Events of January 20, 2009
12:00 am: Go to bed1:24 am: Fire alarm goes off in dorm; whole building is evacuated and all occupants stand outside for 30 minutes while they check for the "fire"
2:00 am: Defrost and return to bed.
4:55 am: Regular alarm goes off. Time to get dressed and grab video camera to head out.
5:15 am: meet SIW friends, Jen and Laura, to have a quick breakfast and head to the parade route.
5:45 am: Walk out of dorm and cheer because we're so excited! We followed the crowd on the streets who were all walking toward the mall. We didn't really want to go to the mall, but all the streets were blocked off, so we kinda ended up at the Washington monument by accident. Also: I ran into one of my HS friends' dad on the way. What are the chances?!
6:00 am: By now we're getting frustrated that we're still walking near the mall and have been told by 3 separate officials to go a different way to get to a parade checkpoint, all three of which were dead ends.
7:00 am: Finally find a parade route entrance. We're about 200 yards from the security checkpoint. I don't think I've ever seen so many people at one time in my life. Ever. Except for the few complainers in the crowd (about the weather, bad direction-giving, confused volunteers, crabby secret service agents, etc.) everyone is really happy, excited, and randomly shouting Obama! or singing/cheering, etc.
8:00 am: It's light out now. We walked about 100 yards closer to the checkpoint at 10th and Constitution but are definitely not going anywhere anytime soon. Amos assigned a 3-minute film about the Inauguration for class, so we start shooting quick snippets of what we're up to. Spirits are still relatively high although we're getting realllllly cold.
8:30 am: Strongly consider returning home due to the weather and the fact that we've barely moved closer to the checkpoint in the last hour. We probably would have except for the fact that a.) my mom would have been so disappointed! b.) we had no idea how to get home due to all the crowds/road-closures, c.) Jen has to write an article for her Internship about the Salt Lake City marching band (this was our most persuasive reason, I'd say).
9:00 am: Things start to get miserable and we still haven't moved. The three of us start singing patriotic songs, and then move onto hymns, motown, camp songs, other misc. church songs, Disney classics, you name it. We were taking requests from the crowd in no time. They were pretty shy about joining along, but we had a few additional choir members from time to time.
10:00 am: The singing has made the time pass amazingly! Our spirits are raised and so are those of the people around us (we'd like to think, anyway). Unfortunately, we still haven't moved and we receive news that the checkpoint at 12th and Constitution is nearly empty.
10:05 am: We RUN to 12th and Constitution.
10:15 am: Get in line amongst new checkpoint crowd (yes, there's a crowd. We learn the hard way that "nearly empty" means different things when we're talking Inauguration day.) We meet our new standing-neighbors, include them in our video, and discover that this crowd is packed so tightly that we can purposefully fall in any direction and not even move! Great fun!
10:16 am: We've got a vast majority of the new checkpoint crowd joining us in The Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America. We like this new crowd!
11:15 am: We're in!!!!! Very cold, but very happy!! Parade starts in 3.5 hours.... what to do?
11:20 am: We begin interviewing parade-goers about their Inauguration day experiences. We ask: Where are you from, What are your least and most favorite parts of the day, and, If you could ask Obama one question, what would it be? (stay tuned for link to the video!) It was very interesting to hear everyone's varying answers.
12:00 pm: We stake out a spot on the bleachers (yes, we get to sit for the first time!) and realize that we've somehow made it into a tickets-only area where they aren't letting in anymore parade-goers. Although this is very exciting news, we're getting QUITE chilly again.
12:05 pm: We begin, along with 90% of the nearby crowd, to dance to the music being played over the loud speakers in order to keep warm! Great fun!
12:20 pm: Obama is sworn in! Cheering, yelling, rejoicing, and dancing everywhere! Everyone is SO happy! We sit down to listen to his speech, which is great and distracts us from the fact that our toes are turning purple and may fall off. The whole of the parade route goes eerily silent while listening to what he has to say.
12:45 pm: Return to dancing and notice the police standing nearby making fun of us. This does not bother us.
1:00 pm: Trying to keep busy. We're not allowed to leave our "exclusive" section so we don't loose our spots, but this means no bathrooms, food, warmth, or change of scenery!
2:00 pm: All hapiness is gone. Extremely cold and contemplating leaving, except for Jen's damn story. humph.
2:30 pm: Parade was SUPPOSED to start now.... we get a clue that this isn't happening anytime soon when they start sharing inauguration trivia over the loud speakers.
3:05 pm: I give up and leave my "exclusive" spot to go inside (which is outside the security checkpoint). I know what you're thinking. Yes, I did wait for over 9 hours to go inside RIGHT before the start of the parade.
3:10 pm: I've gone to the bathroom and am watching the parade on a giant screen with a decent crowd inside the Historic Post Office food court eating a delicious gyro and french fries.
3:15 pm: Parade has begun, but has not yet reached our previous standing post. I notice Jen and Laura inside getting hot chocolate, also having exited the secure parade area. We watched the start of the parade inside and cheer along with those outside while we defrost. I decide to head back because I cannot get the idea of sweatpants, sweatshirt, a couch, a chai, and CNN out of my mind (where I am right now!)
So, I left Jen and Laura there and took the metro (no small task due to the crowds... but it was helped by the fact that I found a metro ticket worth $13.50 on the ground!). I'll be very interested to hear if they made it back out for the Salt Lake marching band.... the thought of being back out there gives me nightmares, but they seemed determined! I'm so impressed!
Even though this was a long, cold, and draining day that didn't result in me seeing the parade, I don't consider it a failure. This whole entire city looks like Mifflin street in Madison after the block party, only all the beer paraphernalia is replaced with hand-warmer wrappers, styrofoam coffee cups, Obama trinkets, and Inauguration information guides. It was AMAZING to be among all the "party people" this morning and this weekend who have come from all over the US and world to welcome Obama into the White House. It sounds weird, but one of the coolest parts of the day to me was to observe all the people who were dancing to do ANYTHING to stay warm, or peeing in satellites with no toilet paper, or standing in line for hours and waking up at 5 am all to show Obama that they are overjoyed and inspired that he is our new president.
Basically, even though the people who stood on the mall or waited along the parade route were certainly uncomfortable, they we're still astonishingly excited and cheered louder than ever when Obama walked (!) past. This morning was a perfect combination of an incredible and horrible experience. I'm so glad I was here to experience it, but I will NEVER do it again!
I'll post our video once we make it, and I'm going to go back to watching the parade while I'm nice and warm on the couch!
