Monday, February 9, 2009

Inauguration Madness

Obama is on the elemental table y'all. When's the last time you'd checked?
We got this shirt for Adam but there were so many good ones to choose from.
This man was selling Obama cologne but was not offering free samples so I'll never know- does Obama smell like Hawaii ocean water or Chicago wind tunnels?
My favorite part came as everyone looked up and the Bush family flew off into the sunset like the flying monkeys in the movie "The Wiz". Everyone around me gave them an appropriate "salute" but all I could feel was relief. Now I could tap my heels and return to California feeling more optimistic.
Still sick with a cold but in high spirits, I assumed that although everyone was jumping in line willy-nilly in front of us, it was not a problem because we were all going to get in. There was literally no security monitoring anything and the line quickened until everyone was running in a free-for-all to the gates, taking over the streets. The gates were locked, so once everyone reached them it became a herding pen with some people weeping, some screaming they couldn't breathe, some mobs chanting "Let us @#$&! in!" and it was almost noon. Cops were upset when even they could not squeeze through the throngs with their billyclubs raised above them. They demanded the gates be reopened and with much ado, everyone ran for the security tables and magnatrons. The security took all of two seconds, much less than at the airport and everyone ran at full force about an 1/8 a mile to the "Purple Section" only to find it completely full and any view blocked entirely. (I found out later that since no security was there to direct people, there were many sections nearly empty but it was bottlenecked to get to them) I climbed up a wall and under bleachers and finally emerged with a view of some trees and the Capitol Building. I could hear everything but not see much of anything.
Now, here's where the tuff get going as the going gets tuff. We took a bus from NW DC to 16th and H St. We walked at a swift pace to 1st and Constitution Ave, which is about 25 city blocks. Once we got there, this line down the tunnel greeted us. It took us 20 minutes to reach the end of the line. It reminded me of the zombie scene in 28 Days Later. Luckily, earthquakes aren't really an East Coast concern, just terrorism.
Here's the Willy Wonka ticket and it was on very fancy cardstock and embossed with some presidential seal for authenticity. On the back, you can see where I was to be located.
Adam gave me one of the tickets and you can see that I am very excited. I'm usually not so toothy a smiler.
We went to see the Beastie Boys in DC. Never having seen them, it was really fun. Even saw some old friends there.
Here's my cousin Ryon in Ellicott City, my hometown in Maryland.
My Aunt ChiChi lives in a cabin by a lake and as cold as it was outside, it was cozy inside.
We visited my family in Maryland, staying with my aunt ChiChi and then my aunt Debbie.
Bonny Neil. Sam and I, not so clear as a Liberty Bell. My thin Cali blood immediately lowered my resistance, so my time on the East Coast was punctuated by endless sneezes and sniffles.
We started our trip in Phili, visiting Neil, Noelle and the Liberty Bell. Also, spent some quality time with their black cats: Barnacle, Pepito and Angus.