On the Yellow Line,8:06AM January 20. The first train we tried to board was full. This one had room.
L'Enfant Plaza station, 8:56AM. It took more that 40 minutes to shuffle from the subway train to the street.
12th Street and Independence Ave SW, 9:17AM. Denied access to the Mall via 7th street, we were shuffled up Independence Ave to 14th Street. We learned later that there was plenty of room available on the Mall at 7th street after all.
10:16AM. Our shuffling stopped on a little knoll just across 14th Street. Nice view of the Washington Monument but we couldn't see the Capitol building.
We were all so jammed together it was difficult to get my telephoto lens out of my pocket and onto the camera.
10:27AM. Nick and Juley were hanging on to each other for dear life. Happily, everyone was feeling friendly.
10:53 AM. Though no one was deliberately moving around, the crowd ebbed like a tide and a person jammed up against you one moment would suddenly disappear and be replaced by someone else.
Some people climbed trees but couldn't see any better than they did on the ground and soon came down.
Our view of the Capitol. The Inauguration is about to start.
This one's a movie. Click the play button. Chief Justice Roberts flubbed his lines and later administered the oath again at a private ceremony at the White House.
12:38PM. After the Inaugural Address the shuffle began again. At first people didn't know which way to go. Our path led through a city of sani-johns.
1:08PM. Now it was easy to get into the Mall area but impossible to get out of it. We walked along three sides of fencing before getting back almost to where we started, and we were still on the wrong side of Pennsylvania Avenue.
2:43PM. The festive mood had changed. Because Pennsylvania Ave was closed for the parade the only way to get to across was to walk through the 3rd street expressway tunnel.
Nick called it a Zombie Apocalypse.
3:12PM. Safely through to the other side; Nick had taken good care of his mother all day.
Happy Obama Day!
Street vendor prepares for another customer, Monday, January 19.
Mother and Daughter from Illinois.
Obamamania in the Smithsonian gift shop.
Thomas Jefferson was one of three U.S. presidents to speak at the history museum. Mssrs. Lincoln and Washington also flew in from the great White House in the Sky.
Making pictures for their Facebook pages.
Looking good in the city.
Obama Boom Boxes - the big audio speakers suspended on towers - ready for the big speech on the 20th
Its budget for fences depleted, the White House surrounded itself with Sani-Johns.
Jumbotrons travel on semis and deploy like field artillery.
Secret service protection took all forms. Some officers wore ingenious disguises.
Corner of 14th and Constitution Ave crowded with hawkers and buyers of Obama bling.
Vendor lost an eye sticking the buttons on his hat....
Happy hawker
Got any McCain buttons?
