Inauguration Day - My Version

Yesterday we (Kyle, His Dad, My Dad, and I) went to Washington in efforts to see Barack H. Obama get Inaugurated as our 44th President... The Nation's First African American President!!!

We started our day very early at 3am. Its was eerie how quiet our house was as we all prepared ourselves for the day ahead. I could see in My father in law's eyes as well as in Kyle's that they were both very hopeful, and anxious. by 3:30am we arrived at my father's house, and after another 30 minutes of him trying to locate his I.D. we were on our way to the bus. Ffter freaking out when we thought we were lost, we arrived in Deptford NJ, By now it was 4:30 am. Of course the bus that was supposed to leave at 5am promptly didn't arrive until almost 6am.

The bus ride down was much better than I had expected. Ryan, the guy who coordinated the event put on a Documentary about Obama that got everyone on the bus hype and ready to go... I don't know what happened next but I awoke at about 7:00 am we were on the outskirts of Maryland entering the D.C. area; and less then an hour later we had arrived at RFK stadium where we were supposed to board the shuttle which was to take into town.

We were directed to board the Shuttle buses under the overpass.

and we were one of maybe 10,000 people all trying to go to the same place. It really felt wonderful to be 1 of so many people (mostly Black) of so many different ages, ethnicity's, backgrounds and hues. Although we waited more than an hour to board the bus, no one complained or cussed or even looked like they were unhappy with their place in line. Of course there were a few fools who had too much to say about inappropriate things.. but overall it was beautiful!

Finally!! We were on the shuttle bus, but we still had some ways to go...Kyle (being the gentleman that he is) offered his seat up to a woman who had a very interesting story. She apparently lived in D.C. for the past 30 years, but had never had any interest in seeing an inauguration prior to this one. She was very hopeful that "the skinny black kid with the big ears" would do so many great and wonderful things for the nation, the world, and most importantly our people. Along the way she gave me a little tour guide pointing out buildings, naming streets and encouraging me to come back later and tour the town with my family. I promised her that I would. Here's some

pics I took out the bus window....

When we got off of the bus, I was amazed at just how many people there were. There had to be at least 100,000 people just on the streets alone. Everyone was smiling, everyone had hope in their eyes, everyone was proud.

People along the routes were selling EVERYTHING... Obama T-shirts $10, Obama Sweat Shirts $20, Obama Bracelets (you know the little rubber ones that Lance Armstrong made popular) $3, Obama Flags $5... Obama Dogs, Yes Hot Dogs $5...

When I say there were alot of people I mean A LOT of People. By my Dad's account it was like the Million Man March, just must more peaceful, and purposeful.

After a good hour of walking we made it to the Mall, or so we thought. It was now 11 am and we were caught right in the middle of hundreds of thousands of people. People were climbing into trees and standing atop port-o potties trying to get a better view.

We decided to climb a barricade, but realized that we weren't in a good place, so we climbed back over and walk up a little further. We ended up way back over near the Washington Monument, and we got there just in time. There were no jumbo trons as we hoped for, but there were speakers all over the place.

It was AMAZING!!! As I looked around I could see the pride in

faces of some of the older attendees.

As the prayer started, the crowd fell totally silent, with the exception of a little girl who recited the Lord's prayer verbatim.. So cute ... That's her right here >>>

After the prayer the crowd erupted! everyone started to chant Obama! Obama! Obama! and then it fell quiet again. When Aretha Franklin started to sing, I started to cry. I looked up at the Washington Monument and then again to a guy sitting in a tree with an American Flag waving and I started boo hooing like a baby. I was so overwhelmed with emotion. I hadn't felt this was about the national anthem since I heard it a few days after 9-11.

We all stood in silence as we listened to President Obama get sworn in and once again the crowd went wild. As Obama began his speech heads were nodding, fist were in the air and people were crying. That little girl who recited the Lord's prayer was now smiling and chanting Obama! Obama!

Once Obama finished his speech it was like a mass exodus... Everyone, and I mean everyone seemed to be going the same way were were trying to go. We ended up cutting down a back street, and avoided most of the crowd on our way back to the shuttle buses.

By this time I started to feel a little nauseous. I hadn't eaten anything other than a muffin and grape juice earlier in the morning, and I was feeling light headed and dizzy. You know that feeling you get where you feel like you need to vomit, but you know that there's nothing down there to come up??? that was me. All I wanted to do was to find that dude who was selling those Obama Hot dogs, and hug him. I was famished...

It took us about 30 minutes to get back to the shuttle buses, another 30 to actually get on a bus, and about 40 minutes to get back to RFK stadium. Once we got back to the stadium I was able to get a hot dog, and something to drink, and we got back on the bus. By now it was 2:30pm. I scarfed down the terrible hot dog, drank the water down in what felt like one gulp and fell asleep.
Overall, the trip was all that I had expected. I knew that there would be lines, and I knew that there would be crowds. I didn't expect to be as far away from all the action as I was, but it was all worth it,and I would do it again if I could. It was a once in a lifetime event for me.

I saw so many acts of kindness, so many smiling faces, so much pride, and it made me feel good. I felt good to be an American. It was Beautiful ! It was in deed a new day :)