We woke up at 3am thinking that perhaps there was a chance that we’d find the Shady Grove train station so empty, that we’d realize we were being a little overzealous and go back to sleep for a bit in the car.  We filled our travel mugs with coffee (I needed to satisfy the caffeine beast within me despite my vow to drink no liquids at all that day), packed some snacks and set out for the station.  As we near the exit, suddenly there is a sea of red brake lights and we’re literally in a standstill, bumper-to-bumper traffic jam at 4am on a Tuesday!  We crept along fearfully trying to guess at the cause.  Was the lot already full?  Had we not been zealous enough?  If it is full, where will we go? Aaron quickly came up with a back-up plan in which we’d park on the street in a neraby neighborhood and walk back to the station, but that was dependent on us ever getting out of this traffic!  People were even letting passengers out of the car right there on the exit ramp to walk to the station. Having nothing better to do, as I was tired of guessing why we were stuck, I took some pictures… don’t we look awake??

Well, as it turned out, the lot was not full, and the delay was simply caused by poor planning (‘typical DC’ as Aaron says)  Every car had to pay the $4 day parking rate as they entered, and it was one car at a time.  We quickly parked and made our way into the station.  For those unfamiliar with the DC Metro map, my friends Aaron and Michele live in an outlying neighborhood close to the north west end of the Red line.  Needless to say, the station was already alive and humming.  The first thing we saw was vendors selling Obama hats, scarves and toe and hand warmers  in little plastic packages (Whats that? I wonder… well, I will soon find out).  We enter the station and the air was already electric!  The station was quite crowded and alive—people seemed excited.  We got on a train—here’s some more pics—and got on our way.  Sitting down reminded me that it was 4 something in the morning, but we were still pretty excited. 

The next milestone was changing trains at Metro Center.  As a major hub where several lines intersect, it would be an understatement to say that this station was crowded.  Here are some pics that Aaron took.. his are better as he’s much taller and actually was able to get a better view of the crowds!  Despite this crowded situation, I found the whole thing fun and exciting.  Everyone there for exactly the same reason, everyone happy.  As a New Yorker, I know something about crowds, and THIS particular crowd, by virtue of not only a common purpose and destination, but sharing a common happiness, was not at all an unpleasant crowd to be in.  When everyone is going in the same direction and is understanding about being squished into everyone else, there is surprisingly little crowd-angst.

Needless to say, this was good.  Particularly considering, I’d be walking or standing in a crowd for the next 8 hours at least!

We met a man on the train who was actually commuting to work.  He figured he’d get going early to avoid the rush.  HA! 

We arrived at the L’Enfant Plaza station a little after 5am (see continuation of crowds and lines in Aaron’s photo) and made our way to the 7th street entrance to the Mall.  Vendors were selling hot food and more Obama paraphrenalia.  We kept looking for flags to wave, but the only ones available had pictures on them and we wanted just good old plain flags. Aaron had been keeping up on Inauguration Day entrances, routes etc., but despite his careful planning, DC’s lack of such struck again.  We had staked out a spot  nearest the gate at 7th street to await the 8am opening of the Mall.  But as we watched these crowds get bigger and bigger, filling up the street behind us and threatening to go all the way back to and perhaps down IN to the Metro, Aaron commented that there would be no way they could hold off opening until 8.  The backlog would become crippling.  Clearly they felt this way too and word got out that they would in fact open around 7.  Aaron is 6’3”  and he would report back to Troy and I the things he was seeing.  Soon, everyone around us was enjoying Aaron’s 6’3” advantage. 

This period of waiting was when I first started to realize that I had not adequately protected my toes.  I wore thick socks (but only one pair) and boots—in retrospect, given how much thought I put into keeping the rest of me warm, it seems a little silly.  As it gets closer to 7, Aaron has noticed that police officers and cars were lining the 7th street Mall crossing and people were starting to wonder whether it would be an entrance.  Of course, it turned out that they decided to keep it shut the whole day and the way we heard this news was through the crowd and some red hatted volunteers who had just arrived and didn’t quite know what they were doing.  We then had to walk down to 12th street to enter the Mall.  The brisk walk brought the blood and warmth back to my toes, so I didn’t really mind.  By the time we got down there, walking with the crowd and amongst the many buses which had brought people from up and down the eastern seaboard lining Independence Ave, the Mall had opened.

