Inauguration City
Unless you live under a rock, you'll know Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th President yesterday. You'll also know that because of where I live and work, I had a front row seat for all the festivities. I wish I could tell you that I had a front row seat to the actual inauguration or that I scored tickets to one of the "official" balls. But no such luck on my first and what will probably go down as the biggest inauguration in American history.But the 5 day weekend wasn't without excitement and chaos. We started the inauguration celebration off with Dan Kelly's birthday. His actual birthday was Monday, Jan. 19th, but we flew our good friend Mike Morley into town from Charlotte and started things off Friday night at Asian Spice and The Muse Nightclub. Below is a photo of Dervon and I at Muse...
Things really started to pick up energy-wise in the city on Saturday when it seemed as though most of the inauguration tourists arrived. Normal city streets went from the usual DC traffic to a parking lot of taxi's and buses. Sidewalks became littered with vendors hawking everything from buttons and hats to toilet seats and recliners. Most restaurants were booked solid and the most average bars had lines to get inside. On top of it all, it was about 10 degrees outside, so we all froze.
On Sunday I got the chance to drive down to the mall and check out the capitol building and the plethora of news agencies lining the streets near the monuments. I laughed and said "we're the center of the world right now." But it was truth. The following are photos from that day. Notice the MSNBC mobile studio and all the tourists trying to get on camera...
Inauguration Day was spent waking up early and doing a phone interview with the morning show of WKRN Nashville. A good friend produces the morning show there and they wanted to talk to actual DC residents to get their perspective on the chaos that enveloped DC. After the phoner, I did my walk into the office. Let me explain how this usually works. I walk about 8 blocks down 7th Street and roll into my office building on the corner of 6th and E streets. Not inauguration day. Half the neighborhood was in lockdown because 6 of the official balls were a block away at the convention center. Most of downtown was off-limits to vehicles. Oh, and two million people converged on the city to hear Obama's inaugural address. Walking down regular streets was impossible.
So I worked hard posting content from the swearing in, the luncheon and the parade. I did manage to sneak away from my office for about 30 mins to grab coffee and snap a few photos. Those are below...
We finally wrapped up our inaugural celebration with the Black & White ball at The Jam Cellar, our usual Tuesday evening dance. The best part of the Jam Cellar ball was their first ever inauguration jack and jill contest. This is where you enter the contest and get randomly paired with another dancer. The idea is you should be able to social dance with anyone well, so it keeps you on your toes. You don't have a routine or organized moves. You just dance to whatever is thrown your way. Lucky for me I drew Kelly as my partner. (Kelly and I have competed quite a bit together, so we had an unfair advantage...but that's the risks of Jack and Jills) Long story short, Kelly and I won the contest. I got a pass to the Jam Cellar and Kelly decided to take the entire chocolate Capitol Building. I didn't even get a taste of it. What is it with women and chocolate? Anyway, here are some photos from the Jam Cellar ball...
Overall I'd say the inauguration weekend was a massive success. I got to see celebrities like Blair Underwood, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys and Ann Hathaway. I saw our national mall fit close to 2 million people on the lawn. I saw U2, Springsteen and Queen Latifah perform in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I saw a nascar-like assortment of Obama souveniers. I saw one naked guy, lots of trash and lots and lots of security. And best of all, I saw Obama's motorcade roll through the city Saturday evening...reminding me of how amazing it is living in the heart of American politics.
posted by DVS @ 11:53 AM
4 Comments:
It's not that is was chocolate, it was that it was "white" chocolate. Kelly's Easter Bunny always had to be white chocolate. Glad you won the contest! Good story about all the festivities. Will you go on to post some photos of what our beautiful mall looked like after? BTW, I noticed a button on your pocket?!?!?
I don't have anything from after the inauguration. I got outta town and went to Austin this past weekend to escape the madness.
The button is my way of saying I'll support our president because he's still our commander in chief regardless if I disagree with his political ideology. It was something not afforded to president Bush while he was in office and I thought it was pretty disgusting.
Must be the air pollution in DC. I figured that "button" was actually a growth from a Chairman Barack socialist-fascist germ.
It is certainly noble and patriotic to support our president and our nation - as you you point out - a "change" from the actions of the Hate Bush-Blame America First crowd we've had to gag along with for the past few years. I commend you.
Nobel and patriotic is correct, but, will anyone who was in the "hate" crowd of the last administration even notice that you are nobel and patriotic? I admire your efforts, yes, there is a but, you are dealing with a group of people that will not admire or appreciate your efforts. Sad. Still waiting for a video from the Black and White, keep your eyes peeled! Did you really miss eating the white chocolate Captiol?
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