Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Experience - Witnessing History

After an awesome weekend with Dad and family, I took a nap then packed some bags and jumped on the Metro with Daughter and her Friend J. Dragging a suitcase of blankets and snacks, we herded like cattle towards the metro and rode downtown to my office on 7th street - right in the heart of Chinatown and the Verizon Center (an arena). We unloaded at the office, got Thai Chili food with Sushi, watched a Movie at the theater (Benjamin Buttons - so cute!) and then wandered the streets with thousands of people, buying tshirts and buttons and hats and getting excited and caught up in the thrill of the moment....


We headed back to the office around 10pm in the feint hopes of getting some sleep. We prepped our bags for the morning, set alarms, rolled out sleeping bags and took over the partner's office down the hall who had a couch for mom....

All night long sirens wailed, buses emptied, people hooted. And We Did Not Sleep. ..

Finally at 4 a.m. we "awoke" to get ready to go. We donned layers and layers and layers....shoveled food in us even if we weren't hungry, and away we went...


We wandered 3 blocks down to the entrance just below my office...but at 430 a.m. it was full. so we went another block, but that entrace was full!!!! Crazy. So we hi-tailed it to the 3rd street entrance and VICTORY is ours - we are in the "running" for getting in...along with 5000 of our closest friends....



Someone said it was about 8 degrees at about 5 a.m. when this was taken. (below)

But we have our FRIENDS to keep us warm!


And we DO get in - not only that, but we also snagged a FRONT ROW SEAT to the parade!!! Life. Is. Good.


We had "dice" and cards and food to keep us warm til the show started.



And we felt very very very safe with a policeman/woman from all over the USA standing approximately every 2 feet apart all up and down the streets. The Miami Police were in front of us, braving the Cold to celebrate the MOMENT. Awesome



The Magic Hour - as President Obama gave his inaugural address, my girls Smiled! (above)
We could hear him but not see him - but we didn't care. We knew he'd be coming...soon...


A view of the capitol - up the street from where we were standing. There are a LOT of people up there -and then in the 'gardens' there are people flowing all over the place.

SEE?? People! (below)


And then we waited...and waited....and waited some more. And my "texting Girl" kept the police informed as to why there was a 1 1/2 hour delay when we heard about Senator Kennedy - they police kept saying, "Where's that Texting girl who can give us an update?!" Yep, Daughter's friend was giving us the play-by-play from home so we knew when the parade finally started....kids and their gadgets, she even beat my Crackberry and my cnn.com. Hey CNN You should Hire My Kids!

Finally we saw Flags and People Moving!



We watched tall men in cute uniforms perform daring feats of feet....




That's the General of the Armed Forces above in those tall, adorable Men.



And men With Furry Hats...


And REALLY REALLY Tall Men with big bayonets...

Yes you KNEW I was going to take photos of Shoes!

And then one of my favorites - the Fife and Drum Corps - awesome hats and nice wigs...
Reminding Us we've Come a Long Way Baby...
And then we saw media trucks, which could only mean one thing: The President is coming......




SEE??!! Him in the back seat and one of the girls in the middle....


Indeed, he came and we saw him and we took photos!!!


AND WE SCREAMED AND SHOUTED AND CRIED! "I SEE HIM I SEE HIM OMG I SEE HIM!"
We cried. We cheered. We enjoyed being in the moment.

We wear our buttons "I was there " with pride.

We will never forget....

14 comments:

Nancy said...

Thanks for sharing your photos ... and excitement for CHANGE.
Yes. We. Can.

Sugee Andersyn said...

That is totally awesome. What a complete honor. Amazing. Thanks for posting.

Paranoid said...

What an amazing experience! I'm so glad you got to be there.

Maggie said...

That is awesome! Thank you for sharing, I spent the whole day wishing I was there!

dkuroiwa said...

THAT is incredibly AWESOME!! Seriously....my eyes are full of tears and I can harldy type!!! Not only to witness all that 'pomp and circumstance' that just brings chills down my spine (oh! the men in uniforms!! Take me now!!) but...you saw him. You saw the reason so many people woke up with more hope in their hearts. You saw the person that has excited America like they haven't been excited before. And. you heard him. What an experience.
Thank you so very much for sharing!!

(You were on the parade route!! I was looking for you in the crowds!!!)

Persnickety Ticker said...

THAT.WAS.SO.COOL!!!!!!!!!!!

Made me feel like I was there.
(in that whole I am sitting warmly at my laptop drinking hot cocoa looking at all that and thinking geeze how nuts are they to be out there in all that cold, huh?)

San Diego Momma said...

What a memory for you all to treasure!

And great play-by-play. I felt like I was there.

The Engine of the Family said...

What an awesome experience! I basically missed the whole day...work and dentist appointments! Thanks for the pics!

Carol P. said...

Wow, what a great description. I felt like I was there! Thanks!

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

I have chills just reading this. Lucky you and thanks for giving us a taste.

Hula Girl at Heart said...

How COOL!! Thanks for sharing with those of us who couldn't be there. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Katy said...

WAY COOL!!!

Now I can rest assured that daughter's texting might some day come in handy. So I'll let her live. For now.

So glad you were able to stay warm, they were carting people away in ambulances because of hypothermia!!!

Busy Bee Suz said...

This is so great....I could feel your excitment in the entire post!!! Wonderful.

Clippy Mat said...

that is fantastic. you are so lucky to have been there and to be a part of such an historical occasion. the photos are great and it's lovely that you got to share it.
;-)