First, I would like to say that traffic nor the crowds were not that bad. I think this was due to the fact that many visitors came on tour buses and stayed outside the city. So, it was like the buses dropped them off for events and then picked them back up immediately, which in my opinion was a bummer for them because they really didn’t have much time to really see the city and the sites. And that’s a shame because pretty much all of D.C.’s attractions are free.
As far as festivities there were too many to really wrap your head around. Not only were there no less than 10 official inaugural balls but there had to be more than 2 dozen unofficial ones going on around the city.
My partying began when we went down to the National Mall for the free concert “We Are One” featuring such acts as Mary J. Blidge, Jon Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, Will.i.am, Usher, Herbie Hancock, and U2(my favorite band of all time). Can I just say that the concert was fabulous! The only drawback? Several artists sang one selection even though it seemed like Stevie Wonder, Barak Obama and myself included wanted his set to go on and on. But since the show was sponsored by HBO it seemed like the schedule was tight and there was no room for improvisation.
On Monday, there were more parties even one hosted by Jaimie Foxx at club Ibizia, which started at 5p.m.? We ended up going to a Metropolitan (Chicago) Steppers sponsored party where the cover charge included a full course dinner. Even though I had a great time, I called it an early night at around 10p.m. because of the Inauguration the next morning. Thank goodness I did because my brother and I got up at 3:30 a.m. Even though we got on the Metro around 5a.m. without any incident, it was already fairly full with other inaugural visitors…the Mall was even worse!
Even though it wasn’t even 6a.m. yet and no sunrise to speak of, there were already thousands of people waiting in line to get into the mall (the city wasn’t letting anyone in until 7a.m.) Surprisingly enough, even though people were getting antsy and perturbed at Inauguration officials for giving out the wrong information, no one rioted or knocked down barricades, which would have been a disaster if it had. In fact, the whole vibe was like some feel good fest. Everyone was so happy for this day that no one had time to argue or act ugly to one another. Maybe that’s why according to the CIA and the Secret Service there were no arrests the entire time.
After waiting an hour and a half to get in, we finally found a place to hunker in near 7th Street. and hunker in we did for what seemed like forevvvveeerrrr. Five hours to be exact. And in 30 degree weather no less with nothing but a couple sightings of celebrities (Samuel L. Jackson in a purple skully was classic) and popular news anchors to keep us warm.
Then finally…prime time arrived. It was pretty cool to notice that I wasn’t the only political junkie because when many popular political heads came out to be seated for the ceremony the crowds cheered, for those like Former President Bush they booed (which in my opinion seemed rather immaturish), and of course, when Obama came on we all went bonkers.
After the ceremony, everyone rushed to the Metro which practically clogged it. It took me 20 minutes to get on a train due to two long lines outside the Capitol South stop and a total of an hour to get home.
All in all, I’m glad I didn’t back out from going, which I almost did because I didn’t want to be bothered with all the people. But truth be told, the people are what made the event even more enjoyable because we all there for one common pupose to witness HIStory.
2 comments
Not yet, I forgot my camera so the people I went with are going to forward them to me.
I always think the crowds and the excitement of people around you make the event the experience it should be.
It sounds like you had a wonderful time. And belive me, the 30 degree weather sounds like heaven. We're back to sub-zero temps.
Do you have photos to share?
Bekki