Uh-merican: DC

Our 3 days in DC started off with the “We Are One’ concert on Sunday. This concert featured many well-known artists and actors, such as Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, John Legend, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, U2, and Beyonce. The concert took place on the Lincoln Memorial with fields of observers stretching to the Washington Monument. For those unfamiliar with that distance, its approx. 4,000 ft. I personally could not see any of the live action from my vantage point, but I had a great view of a monitor. Many great Presidents of the past were quoted, slideshows of our nations history were presented, and of course music acts performed sparingly.

President Obama got up on stage at the end to a rock star’s welcome and spoke for a couple of minutes. Personally, I felt that the concert was the highlight of the inauguration events because influential artists were supplemented with speeches rooted in our history. And to be honest, we were witnessing history. This event was very fitting and started off a wild couple of days.
The day before the inauguration was also a busy, intense day down near the capital. People were everywhere – historical monuments to all of the Smithsonian’s. However, the atmosphere was very electric. Vendors lined the streets showcasing their custom Obama gear. Hot dog carts staked out the busiest corners to increase revenue. Every five feet there was a picture being taken by a visitor/Obama fan. People of all different ages, races, and sexes lined the blocks, disobeying traffic laws and sightseeing before the epic Tuesday swearing in ceremony.

Erik and I were staying with Brian Stoffel, a 2004 Grinnell graduate who lives in DC. We had planned to wake up about 5 o’clock, hit the train down to the mall area, and brave the elements for the ceremony. At about 10 o’clock Monday night we received word from another Grinnell grad, Stacie Kossoy, about possibly receiving 3 tickets for the inauguration parade – one for Brian, Erik, and myself. Stacie had tickets to all three events, the ceremony, parade, and a ball. The “superiors” in charge stated that it would be nearly impossible to get into the inauguration ceremony and parade due to the addition of 2 million people to the area and intense security restrictions. We debated for a while and decided that having tickets was definitely more secure than trying to maneuver our way through those 2 million people.

On Tuesday, we got up about 8:30, ate breakfast, showered, drank some beers, and walked about 20 minutes down to our parade entrance. We got to the area around 11 am and watched Obama getting sworn in with about 200 other people, mostly parade go-ers, on a mall food court television. The venue didn’t matter; we were witnessing history. We entered the parade at 1 pm, with the scheduled start to be at 2:30. A delay due to the Ted Kennedy having a seizure did nothing more than allow us to meet some other parade go-ers, such as a lady from Dallas, two ladies’s from California, and two younger girls from the DC area.

The parade floated by soon enough and the excitement built as we heard Obama and Biden were in the front of the parade and on foot. With security holding up their end of the bargain, the stands were fairly empty. We pressed the guardrail that was patrolled by Seattle’s finest. Unfortunately, Obama got back into his limo for our stretch of the parade. Biden was still out on foot and gave us a generous wave as Stoffel yelled, “HEY, JOE!!!”

Being in DC for the inauguration of Barack Obama was something pretty special. My excitement level was sheer giddiness. The environment was spectacular; everyone had a positive outlook on America’s future beyond this historic moment. You could easily strike up a conversation with anybody, knowing you had strong common ground. The attendees were enthused, happy, confident, and ready for this change. I was more than glad to be physically in attendance; something I will never forget.