We walked on to the Mall just before the sun rose and I’m not sure I can express how moving it was to look forward and see the Capitol building lit up and covered in red, white and blue bunting.  Again, the atmosphere was electric and there was a sense of community and excitement. As we passed people, it felt like we were part of a club, that we were here together on purpose.  Despite having been here plenty of times before, it felt like the first real time.  We walked as far forward as we could, parked to the right and behind the 3rd of I don’t know how many large screens lining the length of the Mall.  We were delighted to find that volunteers were scattered around handing out flags on long sticks for free!  A plain flag, at last!  We parked ourselves behind a group of people with kids who had traveled on a bus from Atlanta.  They brought camping chairs and the kids were already asleep in them.  Some teens had even just sprawled on the ground, leaning against each other, fast asleep.  It soon became apparent that this spot was both a blessing and a curse.  The blessing came from the fact that we were near children and could use that as an excuse to stop people from trying to shove us out of the way (although ‘shove’ suggests anger or malice when there really was none..ok, well, there wasn’t MUCH anyway) but the curse was that those very sleeping children caused people to think we were standing behind a wide open space, so people made their way towards us often.

We were now settled in our spot and the sky was getting brighter.  It was time to look around us.  Also settling around the camp of sleeping kids was a great couple from Wisconsin (above).  Another pair previously from Florida, but living in DC for the past couple of years (to the right), behind me, a guy from Brooklyn (below right, with me), and his cousin from Newark, NJ  below (we bowed our heads in sympathy  lol ) (her pic is below ours)  who drove all night to get there that morning, and afterwards were going to drive right back up!  These people were all great and fun.  We enjoyed each others company, told jokes, jumped up and down to keep warm and banded together to keep our claimed territory intact.  It was really incredible how dense the crowd got after a while.  Usually, in crowd situations, concerts, museums, sporting events etc, there is a fluidity to the crowd—people are always moving and bumping into each other.  Not so here, everyone was mainly still and packing in.  So when people moved through, as they continued to do throughout the morning and up until the ceremony started, the ripples would go back several people… everyone moving usually had to move someone else in turn!  I’m sure you’re thinking that this sounds very unpleasant, but honestly, I did not find it so.  As I said, the crowds I’ve usually found myself in during my life, usually are filled with people at cross purposes.  Besides people trying to get through to I-don’t-know-where, everyone was of like mind.  All moving or standing in the same direction, and most importantly, most everyone realized that we all knew what we were getting into by showing up that day, so no one felt the need to get angry at being jostled. It came with the territory. I will say though, that I’m definitely grateful for that crowd because it produced the penguin effect—all those people kept me warmer than I would have been otherwise!  By the way, I’m not even sure it’s 8am yet!!

Fortunately, before we could worry about running out of things to chat with our neighbors about, the screens came to life and they played the Sunday broadcast concert at the Lincoln Memorial in its entirety.  Maybe it was 9 something at this time?  It was really great to have the music.  We then all sang together, jumped up and down, not only for the warmth, but for fun! Above, see Tom Hanks on the screen (from Sunday) Pete Seeger to the right.

Speaking of warmth, now would be the time to revisit the matter of my toes.  I had been stomping and wiggling and squeezing them---not so much jumping as I am still not completely healed from the Boxing Day sprained ankles incident—but despite this, I was beginning to worry.  I considered that frostbite might actually be a factor and that was not good.  Aaron had brought these reusable hand warmers that were thick and round and certainly would not fit into my boots.  Fortunately, I uttered my worries out loud!  Our nice friends from Wisconsin brought a bag filled with useful goodies, including thin, stick on toe warmers called Toasty Toes!!!  Here’s a picture of a very happy me with my boot and the package of Toasty Toes.  So THAT’S what those things they were selling were!  Well, Toasty Toe people wherever you are, THANK YOU for saving my toes.  .  I have subsequently learned that had I ever been skiing or tried to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade on cold years, I would have been acquainted with this product.  My toes were now warm (even toasty) and my day was now perfect.  I was very well layered and warm everywhere else (as you can see—I look like the Michelin Man or something) 

The concert continued and I have some fun short video clips of U2’s performance as well as everyone around us singing along to This Land Is Your Land.  I never thought I’d see that!!!

Perhaps it was around 11 when that concert ended and things were definitely happening up at the Capitol building.  The screens started broadcasting the view of the dais and the seats and dignitaries filing in.  People were crowding in even closer now, if you can believe it!  Anyone sitting was starting to get up, people leaning stood straighter, and anyone slouching stretched up straight.

Oh crap.

Do you all realize how short I am??!!  Well, thank goodness for the great sound system, because I did not see much of anything at all!  I caught glimpses of sections of the screen as people shifted their weight from one foot to the other, or leaned over to talk to someone.  But, it didn’t really diminish anything for me.  People shouted and clapped as their favorites entered.  I’m sure you’ve all seen on the news how everyone booed when Bush and Cheney entered, and then sang that Na Na na na song.  Some of you have heard me talk about this already, but I’ll mention here that I wasn’t really in to that.  For sure, I am thrilled to see those guys leave, but I still feel like the Office should be respected and wished that the good feeling wasn’t marred by that.  But hey, it was a passionate crowd.  As Troy pointed out, we should clap at their departure, and in fact thank that administration for making this day possible!

