So that took a while....

Not too bad, only took about 3 months to post our Inauguration experience. At least Barack Obama is still the President! Most people wanted to know how in the heck we managed to score tickets to this historic event. See our previous post:We are about to witness history

While we had an amazing time, the trip was the most exhausting "weekend getaway" that we've ever taken. We first made a pit stop in New Jersey, where we spent some time with my aunt and uncle, who were dog-sitting for us. On the Sunday before the Inauguration, we left NJ for our road trip to DC. We ended up spending quite a bit of time in Baltimore. While I'd driven through it many times, I'd never actually spent any time there. The very first place we needed to go was Camden Yards. As some of you might know, one of childhood dreams was (and still is) to visit every major league baseball park in the United States. Our stop at Camden Yards crossed another park off my list. After our evening in Baltimore, we finished the last leg of our trip into DC. Monday was our "day off" so we enjoyed the slightly brisk weather in the city. We did a test run as well, so we knew exactly where we needed to go on Tuesday. The energy in the city was something we'd never experienced before. Nick and I are both DC lovers, and had spent quite a bit of time there, but the city was different that weekend. People from every walk of life came together for this momentous occasion and were genuinely happy to be together with their fellow man. We spent time in and around the city, doing many of the touristy things that we love to do in DC. Knowing the VERY early day we had to look forward to, we called it an early night back in Alexandria where we were staying.

To be quite honest, the actual Inauguration Day is sort of a blur. The day was so long (considering that we drove home to Massachusetts on the same day!), but was also so memorable. We were awake pretty early that morning, around 5 am. The news stations in the DC area kept going on and on about just how bad the trains were going to be, how many people were going to be there, so we thought we should get an early start despite the fact that we had tickets. Armed with my camera, 2 ponchos, a small bottle of water, snacks, and a blanket, we made our way to the city. The train ride wasn't that bad, and provided me with a quick nap :) This is what we were greeted with when we got off the train:

Lots of people!!! But happy people ready to see history!

Considering the amount of people, we were able to leave the station and get walking towards the Capitol in a short amount of time. As we made our way closer to the Silver Gate, we saw an oddly long and winding line around many of the surrounding buildings. Nick decided to ask what the line was for and then we heard them say "Silver tickets." Yep, silver...the color of tickets we had. We followed the line as it got further and further away from the Capitol building. The more we walked, the more discouraged we were. When we were about 15 blocks from the Capitol, we stopped to have a team meeting :) We debated whether to just give up and go back to our hotel or somewhere else to watch it on tv, but we quickly put the kabosh on that idea. We decided to head back to where we KNEW our gate was, where we had done our test run the day before. The closer we walked to where the gate was, the less people we saw. We finally got to the cross street where one of the silver entrances was. After working our way through a VERY VERY tight crowd, we made it to the security check point. Once through, we were in!! While we ended up in the middle Silver section, instead of the front Silver section, we were NOT complaining. We could see the Capitol and had a teleprompter in front of us, which was great for a short person such as myself. Soon after we staked out our spot, the ceremony began. I can still hear the echo of cheers and Obama's words as they made their way down the Mall. All in all, nothing came sum up the experience of seeing President Obama sworn in as our president. The energy that day was like nothing I had ever experienced. Despite all the crowds and long lines for things, people were friendly, talkative, and happy. It made a very long day seem not so bad. After making our way back to our hotel, we started the long drive home. While it took about a week for both of us to recuperate from our trip, it was worth it!! I have included a link to our album of photos from that weekend. I still haven't had a chance to caption any of them, but I think they are all self-explanatory. Enjoy!!

Our Photos