We awoke at 5am on Inauguration morning to the news that parking lots at Metro stations were already filled and closing. Drama ensued. We dressed and bundled as fast as we could, with no time for breakfast or coffee, and ran out the door. The highway was crowded leading up to the train station. There was a sign that the parking lot at our train station had been filled, but we didn't believe it so we kept going. We were all nervous the train station was going to be filled. We listened to the radio, and they were announcing train stations closing but never mentioned ours. Eventually, they said that there were still hundreds of spots left at our station but that lines were long and we would have to be patient and have our $4 to pay for parking ready right when we pulled up (yes, they said this all on the radio). While we were waiting, I put in my heated insoles for my feet. They are like those hand warmers, but they fit perfectly into your shoes. Considering how cold my toes always are, I needed them. And they made me feet all nice and toasty! I might start wearing them every cold day. We eventually made it into a parking garage and did not have to pay. We were all relieved because we now knew we would be able to make it into DC.
We walked towards the train and were able to immediately get on one. Fortunately, we were the last stop on the line, so the train was empty when we boarded. This, however, was unfortunate for everyone else at all the other stops. Our train was basically filled at our stop. A couple people got on at the next two stops, but after that it was full- not Chicago or New York full, but full enough for a train of people that probably never take trains. This resulted in a lot of angry people at the 10 or so other stops we made before we got into DC. People yelled and screamed that there was more room and to let them on, but it didn't happen. One woman tried to force her way onto the train. This resulted in a man yelling something akin to, "I'll cut you, bitch!" and then pushing her off. Great times.
The train moved extremely slow. There were probably about 10 minutes between each stop. The woman standing in between me and Cara was from Chicago and wrote for Crane's restaurant section, so Cara was able to give the woman her whole career history. There was a man with a shaved bumpy head and his wife from San Diego standing in front of me. There were also some women from North Carolina and a man from New York already dressed in his tux for a ball later that night.
We eventually made it to our stop at L'Enfant Plaza, and we were greeted by thousands of people. The DC public transit system charges you based upon how far you travel; therefore, you have to swipe your card to get on and then again to get out of the station. So all of these thousands of people were waiting to swipe there cards to exit the station. We maneuvered our way through all of these people and found the elevator, which had a very short line. We waited and went up the elevator, saving ourselves about 30 minutes sitting in the crowd. By this time, they had opened the gates and were no longer making you swipe out. So, we exited the station and entered the crowd of millions of people trying to get onto the National Mall.
We were herded like cattle through the streets. It felt quite weird, kind of like I was walking towards my death. But anyways, I ate a muffin while walking. Then we were herded towards the 14th St. security check point because most of the other ones were closed by that point. At this point, we were at a standstill with thousands of other people. There was a man that was or had been in the seminary and was afraid of Chicago and had been to JFK's inauguration. We stood there still for probably half an hour. Other people piled in along the other side of the thigh high barrier. Still no one was moving. The DC police had no idea what the National Guard was doing at the security checkpoint, so they were a major help. It appeared as though people were cutting around the security gate, so Sarah hopped the barrier and went to go check it out. That was the last time we saw Sarah for awhile.
Cara and I waited about 10 more minutes and it appeared that many many people were going around security. We hadn't heard from Sarah, so we decided to go ahead and check it out for ourselves. We hopped over the barrier, looked for Sarah, and looked for a spot to stand. We walked across the National Mall, closer to the Jumbotrons, and found a spot looking at the second one. We (and by we I mean Cara, I still had no phone) attempted to call and text Sarah, but because there were so many people all the networks were jammed and it was hard to get through. We eventually got a text from Sarah that she was by the back gate standing under a tree, but we didn't want to lose our spot so we didn't move.
After standing there about 15 minutes, Cara realized her passport was no longer in her back pocket where she had left it. We reasoned that it must have fallen out when we hopped the barrier, so we headed back in that direction. We got to a point where we needed to cross a street and two National Guards told us we had to do it at a crosswalk (even though it was a closed off street). We walked about 30 feet towards the crosswalk and then 2 other National Guards let us cross. This is just another fine example of the excellent communication amongst the security to which the media referred.
