So apparantly I had a pretty decent inaugural experience

[TZ]

compared to what many have been talking about.

I was very lucky and got to spend Monday night on Capitol Hill with a relative. That allowed me to get up fairly early and walk down to the Mall..I left my relatives place about 7am. It took me about an hour to get to the mall. One of the bad things there were the directions were a little fuzzy about where to go for the mall--public seating. I ended up in a huge crowd of people walking down a street that dead ended into a ticket holder only gate..so I had to turn around and go out agaisnt the flow of people. NOT an easy task, let me tell you. Finally I got to the Mall around 8am and found a spot not too far from a jumbotron.

It was cooold! And dirty too..the mall is just dirt right now, at least where I was. I sat and waited for several hours. Oh I took a few pictures before my batteries died on me (D'oh!)
Posted here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8433540

It got much more crowded than what you see in these pics..By the time the ceremony started I no longer had room to sit down really. Unfortunately since I'm pretty short, I could barely see anything on the jumbotron. But the sound system was very good and I heard all the ceremony and speeches perfectly.

I enjoyed being part of the crowd that started singing "Na na na na..hey hey hey goodbye"...
Interesting enough the first time W was mentioned he was met with dead SILENCE by the crowd..the second time with Cheney there was quite a bit of booing.

One of the amazing things about the day was watching the joyous celebration in the crowd right after the swearing in. These three tall guys right in front of me started jumping up and down and hugging each other. There were tears as well. It was a very powerful experience.

Getting home was a chore. I had to walk a lonng way to find a Metro station that wasn't jammed (Eastern Market) and I got caught in some really tight crowded spots of people where you were literally pressed up agaisnt each other and not able to move. There was some pushing and shoving but not nearly as bad as it could have been. Even in some of these tense situations people seemed very patient and understanding. Without a doubt this was the BEST behaved large crowd I have ever been around. People were sooo HAPPY!
I got to talk to people from all over. One lady really stuck out. She was from Texas. He husband was in the Oil Business. She LOVES Obama and even her oil business in laws were apparantly looking forward to Bush leaving and Obama becoming President and she told me they vowed to never vote republican again! That was very interesting to me, to hear how Bush has alientated even those who used to be his base supporters...
Overall, it was a good day and I was glad to be there..I'm tired and sore but very happy I got to be part of something so historic.
:)

[lizerdbits]

1. It must be something with scientists

Some of us were singing the same song while watching in our lobby. Weird.....

[TZ]

3. Oh also

I saw Chimpy fly over in his helicopter when he was leaving. I was soooo tempted to give him the one finger salute but I settled for a muttered "good riddance".:)

[Tuesday_Morning]

2. Thanks for telling about your day...

Even here down in south Florida everybody seemed dazed and happy yesterday.

[auntAgonist]

4. Hey, I'm SO glad that you were able to go.

You made the right decision and you'll forever be happy you did. I'm envious! Great photos too. Thank you for posting them.

Have a restful day, you deserve it.

:) :hug: :)

aA
kesha