Tuesday: Inauguration Ceremony

Tuesday was the day. The day when it all became real.

After hearing varying reports about what time gates opened and what to expect about crowds, street closings and the metro situation, we finalized our plan on Monday night for getting to the Inauguration.

Dot & Laura had tickets to be seated a bit closer but the rest of us were excited to be a part of the mass of humanity on The Mall. We left our homes at 7:00am with a meeting point for the two groups only blocks from The Capitol. The crowds were already dense even that early in the morning but there was a spirit in the air that was undeniable. The temperature was in the teens and everyone definitely "felt" it, but mind took over matter and every shiver and chill was worth what we were about to experience.

see the sun coming up? on our way...Dana, Grace & Kate

We arrived at The Mall at about 8:45am {usually only about a 20 minute walk} and found a spot very close to one of the huge projection screens. As you all saw during the coverage, the crowds went past the Washington Monument and all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. We were three quarters of the way between The Capitol and the Washington Monument and within 10 minutes of us finding a place and settling down, a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd had surrounded us.

Keep in mind it was FREEZING and everyone was suffering in a sense, but there was not one person complaining, angry, bitter or upset. They replayed the Lincoln Memorial Concert on the big screens during the wait so you could at least get your blood moving dancing and singing along. However, it didn't take our group long to figure it out it would be tough standing for 4+ hours so we laid out a few sleeping bags and piled on top each other -- not because we had to, but because it was the only way to keep warm.

The hours leading up to the ceremony seemed to go by fairly quickly and we packed some food to hold us over. Again, good spirits and an unbridled anticipation totally outweighed the long wait and the temperature. We only had a "view" of The Capitol but being around 1.6 million of our closest friends, feeling the excitement and watching the live feed felt like front row seats.

Prior to the actual ceremony the jumbo screens showed various people arriving at The Capitol and cheers rang loud for Jimmy & Rosalyn Carter, Hillary & Bill Clinton and certainly the Biden and Obama Families.

Just getting a glance at these folks confirmed that this was real….that it was really happening.

The formality and tradition of Obama’s swearing in was certainly apparent, but there was a genuine sense of relief and excitement that came over EVERYONE after he said the 35 words of the Oath.

Tears and Cheers were unleashed and the sea of mini American Flags waving through the air, hugs from strangers and seeing grown men in tears was honestly a sight that cannot be explained in words.

The video below was recorded immediately after he finished the oath. A first hand view of the excitement: {be sure to turn your volume up}

The crowd began to disperse during the Benediction. The streets became overwhelmingly packed, our group was separated, and we all got caught in massive groups of people stuck in an unmoving grid-lock. BUT the spirit was light, everyone was kind and over and over the answer to these normally frustrating and typically violent situations was -- excuse me, here latch on to me, a hug and "it's a great day!"...all from complete strangers.