Obama Dances at the Ball

I can't explain the excitement in the room when they arrived. It was electric!

Midwest Ball- Biden

Jill Biden looked great. Joe read Irish poetry!

The MidWest Ball

We all went to the MidWest Inaugural Ball (which included Ohio). It was one of the official balls and was held at the convention center (5 other balls were also held at the DC Conv Cntr). The proverbial "they" told us to ride metro and not drive, so we did & unfortunately the Convention Center metro stop was closed for security reasons. We had to walk from Shaw which is about 7 blocks. It was freezing and we had heels on:( We tried 3 taxis before we found one that would try to venture near the conv cntr and we still had to walk about 3 1/2 blocks to get to the gate. Of course we were stopped to let the motorcade pass (by this time we were over seeing the motorcade! Once we arrived at the security gate, we had to get in another line which snacked back down to Gallery Place (this is about 4 blocks in the opposite direction). Eventualy we got inside and thot that since we had seen the motorcade that we probably missed Obama at the ball, but we had not... Sheryl Crow was the entertainment. We had some behind the scenes fun at this ball too, which we may or may not blog about. Stay tuned!

2 Million People Twist & Shout on the National Mall

Garth Brooks sang Twist & Shout. Twisting was a bit difficult, but we all had the shouting down!

Inauguration Day 1-20-2009

We all got up at 3:00 AM, were on Metro at 4:00 AM & were attempting to exit Metro at L'Enfant Plaza about 4:20 AM. It was crazy. Once we were outside of Metro we were held at 4th St & Independence Ave. It was freezing and no one knew what was going on. The police said they were waiting on the volunteers to arrive. The crowd was tightly packed (still held on 4th) when a bunch of people started pushing. It was bad. This is the only time that I was actually scared of being in the crowd. They broke-thru the barriers (steel fencing) and everybody just started running. We ran up on the concrete steps around the Native American Museum to get out of the crush of people. Eventually we worked our way across Independence Ave to the Mall and were about 12 people/rows back. You can see our location spot on the map. We were able to see the stage and podium but needed the jumbotron to be able to tell who was who. About 8:00 am they played the Sunday Welcome Concert on the jumbotron which gave us something to do while we waited. About 8:30 am they announced that the parade route was full and closed. We did not know at the time- but they closed entry to the Mall about 9:30 am. The program actually started around 10:00 am (musics, choirs, and seating of dignitaries).
Map of the Mall and Parade Route (We're on 4th & Independence)


Trying to exit L'Enfant Metro Station.


Our Spot on the Mall


Our Spot from another angle


Our spot thru the zoom lense


Video of Our Spot on the Mall.

Obama Motorcade

This is the second Obama motorcade that we have seen. We were able to see him in the motorcade.

National Day of Service- More Pictures

 
 

National Day of Service- Michelle

Video of Michelle Obama at the National Day of Service event.



   

National Day of Service- Jill Biden

National Day of Service

Monday 1/19 is a national day of service in honor of MLK, so my friends and I volunteered to box care packages for soldiers in Iraq. The activity was held at RFK stadium. The organizers put a huge tent on the field and everybody filed through lines packing items. It was a huge operation and the atmosphere was similar to a pep rally (lots of cheering, Obama chants, singing, and dancing). All was well until Michelle Obama and Jill Biden came to help! We had a meet and greet with Michelle and Jill. They were both really normal. Jill is super, itty-bitty, tiny (hollywood actresses are probably jealous of how tiny). She is really pretty and bubbly. Michelle is just beautiful- flawless skin. They were both talkative (of course we were so excited we could hardly think of our names, let along respond to their questions)! More pictures to follow.

Watch the Inaugural Welcome Concert on HBO or Online

Several people have emailed me about the Inaugural Welcome Concert, so I wanted to let you know that you can watch it free on HBO if you have digital TV (free broadcast) or you can watch it free online from the URL below.

http://www.hbo.com/weareone/

Pennsylvannia Ave & 17th St.

We're all marching up 17th St to the Blair House (across from the White House). I am on steps at OEOB taking pictures toward Blair house. We saw the Obama/Biden motorcade.

Springsteen, JT, Mellencamp, Bono Perform

It was easier to see them on the jumbotron!

A friend just sent a video of Sweet Baby James at the Welcome concert. Everybody knows I have this SBJ Thing (he probably has a restraining order)!



  JT

  Mellencamp

  Bruce


  Bono

Welcome Concert @ Lincoln Memorial

We're up front at the Lincoln Memorial waiting for the Welcome Concert (We Are One) to begin!

4 Days of Inaugural Events

This will be a busy weekend. My friends and I are attending the Obama/Biden Welcome Ceremony & Concert on Sunday afternoon. Obama has called upon volunteers to participate in a national day of service on Monday in honor of Dr. King- so we are volunteering to box care packages & supplies for servicemembers in Iraq. We'll also attend a King rememberance ceremony. Tuesday is the big day! We'll be at the swearing-in ceremony in the morning and the midwest ball in the evening.

I'll keep you posted!