OBAMA OBAMA "In the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it." -Barack Obama
Inauguration Weekend
Saturday January 17, 2009
Yikes
Morning at the capitol
Strangely, there were very, very few people around on Saturday morning. Perhaps that had something to do with the temps??? I walked into the capitol and got right on a tour, mosied around the capitol and mall area, enjoyed exhibits in the Smithsonian American History museum, and walked on down to visit with Abe only to be shut out due to the concert preparations. I did, however, get to see and hear Bruce Springsteen's full rehearsal so that was cool.
Ceiling of the capitol
Library of Congress
Capitol being prepared
yet strangely still so accessible
The johns
Ok, ok, I was impressed with the sea of chairs in front of the capitol. Moving on...
Miles of portapotties
Even fixed news showed up
Love it!
The American history museum had some amazing actors/historians portraying MLK, Abe Lincoln, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. MLK speechified and sang for us and did he ever have an amazing voice! The other 3 each spoke for 10 minutes telling us about their most important contributions to this country, relating those to the country today, and giving advice to Obama. They were all extraordinarily believable and knowledgable, which was evident during the Q&A session afterwards. Even though they all did fantastic jobs with their respective roles, when they came off the stage to mingle with the crowd, Abe got swarmed and the other 2 past presidents were largely ignored. This was because they were all so believable, people wanted to actually meet Abe! One woman in the Q&A session thanked him for freeing her ancestors. That got a huge applause and seemed somewhat cathartic. People really felt like they were giving the applause and gratitude to the real Abe.
MLK
Abe
George, Thomas, and Abe
Part of the Abraham Lincoln display in honor of his
200th birthday this year
The Lincoln Memorial being readied for the
kickoff concert
As close as I got to Abe on this trip :(
The Boss rehearsing
Heavily guarded Hope painting in the Portrait museum -
no seriously. They had a freaking line just to take the picture. When I walked over
there and tried to snap a shot, this guard yelled at me and told me to put my camera
away or get in the back of this absurdly long line. Are you kidding me? I walked
away, but not before sneaking this shot.
