Inauguration 2013

Hey, Blogger!

Last Monday was President Barack Obama's second Inauguration, in case you didn't know. I managed to get two tickets from my congressman to attend and witness the event in person. So, here's my Inauguration experience:

Since even the November elections, I knew and was saying that I wanted to go to the inauguration should he be reelected. Of course, he was reelected so I immediately began doing my homework about attending inaugurations, where to stay, and how to get there. In order to get tickets, you have to request them through your senators (two per state) or the representative of your congressional district. In other words, you have three chances of getting tickets. In addition, the National Mall is open to people who want to attend the inauguration but do not have tickets.

I initially requested tickets through Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat, as soon as a could after the President Obama's reelection. I did not hear anything until January when I was sent an email saying I was only of 3,000 people who requested tickets through Sen. Casey's office. Each office was only allotted a certain amount of tickets, so to ensure a fair system of ticket distribution Sen. Casey used a lottery system to give out the tickets. Naturally, I was not one of the lucky few to win tickets from that office.

A little discouraged, I let the whole idea go for a week or so until a week before the Inauguration. After that time had passed, I once again wanted to go, ticket or no ticket. I looked up my congressman's website, and lo and behold, his Inaugural ticket request form was still open. Unlike Senator Casey's form, this form had a comments section where we could type a personalized message. I used that to explain that I am a Political Science student at a well known university within his district and how much it would mean to me as a Political Science student to actually get tickets for the Inauguration. I heard nothing for a few days until the Wednesday before the Inauguration. I got a call on my cell phone from a Washington, D.C., number. I was away from my phone at the time and could not answer it, and they did not leave a message either. I Googled the number and found out that it was a standard number that showed up on caller I.D. anytime someone within the Capitol Complex calls an outside line, so you could not simply call the number back. At that point, I assumed it had to have been a call from the congressman's office, and I determined that I either got tickets or, more likely, I did not get tickets. I figured if it was a call saying I got tickets, they would call me the next day.

No call came the next day. By Friday (three days before the Inauguration), I had pretty much determined that I was not going to be going, a decision which I tweeted that morning. Literally five minutes after tweeting that, I got a call from that same D.C. number. This time I answered it. It was a staffer from the congressman's office wanting to know if I was still interested in tickets to the Inauguration. Of course I was, so she told me that I would have to pick them up personally from the congressman's D.C. office before 5:00 P.M. Sunday. After getting off the phone with her, I immediately sent Alex a text message asking if he wanted to go (he previously expressed an interest in going if I got tickets). He had to get permission from his parents and said he would let me know later on in the day. Whether or not he went, I was definitely going now that I had tickets. Because I had to pick the tickets up personally, I needed to book a hotel room for Sunday night. I had already determined that I would stay outside the D.C. Beltway and simply take the Metro in. That would make finding a hotel easier and cheaper as well eliminating the hassle involved with driving the Beltway and into the city. I found and booked a reasonably priced hotel near a Metro station in Maryland. I now had tickets, a hotel room, and was just waiting to see if Alex would be joining me. He texted me that night and said he was "definitely" coming along.

We left at 8:00 Sunday morning and headed for the hotel in Maryland. After leaving our stuff in the hotel room, we boarded the Metro train for the 40 minute ride into downtown D.C. After getting off at Judiciary Square a few blocks north of the Capitol Building, we found D.C. to be a ghost town. Roads several blocks around the Capitol, Mall, and White House were closed to non-essential traffic. There was also a heavy police presence and surprising few civilians walking around. That is until we got closer to the Capitol where there were many people milling around the perimeter.

From the Capitol Building, we made our way over to the Longworth House Office Building where the congressman's office is located. I had a difficult time with the metal detectors entering the office building because I forgot to take my keys out of my pocket and watch off my wrist. I've been through metal detectors many times before, I was just so excited that I forgot about my keys and watch. We picked up our tickets and Inaugural invitation packet from the congressman's office, but did not actually get to meet him.

After we picked up our tickets, we got something to eat and planned what to do next. Alex wanted to get back to the hotel by 7:00 P.M. to catch the hockey game. We still had some time, so we walked down to the White House so I could get a picture or two. When we got down there however, we found that the grandstand for the Inaugural Parade was set up right in front of the White House gate. We could see the White House through the grandstand but not well enough for a picture, unfortunately. Disappointed, we headed for Metro Center and went back to the hotel.

The next day, we woke up before 7:00 and got into D.C. around 9:00 A.M. The Metro was crowded but not as bad as I thought it would be.

(I took a picture to the one above when I was in NYC)

 From the Metro, we stood in line for nearly an hour and a half waiting to go through the security checkpoint. This time, Alex had a difficult time with the metal detector while I passed right through.

We got to our section on the Southwest Lawn of the Capitol Building at 10:30, an hour before the Inauguration started. Unfortunately, our view of the platform was blocked and we had to watch the proceedings on a giant screen. Still, at least we were there and much closer than the majority of the estimated 800,000 attendees.

(Our blocked view)

The following are recordings I took of the Inauguration.

listen to ‘Marine Corps Band’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘The Clinton's entrance’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘First Daughters' Entrance’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Vice President Biden's Entrance’ on Audioboo

The next recording is actually two recordings. I started the recording for President Obama's entrance onto the platform, then accidentally continued the recording later as the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir was singing "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

listen to ‘President Obama's Entrance’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Vice Presidential Oath of Office’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Presidential Oath of Office’ on Audioboo

Here is video of the swearing-in and the speech: