Greta recommended that we get ferry tickets over to DC (she lives in Alexandria, VA). This was the single most brilliant idea EVER, more on that later. Alison and I arranged care for the babies and started driving around noon on Monday, not knowing what kind of traffic we would encounter. Luckily, there was none. I think everyone had heard about the bridge and highway closures in DC and just avoided a car if necessary, I wish we could say the same for DC's Metro system...but more on that later.
We arrived around 6pm and went to dinner at a lovely restaurant, Greta made us reservations. She was worried we wouldn't be able to find a place to eat once we got there. We had slowly realized that a 9am ferry for 11:30am tickets wasn't going to cut it. We had been hearing reports that in order to ensure you would get into your section you needed to be in line no later than 9am. We had decided that our ferry ticket was our insurance policy and we were going to take the Metro in around 7am. Then we started hearing things about the Metro not stopping in Alexandria at all because it was going to be already packed further south. Around 9:45pm I called the ferry office realizing we might not have ferry tickets for the way back if we didn't pick them up on the Alexandria side. I was right. When I called, our saviour, Charlotte picked up and told us to get down there ASAP to pick up the tickets. She was spending the night in the office because she had to be up at 4am for the first ferry and she would 'Leave the light on for us'. When we arrived we were telling her about how the 9am ferry was too late. She said she could switch our tickets for the 7am (the website we were not allowed to do this) if we arrived around 6am the next morning. YOU BET!!
We were up at 5am the next morning, brushed our teeth, put on deodorant, bundled up and off we went. Bob was nice enough to take us to the ferry first thing in the morning. What a gent!!! Greta gave us our tickets the night before and because of a small mistake we had to get to the opposite side of the mall from where we were arriving. I didn't' care...I already came down to DC I was going to do just about anything to get in. We got off the ferry about 7:30am walked the mile to the mall and then started asking questions about how to get to our gate. The first military officer with a machine gun said that the main artery to our gate had been cut off (which was correct) and that we weren't going to be able to get into our gate all (incorrect) and to get into the blue gate line and they may or may not let us in.(again, incorrect) That didn't sound right, so we headed to where one of our maps said we could get across to the other side of the mall. Our second military officer with a big ASS machine gun said to try the 3rd street pedestrian walkway (correct) and that our gate was going to be difficult (we didn't realize how correct this statement was). So off we went to the walkway. You might have seen pictures of this underpass on the news. 1000's of people ended up stuck under there for hours and hours because that's the where officials were telling Purple Gate Ticket holders to go. So we run (literally run) through the tunnel, which is about a mile long. Get out the opposite side and head toward 1st street. Our gate is SUPPOSED to be on 1st and Constitution. We got inside scoop that the parade route had been changed at the last minute the night before from Keith, one of Alison's friends who was marching in the parade. Which meant that the main artery being cut off was correct, because now the parade route ran the length of Constitution Avenue from the capital to nearly the White House. That meant at some point we were going to have to walk over Constitution Ave to get to our section, but they couldn't do that without us going through the TSA screening process first. This moved our gate to 1st and Lincoln. We figured this out by the grace of God and did not end up in the Purple Gate line in the 3rd Street tunnel. After about half an hour of jostling from one supposed line to another (no one knew exactly where to be. there were NO volunteers, NO bullhorns, NO military officials like the other side of the mall). So there was mass confusion and we are talking about getting 230,000 ticket holders try to get through 4 gates. Doing quick math, that means about 60,000 people are trying to find a gate themselves and get through the gate which is about 15 feet wide. I think you can visualize the problem. We finally ended up in a line that was against a fence (not our smartest move), but you could see the TSA screening area for Purple ticket holders, so we knew we were at least close. We had to go the length of the fence and around the corner to get in...probably 75 yards or so. We would wait 5 minutes then move 3 steps, wait 5 minutes then move 3 steps. Now I say we were in a line, not really. We are in mass, boobs to back, butt to front, shoulder to shoulder. The spirit of our line was generally very good. You could see people streaming in through the gate, but we knew we weren't moving and things were getting tighter from behind. Then the chants...'Yes We Can'...'We have Purple tickets too!'