We were able to sleep in this morning which was great. Tom wanted to take me on a run through the city, so we bundled up and headed out. It was warmer than we thought it would be, and I was more out of shape than I thought I was. I guess that's the price I pay for being a retired athlete.
Anyway, we ran by the Capitol, the White House, through Embassy Row, and up near the Naval Observatory (the vice president's house), and finished at the metro stop near the campus that Tom lived on last year when he was down here. We took the metro back or that would have ended up being a 2 hour run.
After showering and eating lunch we had to pick up our tickets for the inaugration at Bernie Sanders' office. Tom was very excited to show me around the place, hoping that he would be able to introduce me to some of the people he worked with last year. When Tom was down in DC last spring he interned for Bernie two days a week. We picked up our tickets but didn't get to see many people in the office since it is Martin Luther King Day and they were given the day off. Tom gave me a tour of the buildings, even pointing out to me the electric bathroom doors, and then we headed back outside to walk through the masses of people in the streets of DC.
Tom and I behind the Capitol
We walked by the Supreme Court, around the Capitol, and started working our way down the mall. But there were so many people out and about that it made walking a bit difficult. To escape the cold for a bit we decided to hit up the National Museum of American History since it had been closed each time we were here before. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea, and found ourselves in a much more crowded area.
The Capitol all ready for Obama to be sworn in
All throughout the day we kept seeing motorcades of coach buses. It appeared that they were parading around the large masses of police forces that are working hard to keep us corraled and safe. We saw police cars from all over including nearby Richmond, Virginia and as far as from Tennessee!
Another site to see was the masses of news vans parked along side the road ready to record history. One van reminded us of the WCAX van and for a moment we longed to catch up with Marcelis Parsons.
Of course CNN was there to cover all of the details
We got in contact with a man Tom had worked with in Bernie's office, named Bob, who lived nearby in Virginia. He invited us out to dinner with him and his family (wife and daughter) and we hopped on the metro to meet him at a DeLicIOUs Mexican restuarant. It was a great time with great people and great food.
I can't describe the feeling of walking through this city. There's so much excitement for tomorrow. On our way home we saw many couples headed to inaugural balls. While we were a little jealous of them, we both know how lucky we are to even be here in the first place.
Tomorrow we will be getting up and heading out for the National Mall by 6am. We've got tickets that will put us in the ticketed section that is furthest away from the stage, but is still much closer than many will get. Plus we won't be obstructed by trees (as some of the closer sections will) and will get a view of the whole stage. Well it's time to hit the sack, as tomorrow we're going to be pretty busy witnessing history!
The Washington Monument
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