Special thanks to RG and JR for the Golden Ticket in my Wonka Bar. It was a very magical day for the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.Preparing for cold weather operations took place at Oh-Dark-Thirty. I knew it was going to be a very long, very cold, and very challenging day in terms of logistics.
While I'd prepped LW for an early morning departure for Metro, she still hissed like a wet cat at me when I gently awoke her at 0600 to drop me off. The Orange Crush (Metro Orange) did not disappoint, and I actually took the Metro the other way westbound towards Vienna in order to obtain a seat for what turned out to be a 2 hour ride in.
My Silver ticket got me very close to the Reflecting Pool about 0940, I was maybe 10 persons deep, so got some decent pics of the Capitol itself, and a few others to capture the spirit of the moment. The mobs of people were pressed very close together, but my colleague, Johnnie Walker and I, were thankfully well provisioned. Other photographs:
I strongly suspect Chief Justice Roberts verbal mishaps during the Oath were payback for Obama's down vote for him for Chief Justice. The Inaugural Address was spectacularly delivered, tears were rolling down the cheeks of those next to me. The silver-penned Peggy Noonan writes her cogent analysis, far better than I could.
Twitter/Facebook were crushed, I got one or two texts out, but that was about it (follow me on Twitter @batess). My colleague JB and I planned to link up for lunch at the Army-Navy Club at 2:30 after the ceremony, as you can see from the map, my route took quite a detour from our initial plan. Got there about 3 pm and caught the tail end of the buffet.
Initially, I was a little envious of JB, for he had a Purple ticket, which would have put him on the other side of the Reflecting Pool, much closer, but alas, he did not get in. Over drinks at ANC, JB told me the the Purple gate was overwhelmed, and they shut the gates just as the Oath of Office was administered. JB was eventually interviewed by the media, his description of the situation is the last two paragraphs of this Washington Post article.
While I'd prepped LW for an early morning departure for Metro, she still hissed like a wet cat at me when I gently awoke her at 0600 to drop me off. The Orange Crush (Metro Orange) did not disappoint, and I actually took the Metro the other way westbound towards Vienna in order to obtain a seat for what turned out to be a 2 hour ride in.
My Silver ticket got me very close to the Reflecting Pool about 0940, I was maybe 10 persons deep, so got some decent pics of the Capitol itself, and a few others to capture the spirit of the moment. The mobs of people were pressed very close together, but my colleague, Johnnie Walker and I, were thankfully well provisioned. Other photographs:
I strongly suspect Chief Justice Roberts verbal mishaps during the Oath were payback for Obama's down vote for him for Chief Justice. The Inaugural Address was spectacularly delivered, tears were rolling down the cheeks of those next to me. The silver-penned Peggy Noonan writes her cogent analysis, far better than I could.
Twitter/Facebook were crushed, I got one or two texts out, but that was about it (follow me on Twitter @batess). My colleague JB and I planned to link up for lunch at the Army-Navy Club at 2:30 after the ceremony, as you can see from the map, my route took quite a detour from our initial plan. Got there about 3 pm and caught the tail end of the buffet.
Initially, I was a little envious of JB, for he had a Purple ticket, which would have put him on the other side of the Reflecting Pool, much closer, but alas, he did not get in. Over drinks at ANC, JB told me the the Purple gate was overwhelmed, and they shut the gates just as the Oath of Office was administered. JB was eventually interviewed by the media, his description of the situation is the last two paragraphs of this Washington Post article.
"....Others just stood sadly. As cannons fired to announce the new president, a middle-aged African American man stood outside the closing gates and began to weep silently. Nearby, an African American woman in a wheelchair drew a blanket tighter around her shoulders and closed her eyes. The moment of a lifetime had passed."
Update 1: The Washington Post has additional updates on the travel and ticket troubles.
Update 2: JB's open letter to Senator Feinstein.
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1 comments:
cool post- what a treat to be there!
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