Good Morning, everyone!

With Bob and Raine still on the road, here's a rare Thursday blog from your loyal TriSec.

It's not a fully-worked blog by any stretch of the imagination, but rather some disjointed observations about the weekend from my notes. (I'm very orderly when we travel...I always keep a journal and work it up into a full travelogue that we stash with the pictures. Sure helps with the ol' memory.)

In any case...here we go!


2008 was a rather tough year again financially. We had long planned a trip back to DC during one of the conventions, but wound up not having enough money to do it. So...we cancelled and stayed local.

Sometime around July, Bob had suggested that if we win this thing, let's all go to the inaugural. So, I booked a room right then, months ahead of anyone else. (ah, smart thinking.) Then it was just sit and wait.

November 4 came and went, and the holidays, and suddenly it was January 17!

We had driven down the coast in 2007, and I don't like to drive the same way twice whenever possible. So....we went down the Mass Pike from here to I-84 through Connecticut, finally down to and over the Tappan Zee Bridge. In my travels, I rarely drive down the Garden State Parkway, but we did this trip. Seemed quiet, little traffic...but it felt much longer than going down I-95.

In any case, there was not any problem getting to DC. We saw many cars heading south with Obama things plastered over them, including a compact car with Maine plates, stuffed to the gills with college kids. "DC OR BUST" and "HONK IF YOU LOVE O" scrawled across the rear windows.

South of Baltimore, Maryland was swarming with Cops....so we laid low and crawled into town. We stayed out near the University of Maryland...but right near Greenbelt and College Park stations on the Green Line.



Sunday and Monday we were in Washington museum hopping. We spent all day Sunday at the Museum of Natural History....Javier was very happy to see all the dinosaurs, and I was very impressed by a display showing the fossil record of the evolution of the horse. And yet there are some among us that will deny that, even when presented with scientific evidence right there.

We didn't go to the concert, but there was a jumbotron right in front of the museum, so we saw a few moments of U2, then heard Mr. Obama speak.

Monday, more of the same...only at the Museum of American History. There were re-enactors around that day, and we saw Presidents Washington and Jefferson, and heard some musical interludes from a Civil War regiment later in the day. The highlight for me was seeing the 'Star Spangled Banner'...the actual flag that flew over Fort McHenry on that night we all know so well.

I simply had to walk past the White House on Bush's last day....so a long walk later and we were at the fence on the South Lawn. My last chance, so he got a dual one-fingered salute.

At last....Inauguration Day! We started early, and caught the bus over to Greenbelt. Curiously, despite the news reports, the parking lot was only 3/4 full. The line to get through the gates was huge, but once we got on the platform, a train came right in and off we went.

Reaching L'Enfant plaza, we called for our party, and discovered that they just got off their train not ten minutes in front of us. It was actually very easy to find everyone, so we were headed for the maelstrom with hours to spare.

We headed further and further down the mall...."Area Full" signs on each corner. Finally, we were at the Washington Monument, but blocked by Jersey Barriers and a fence. That didn't stop us. Along with hundreds of others, it was over the fence, just steps before the US Army appeared and put a stop to it. We were there!

Now, it was just a matter of waiting. We called out some time marks, then finally the ceremonies started.

I am proud to claim that I was part of the last, and largest, crowd to boo President Bush.

As Obama mounted the podium, a hush fell over the crowd. Despite a stumble by Justice Roberts, this was the moment we were waiting for.

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

There was a half-second of silence, then pandemonium. That was worth the entire trip right there.

A few minutes later, Marine One flew in to the White House to pick up Mr. Bush and his wife...and they passed low over the crowd on the way to Andrews AFB....yes, we saw the Bushes leave with our own eyes. It was all over!

Getting back out of town was an odyssey in itself....but fortunately there were martinis waiting for me at the end of the road.

Coming home yesterday was easy...I was surprised by the lack of northbound traffic. We went up the beltway a piece to the Baltimore-Washington expressway. The only traffic we hit the entire trip was the morning rush on the Beltway, then some construction traffic on the Cross-Bronx expressway in New York.

And here we are, back home.


One observation to leave you with....the crowd in town was immense. Simply the largest mass of humanity most of us will ever see or be a part of. But it was happy. People came for their own reasons, but whatever drew them to the mall, we were all in it together. I have never seen a crowd that was so open, communicative, or genuinely helpful to each other. I think the biggest testament to all of that is that nobody got arrested during the festivities.

Yes, we can.