Saturday, January 24, 2009

Day 4 - INAUGURATION DAY (January 20, 2009)








Fast Facts About Inauguration Day:

  • 240,000 swearing-in tickets available
  • 10,000 buses going into D.C.

  • 5,000 inauguration parade tickets available - sold out in less than a minute

  • parade included: 7,500 active military members, 4,000 people from the National Guard, 225 surviving World War

  • 8,000 police officers
  • 10 inaugural balls
  • 2 million visitors to D.C. attended the inauguration

My inauguration day began with a 4am wake up. I walked down to the Hilton to meet a friend, Laura, and we began to head downtown. All the streets were closed to all traffic except pedestrian traffic and the metro was jam packed with people. We decided to walk from our hotels to capital hill - 4. 5 mile walk.

During our walk we stopped for a much needed Starbucks break and bought some "little hotties" (which are little hand warmers that generate heat for up to 8 hours that you can put in your gloves/shoes) to help us brave the cold.

As we got closer to Capitol Hill the crowds continued to thicken, at one point you couldn't even see the ground below your feet. The streets were lined with vendors selling anything and everything that you could possibly imagine with Obama's face or name on it.

Although it was cold and dark, the streets were filled with excitement and enthusiasm.We arrived at the National Mall - where all of the Smithsonian Museums are, in addition to the Washington Monument and Capital hill at around 7am. We wandered through the crowds for a couple hours, scouting out the best possible spot and viewpoint of Capitol Hill.

The University Presidential Inaugural Conference (UPIC) had reserved two Smithsonian museums where scholars could go to view the swearing in or just for some hot chocolate and to warm up. Laura and I decide to head to the National Museum of the American Indian at around 8:30am. We had some hot chocolate, took a bathroom break and watched the countdown to the swearing-in for about an hour and a half.

At 10:30am we headed back outside to our special spot that we had scouted out. We managed to get as close as you could without having priority tickets and stood on 3rd Street SW and Smithsonian. We were about 3/4 of a mile from the steps of Capitol Hill.

As the time wound down more and more excitement and energy filled the air. People who had camped out on the sidewalks or were sleeping on the streets, awoke with giant smiles on their faces. People began to climb trucks, fences, street signs, traffic lights and trees all to get a better view of Capitol Hill. The National Mall was lined with jumbotrons and speakers so that we could all see the ceremony.

I personally climbed a giant truck which was occupied by many others to get a better view of Capitol Hill. Everyone was cold and hungry but as it became closer and closer to 11:30am all those worries seemed to dissipate. As helicopters flew over Capitol Hill and Obama's appeared on the steps 2 million people chanted in unison "Yes We Can!"

When the canons began to fire to mark the swearing in of the new president, the entire crowd shouted "Obama." As Obama began his speech, people were in tears and silence blanketed the crowd. All 2 million people, young and old, stood in awe as he spoke.

We had been up since 4 in morning all for these grand 30 minutes as Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States. Every single moment in the cold, the craziness and insanity was all worth it. Our legs were tired and stomachs hungry, but those 30 minutes were more fulfilling and exciting than Laura and I could have every imagined.

We had never seen so many people come together peacefully and in unity. Each and every person standing shoulder to shoulder with hope, inspiration and happiness. Being Canadians, we felt as though Barack Obama had instilled an new found hope in the people of his country and it was evident from the smiles, the tears, the laughter and the chanting.

After the swearing in ceremony we decided to head to the Hard Rock Cafe (one of the many places reserved for our conference to watch the parade). However, we never made it to the Hard Rock Cafe and ended up walking 4 hours to get back to our hotel. All of the roads were closed to ALL traffic. Secret Service had closed them so that Obama and Biden could make it to the White House. This meant we were stuck in a standstill amongst 2 million other people.

The only way to get out of this mess was to go south and then west and come back up north to our hotel. Even the highways were closed and there were a flock of people migrating south on them. The army and police advised us to take the highway and go south and then come back up north from a different entrance to D.C. in order to avoid the National Mall. In doing so we ending up walking to Arlington, Virginia and back. Getting back to the hotel was not an easy task and at times it was frustrating and tiring. However, after 5 hours of walking and over 20 miles that day we made it back to our hotel. We had quite an adventure and loved every moment of it. At the time we were frustrated with the army and police and their lack of knowledge when it came to road closures but looking back, Laura and I loved it. We had fun bonding and meeting new and unique people and I don't think we will ever get to walk in the middle of a giant freeway again.

That evening we got dressed and headed to a private inaugural ball that the National Air and Space Museum. It was a lot of fun and dinner was great. We were able to navigate through the entire museum at our own leisure and they had a live band. Every single scholar was exhausted but we all found the energy to enjoying Inauguration Night. We did get a taste of the 10 official inaugural balls as many were taking place at our conference hotels.

I think it is safe to say that the night of January 20, 2009, nobody in D.C. slept. The streets were filled with people and excitement and the roads still remained closed as everyone partied the night away to celebrate this moment in US history.

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