able to get to this area, way after the swearing in and when the Obamas and crew were off to a lunch...
and it looks like this was the fence separating the "ticket" holders from the masses....
we bumped into many enterprising "entrepreneurs" selling all things Obama, buttons, t-shirts, and look Mr. Obama himself was selling coloring books and bookmarks...(ha)
another popular "hustle" was these folks selling a photoshopped and blown up poster of Martin Luther King Jr. shaking Obama's hand with some quote about "I walked so he could run" or something like that...
the scene to get back on the train to go home was utter chaos...lots of huddled folks in that cold, but we managed to orderly get down to the train, onto our platform and safely back home! Overall, a good trip and we were glad we got the opportunity to be a part of history and vibe with the millions of celebrants
1 comment:
Close enough! Your kids will never forget. I brought my daughter home for lunch to watch it live on television, but missed it by an hour because I am still living on the east coast in my head...
Duh.
SK
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