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Feed back re: taking a 6 y.o. to the inauguration. Oh yes we did.
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Anonymous
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I just wanted to report back. This morning at 5:00 a.m. my son, my houseguest and myself woke up, put on our long underwear, ate a hearty breakfast, and caught a 6:30 Metro bus to the Rhode Island Ave. Metro stop from PG County. Although the train was very crowded, sardine can crowded, we got on the first one that came and exited at Union Station, thinking we might stop at my office in “the zone.” Once we surfaced, we headed instead the general direction of 4th Street, since we were not ticket holders and didn’t really feel compelled to stop moving. As the Mall filled, we walked past 4th, where we could no longer get to the Mall, as it was full. Then the entrance via 7th was closed. We kept walking until we got to 14th Street, where slowly but surely we made our way to the jumbotrons. We jumped around and tried to keep warm and drank cocoa and used port-a-potties. Although the entire walk and the Mall were packed with people almost shoulder to shoulder, it was the calmest, most peaceful crowd I’ve ever been in. Everybody was civil and polite, and nobody, really nobody, shoved.
And then after several hours, Aretha Franklin opened her mouth and I bawled. It was amazing. The energy was incredible and wonderful and hopeful and so very, very positive. My son hung in there, shedding nary a tear and only once or twice complaining about the cold, after walking so far. Once it was over, we walked again all the way to the Union Station area, meeting people and walking together for a while as far as we could to where they were going (there was a lot of confusion for folks from out of town afterwards), and ducked into my office. We warmed up, and headed out to the train. Well, the first time was a no-go. It was too crowded and it turns out the Metro entrance was closed anyway. We went back to my office, hung out of a bit, looked over a map to consider our options, and started walking to Chinatown. After a fabulous dinner of the world’s greatest dumplings at Chinatown Express, we got on a nearly empty subway train, and then caught a nearly empty bus home. My son, who is sleeping soundly at the moment, was an absolute trouper, and reported that he was glad we went. 
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Anonymous
| Awesome. So glad you had such a great experience. Lucky son to have experienced such a wonderful day -- he will always be able to say he was there. |
Anonymous
| That is a terrific story. Thanks for sharing. My 5 yo son went with daddy today, and while there were some tough moments in the cold, tonight at bedtime he said "thank you for taking me daddy, I am really glad I went" -- cool. |
Anonymous
| Great story. Brought tears to my eyes. |
Anonymous
| Yay! So glad it went well! |
Anonymous
| Thanks for sharing! We don't live in DC anymore and while I'm one of the first people to admit I stopped doing the crowds on the Mall thing (Fourth of July, for instance) before we left - I think I would have been there for this one. So, I truly felt sad today that I'm not there anymore and didn't have the option to witness history in person. I'm glad to hear you didn't let the crowds get you down and had such a great experience! |
zumbamama
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| that is so beautiful. I wish we could've been there. Why did they change Inauguration day to Jan. instead of March—no way I'll last that long in 20 degrees! We watched with popcorn by the fire. |
Anonymous
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Great story of a great day. We brought our 4.5-year-old. Walked the whole way from upper northwest. She actually loved it, and I loved having her there.
It's funny-- you get all caught up in the cold, the walking, the crowds, am I too late, will there be a place to sit, and then the music strikes up, and the loudspeakers ring out with the sound of peaceful transfer of power. At that moment, the time doesn't matter, the cold doesn't matter, the impending walk home doesn't matter. All that matters is that Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th president of the United States, and that he is standing in the same morning glare, in the same icy wind, as me and my family. And that on the day that "yes we can" at last became "yes, we are," I squeezed my husband tightly as he balanced our daughter on his shoulders. That we were there is much; that we were there TOGETHER is everything. |
Anonymous
| We also had a great day. My husband chauffeured us down Rhode Island Ave to M Street (streets were empty of cars), dropped us off at 23rd and we walked to the Lincoln. Very easy travel. No security check. The sunshine was beautiful. Our many layers kept us warm. Afterward stopping for lunch, we walked back up RI Ave to North Capitol St and hubby picked us up. Home by 2:30 to watch the parade. It was a wonderful day. |
Anonymous
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Just out of curiousity - how did you keep your son entertained for those several hours of standing around (before Aretha sang) and, of course, the time following (the remaining songs and speeches)? Was seeing the jumbo-tv an issue?
Glad you had a good time. |
Anonymous
Jumping jacks. Snacks. People watching. Knock knock jokes. Digging in the dirt with a stick. Also, he was pretty pooped from the walk, so sitting on my lap was some fine entertainment sometimes. Seeing was a bit of an issue, but I hoisted him up at times. We stood in line for cocoa for a while, and were kind of off to the side after that where it wasn't so crowded but we could see the jumbotron better. |
Anonymous
You were probably being facetious about the change from March -- can you imagine having to go through another 6 or 8 weeks Bush/Obama confusion? I have seen it suggested that even the 10 or 11 weeks we now have is too long a period. Do you all think it would be logistically possible to pull of the change of administration in less time? |
Anonymous
We didn't. We just walked from home and arrived only a few minutes early, taking our place in clear view of a jumbo-tron but behind the Washington Monument and therefore without a view of the main crowd. That didn't matter to us. We were still surrounded by thousands of people, still sharing the moment, still able to hear it all, and see it on the screen. We chose that experience with no wait over a better view with three hours of wait because we wanted it to be a fun experience for my daughter. It was. She loved the commotion, the energy, the music, and seeing Barack Obama and Joe Biden--- who have become her heroes after a couple of years of reading the Post with mommy. She greeted about 300 different people with "happy inauguration" and said that the day was "terrific." The fact that we brought granola bars, string cheese, and sandwiches in our pockets didn't hurt. |
Anonymous
 Thanks for all the great stories.
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Anonymous
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Luckily you weren't one of the 30 families who lost their children there - see www.wtop.com for details.
All thirty children were found wandering around by themselves, lost. |