These two photos above are not mine, obviously.  I got them off the internet to give you a little perspective--  in the pic of the Mall on the left, I BELIEVE that road cutting across is 7th street, so I'm fairly certain that where we were is near the bottom of this picture.    On the right, is a photograph from that day showing the incredible crowd!  count 3 back of the giant jumbotron screens on the right side of the picture and thats where we were!

Now we were seeing on the screen, Michelle Obama walking towards the stage and everyone went nuts!  Flags were waving all over the place!  See some pics here…

Seeing Malia and Sasha accompanied by their grandmother got a similar crowd reaction.  Our First Family!   What was most intriguing to me was that as I watched them, Michelle in particular, I found myself imagining what it must be like to be her walking down those stairs toward the front steps.  Thinking about her husband being PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.  Thinking that perhaps 5 or so years ago, she might not even have CONCEIVED of such an outcome.  (Notice how I refer to her as Michelle, as though she’s an old friend? I’m certainly having empathetic thoughts as I would for a friend)

I probably don’t have to tell you what the crowd was like when Barack Hussein Obama walked out there himself.  It was just an explosion of energy and emotion from everyone.  People had been expressing their impatience at the ceremonial entrances thus far.  I also found myself wondering what it must be like to be him…to walk out himself, to find himself standing at that podium with his hand on the Lincoln Bible, taking an oath to fulfill the duties of the highest office in the land.  Wow.    I wonder if it’s his age—the fact that he’s the closest to my generation of any president before, which causes me to identify with his experience—to imagine what he’s going through as if he were someone close to me.

At this point, everything  I saw (or rather, heard) is the same that you all did on TV.  One experience that I found interesting was that during Rick Warren’s irritatingly benign and inclusive invocation (I hate it when jerks do a decent job and make it difficult for you to find fault with them) many people around me put their hands in the air, like you see on infomercials for Christian Rock Anthem compilation CD’s.  And they would repeat the word “Jesus” when he would say it and murmur in accord. “mmmHMMM”  “Yes, Jesus”  etc etc.  It was like a small moment of intimacy in that very large, very crowded outdoor space.

The crowd was quite silent during Obama’s speech, but shouted out and applauded at those key moments.  Flags would raise and wave until it died down.  Amusingly, there was always one person who kept their flag raised only to be yelled at by people behind—“Hey!  Put down your flag!  We can’t see!!” 

Not surprisingly, after his speech, everyone started to file out.  We sort of had no choice there.  But I was glad for the slow shuffling as I held on to the back of Aaron’s jack and Troy to the back of mine, as it afforded me the ability to listen to Elizabeth Alexanders beautiful poem.  I heard the sounds and saw the images she spoke.  The crowd is mildly less amusing this time around, but still not terrible.  We kept trying to avoid the main push, but we couldn’t.  A large and wide crowd had to fit through a narrow opening on to Independence Ave. So, things were dicey for a while.

I have to say, by this time, I was pretty excited that I’d made it through 8 hours of standing on or around the Mall without having to use a PortaPotty at all!  But now, we all needed to find a restroom.  After MUCH milling about, trying this and that, here and there, being directed to some or another place, we FINALLY (perhaps after an hour or more) made it to the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel.  The lobby was quite crowded and we weren’t sure where the restrooms were, but a gold plaque on the wall caught my eye—Health Club-11th Floor.  Woo Hoo!  I pointed and we made a beeline for the elevators.  I’m pleased to report that no one else thought of this, and we got very few looks as we strode into the health club like we belonged there.  (This wouldn’t be a story of mine if I didn’t have a section involving bathrooms)

Next came the trek home…  the station we arrived at was out of the question—the crowds were overflowing from the entrance, looking like a reverse ant colony.  We didn’t want to have to take two trains again and fight crowds at two stations so Aaron planned for us to walk over to the complete other side of the mall to either Union Station or New York Ave station.  We walked through the freeway tunnel (which was closed to cars for the day) at 3rd street  feeling like hobos or refugees.  It was then that the fact that I’d not eaten much or drank any water started to catch up with me.  Hours had gone by at this point, it must have been 3.  We decided (at my weary insistence) that it would have to be Union Station, crowds or not.  I didn’t have it in me to walk to the next station further!  Fortunately, as the parade was in full swing, we found union station completely clear and got right on a train.  Returning to Shady Grove station, we went straight to a restaurant and ordered burgers!  Believe it or not, it was 4:30 by this time!!  We had been up and walking and standing for 13 hours!!  I then got on the road to drive back to Brooklyn at 7:15, getting home at 11:30pm.  I’ve rarely been as tired.  But, that day was one of the greatest and most meaningful days I’ve had.  I would not trade that experience for anything.  If you’ve made it all the way through this, wow! I’m impressed! And I’m sorry it’s so long, but I don’t want to forget this day and hope to keep this piece around to look back on for a long time.