Inaugural Celebration is On Nationwide
I don't know when it started but apparently a nationwide party started ramping up Saturday as travelers passed through DIA according to one coffee shop waitress. "We had groups passing through all day long to see the Philadelphia Eagles play Arizona and heading to Washington for the inauguration," she told me while I waited for my flight to board. She is taking Tuesday off from work to watch the inauguration on television.
Since I had to go through Chicago, it was a sedate flock of travelers on my first flight, heading home to chilling cold or connecting through to Frankfurt. Walking the concourse at O'Hare the atmosphere took on that of a happy pilgrimage more than a chore. Scores of people with Obama buttons tripping along laughing and chatting. Overheard repeatedly: "Are you going to the inauguration, too?"
My plane to Washington was packed to capacity with fellow pilgrims so happy to participate in such a landmark moment in America's history that I never heard even a muttered complaint about the shortage of overhead storage. That is rare because if someone else doesn't I usually do, even though I routinely carry no more than a briefcase and a coat.
Friends from Colorado I met at the baggage claim described the enthusiasm of their fellow passengers on a direct flight from Denver in a way that sounded more like a Rally for Change than a four hour slog through the unfriendly skies littered with boxes of dessicated snacks and cans of domestic lite beer at $6 a throw.
On approach to Washington National Airport those with window seats on the port side of the plane could see tens of thousands of revelers still milling about the Mall after an earlier gala concert attended briefly by Barack and Michelle Obama. The airport itself was fairly festive.
With several dozen balls and other events Sunday night the party is well on. Tuxedos and formal gowns common in the Metro stations and block-long lines at taxi stands tell of a very special occasion indeed. Bars have special permission to stay open until 4 a.m. this week. No formal wear in the windows of Hooters in Chinatown but better restaurants saw no signs of clearing until near midnight.
Labels: Inauguration, Obama, Washington DC