Anyways, we got to the front of the Department of Agriculture building and one of the Dept. of Agriculture police escorted Cara over to where we had been standing earlier. I stayed back and the other officer told me that she had been there since 2am and had to stay until 11pm. Long ass day.
Well...Cara found her passport! Crisis averted! One of the volunteers found it on the ground, held onto it, saw Cara looking for it, and gave it to her. She saved the day and the trip. After many thank yous, we headed back to our spot and attempted to get food, but the line was too long. We were then finally able to get a hold of Sarah and directed her over to our spot. We were all together, with all our ids, without my cell phone, and everything was working out perfectly.
Sarah had an adventure of her own after she left us in the line. She went back for us and we weren't there. She some how ended up having to army crawl in the bushes to get back into the area. Then, she was stopped by a line of National Guardsmen. She yelled at one of them, "How could you do this to me!" and I think made him feel bad. Then, she just ran through them and to freedom. Sarah, in effect, played red rover with the National Guard and won.
By this time, the events of the day were starting. The Senate started to process onto the stage. As others processed in, I changed my foot warmers (which were still working very nicely). Everyone cheered as many people entered, and everyone booed as George Bush entered. We anxiously awaited the arrival of Hillary, and cheered very loud when she arrived. Sarah and Cara took lots of pictures.
There were people all around and every time the cameras went on the crowd everyone waved their American flags and cheered like crazy. Everyone was quiet during the oaths and the inauguration speech. This was really nice because you got to hear everything. I especially enjoyed the first holy man to give a prayer who changed personalities in the middle of his prayer and the second one who rhymed very well. Anyways, after Obama's speech (which was also very good despite its lack of rhymes) everyone started to leave. We linked arms and started running. I was last in the link, so I was kind of like a little kid being dragged along. I was also the one getting dirty looks and running into people. I just gave them a look like I didn't know what was going on and apologized.
I didn't really know where we were headed, and then I realized it...the MSNBC booth. Obviously...where else would we be headed? After running into about 15 people, we were there. Luke Russert was standing outside the make up trailer, so we stood next to the gate. Some other women came over and said they loved his Dad, so he came over and started talking to them. He took a picture with them and then with all the other people that came over and asked. He was extremely nice to everyone. Then, we asked him to take a picture with us and he did. It turned out pretty good except my head is exceptionally small in it.
Once we left Luke Russert, we walked as close as we could to the Capitol, which was still extremely far away. Then we decided it was probably time to head back because it was cold and we were hungry. We walked back to the L'Enfant stop and it was super crowded, so we tried to walk back to another stop. We walked as far as we could and realized we wouldn't be able to make it to another stop. We were able to see the Illinois and Delaware floats that were going to be in the parade, so that made us (and by us I mean Sarah) feel better about not going to it.
We headed back towards the L'Enfant stop. The only way I can describe it is it must be what it feels like to live in China. There were tons and tons of people trying to crowd into one entrance of the train. Other stops had been closed due to security reasons and overcrowding, so this seemed to be one of the only ones around. It was insane. They did not charge for the train simply because there were too many people trying to get on. I'm glad they didn't because I'm sure people would have been trampled if they had. There were National Guardsmen standing on things telling people not to push. I ended up on an escalator, and I was glad because I was afraid of being pushed down the stairs.
Once we made it to the platform, a train came. It was not very full at all, and I was able to get a seat. It didn't fill up that much as it headed towards Virginia. I fell asleep and woke up when we got to the last stop.
We got in the car and thought about food. All I had eaten was that muffin and a granola bar on the trip back. We drove towards the hotel and grabbed some food around there. I got a grilled cheese and french fries from a deli that appeared to be Italian but owned by Indian people. We took our food back to the room and watched the parade on tv while we ate. We all eventually feel asleep.
We woke up about 9pm, hung around awhile, and then decided to have our own ball in the hotel lobby while we watched the real ones. Our ball included ice cream, Sun Chips, and red wine. Very classy.
No comments:
Post a Comment