Barack Obama's Inauguration, January 20, 2009

I went down to Barack Obama's inauguration in Washington, DC. I figured if people were coming in from all over the country to see it, I could make a 10 mile trip.

I saw it on one of the jumbotrons at the World War II memorial. Sen. Dianne Feinstein gave some remarks and the sound and video were out of sync, by a good 5 seconds. It was odd. Other those 5 or 10 minutes, the sound and video were synced up.

The day was cold, in the 20's but I had dressed warmly and didn't even zip my jacket up the whole time. The only bit where my hands and toes started getting cold was when I was sitting on concrete for an hour.

Obama's swearing in was not without hiccups, He and Justice Roberts seemed to have messed up where the word "faithfully". When it was done there were many cheers and more flag waving. His speech was really good, it is the first time I had heard one of his speeches from start to finish.

I left before the parade started, I entered the metro at Metro Center and again, caught the first train back to Bethesda. It was less crowded than most rush hour trains.

I was amazed by how smoothly things went. Running eight car trains every two minutes can push a lot of people through the system and I had the good sense not to try and catch a train immediately after the swearing in.

View Medium or Large image.	On the Red line I got to Bethesda Metro Station around 8am and got the first train that came. I was on the last car and it was crowded. The next couple of stations we picked up a few more people until we were really packed in. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Red Line, Washington Metro
View Medium or Large image.	Walking down 18th Street While on the train I talked to a group of three people who had driven in from Detroit. One of them (Tommy) was a database administrator for a non-profit there. I got off at Farragut North and walked to the National Mall with them before saying goodbye and heading off on my own. The walk to the mall was interesting in and of itself. the closer we got, the more people were walking and it was a sea of people from curb to curb, totally filling 18th street as far as you could see in either direction, all of us heading down to the mall. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: 18th St NW and E St NW, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	The girl scouts There were a few groups of Girl Scout volunteers. This batch had a police escort. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: World War II Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Port-a-Potties There were lots of port-a-potties. Early in the morning there weren't lines, but I didn't go back and check later. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	The Lincoln Memorial First I went to the World War II memorial and saw the jumbotrons, then walked on to the Lincoln Memorial the stage was still set up from Sunday's concert, but they weren't letting people on it. You could see someone standing lookout at the top of the memorial, he's the little black dot on the top right of it. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	The steps of the Lincoln Memorial There were a bunch of people At the Lincoln Memorial but it wasn't packed yet and I climbed the steps and got a good view of the crowds, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol Dome. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Lincoln Statue Lincoln was, as usual, also on lookout, watching over the whole Mall. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Looking from the Lincoln Memorial towards the Capitol Building From the top steps of the Lincoln Memorial you had a good view of the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome, a mile and a half away. This area wasn't hugely crowded yet, but before the swearing in, the space between the WWII memorial and the Washington Monument completely filled up. At the front is the frozen reflecting pool, then the World War II memorial. You can see two jumbotrons just on the other side of it. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Crowds walking down 18th Street I then looped around back toward the Washington Monument, stopping briefly to take some video of the mass of humanity still making their way down the streets toward the mall. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: 18th Street NW at Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Police Lookout Post The police AT-ATs were there and ready. These mobile viewing posts raise them above the crowds, but they don't seem all that tall. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: National Mall, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	People waiting for the inauguration There were a fair number of children, mostly 7+. I did see a few strollers and, later in the day some really young kids on their parents backs. This boy and his grandmother were bundled up pretty well and watching one of the jumbotrons. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Washington Monument, 17th St NW, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Crowds of people After a couple of text messages, I found my friend Emery leaning against a tree watching the jumbotron and we made our way up to the Washington Monument and toward the capitol. Going up the hill behind the monument wasn't very crowded, but when you got to the top, the density of people really picked up. There were also more rows of port-a-potties. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Washington Monument, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Crowds in front of the Washington Monument We got to the street by the monument and were turned around. They weren't letting anyone else on the mall because it was full. We went through some really thick crowds back up to the Washington Monument, it was a good view of the people, the monument, and the capitol, and, not very crowded, but no good jumbotron view so we walked to the WWII memorial. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Washington Monument, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Protesters There were several groups of people protesting. This group wants to close Guantanamo Bay. They were dressed in orange jumpsuits with black hoods. The hoods did not have eye holes cut out of them. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Washington Monument, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	The view from the WWII memorial At the World War II memorial we got good seats. Yes, we got to sit down. We sat on the edge of the fountain, which was turned off and drained. Great view of the Washington Monument and a great view of two jumbotrons. No view of the capitol and you couldn't see most of the crowds. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: WWII Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Helicoptor, Washington Monument, and Jumbotron The jumbotrons weren't all that jumbo, more like mediumbotrons, and up close, you could really see the individual lights making the display. They looked much better from a distance away. There was also the occasional helicopter checking us out. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: WWII Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	People watching the inauguration As people were being introduced, the crowd would cheer, except for when Bush was announced, then there was mostly quiet. Biden's swearing in brought cheers and flag waving, then there was the instrumental song which sounded to me like it was heavily inspired by the song "Lord of the Dance". It helped that they had played that song half an hour before. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: WWII Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	A girl drawing More kids. This girl didn't seem to mind not having gloves on and was happily drawing. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: WWII Memorial, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Crowds leaving After a weak poem, Emery and I headed up the street. Hugely crowded, and everyone had to stop a couple of times while they let dozens of empty busses go by. We made our way to Shelley's Backroom at 13th and F St and got a table without any wait. It was nice to relax and have lunch (it was after 1pm by the time we got to Shelley's). Date: January 20, 2009 Location: 18th St NW near C St NW, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	The line for the parade I left and walked a few blocks to see people lined up to get through the security checkpoints and onto the parade route. People were lined up for a block and didn't seem to be moving. It would have been nice to have seen the parade, but I realized early on that I was unlikely to see the swearing in and get even a halfway decent view of the parade. The parade lost. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: 12th St NW, Washington, DC
View Medium or Large image.	Obama Souvineers All along the streets were people selling souvineers. Lots of calendars, posters, and t-shirts. These people were selling framed photos of Barack Obama. Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Washington, DC