...singing 'We Shall Overcome.' (I'm starting to get very nervous realizing we have NO WHERE to go and I'm in so tight I can't reach my cellphone in my purse.) A woman scaled a transformer and yelled at the security officials. 'Some of us have been here since 4am! You told us to get into this line! Why did we vote to raise taxes to pay your salary?!? It's getting dangerous over here! Why are all these people getting in and we aren't moving?' Things like that. Then the tone started to change. Chants of 'Let us in! Let us in', someone would yell 'Just push the person in front of you!' I look at Alison and tell her I am shaking and really nervous. About this time an Inaugural Official comes from the back of line and moves his way to the front, I don't know how he managed to do this and it must have taken him forever. Within 10 minutes we are moving again. BUT and this is a big BUT we are starting to get crushed at the same time. They barricaded other ticket holders off, army are linked arm in arm holding them back so we can get through a space about a 2 - 3 ft wide, just wide enough to let one person through at a time.I guess they finally realized they were about to have a very bad situation on their hands. Alison and got a little separated but were able to meet on the other side of the gate. I was crying, not because I got in, but because I was out of that situation. Let put this into time for you. We left the ferry at 7:30, walked for an hour and a half to get to our gate, and were let in the gate at 10:30, so we were in that crushing line for an hour and a half. If you've seen the news you know that about 4,000 were denied access to that very gate. I feel so lucky to have made it.
Now that we are in we stake out a spot on the lawn, we can see the jumbo tron but not President. That's a bit of a bummer but we are so pumped to be there in that moment, we don't really care. Now you saw this following part on TV, so I won't go into great detail. I will say that we were on the Constitutional Ave side. We didn't get to hear the President say his oath, because sirens were going off and THEN...the cannons. NO ONE WARNED US ABOUT THE CANNONS!!! Scared the (insert big expletive here!!) out of me!! So, when Barack was finished saying the oath and the canons went off our section of...oh about 30,000 people or so, jumped collectively. We looked over and saw smoke...then bang bang bang! After about the 3rd one, we knew what was going on. Whew!!
Then it was all over. It felt so quick in retrospect maybe that's because we had been up since 5am. So we went to a side lawn to sit down and heard some commotion. We went over to the jumbo tron and saw George and Laura getting into their helicopter. The copter lifted off and flew straight over our heads. Everyone was waiving and yelling goodbye! More like...Buh-Bye!!...Adios!!...See ya wouldn't want to be ya!! It was in good spirit and fun!! I really loved the attitude of the crowds. Though I felt a little danger getting in, it wasn't because people were being mean spirited or rude. It was because they were being crushed with thousands of others and they were scared. Most of the time, it was jovial, upbeat, with a sense of occasion. Most of us just wanted to be there.
After the inauguration was over, we took lots of pics. Then we walked. We walked with the masses of people for miles. Every Metro stop we passed was closed with people lining up around the block. We slowly realized that our 6pm ferry was our only way out of DC. Thank GOD for Charlotte!! Since the ceremony was over around 1pm we had some time to kill. We walked away from the capital and the mall as far as a possible and found some food and two seats the bar. Two Philly cheese steaks and two beers later, we were refreshed and made the pilgrimage back to the ferry. Hoping there was a warm place for us to sit there. The ferry couldn't take off early because the Potomac was supposed to be closed until 6pm, when they thought that the first family would be safe in the White House. They just let us get on the ferry and sit there until it was time to go. This part was cute, because when we arrived there were already about 30 people aboard. They were selling beer and wine and there was a mini celebration going on. The people in front of me were from Tulsa and went to All Souls Unitarian Church, so they were fun to talk to. Then we were back in Alexandria. We got in the car around 8pm and drove back to NY. I arrived in CT around 1:30am. Long and arduous day, but it was all worth it.
You know, I'd do it again. Even knowing what I know now, I'd still brave the crowds, the confusion and the crushing lines. It turned out to be the most exciting scavenger hunt of my life. What an opportunity and an adventure!! 01.20.09
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