Inauguration Parade~January 20, 2009

On to the Parade! I was determined to see that! The kids by now were restless and ready to go home. I had to remind them of the importance of this whole day & moment. We walked around and finally ended up around the corner of 10th and Pennsylvania Avenue. We were freezing cold. Paul & Jake went in search of hot food. They ended up with 4 hot soups and some wraps for $40.00, but it was warm. The dad and his two boys next to us were locals. They were very friendly. We had a nice visit with them. Apparently, school was closed because most families and lots of teachers were planning on playing hooky to come see the events of the day. They said that school had never been closed for an inauguration before, pretty cool!
Well, we waited & waited, but then around 3:00 PM an announcement was made that the Parade had been delayed due to Senator Ted Kennedy collapsing earlier. Everything became hushed and I'm sure a number of prayers were sent out to him and his family at that very moment. Around 3:15 they announced it would begin in about 2 minutes. Well, that didn't happen. I quit looking at the time when it finally did begin, but boy was it exciting. The motorcycle police from the Metro DC area opened up the show. Then it was followed by military groups and other law enforcement. After about 10 minutes into the show, they announced that the President & First Lady were arriving. Everyone started cheering and shouting, "Obama, Obama!" It was very thrilling! Then we saw him, them...there they were walking along the streets right near where we were standing. Of course everyone in front of us wanted to see them as well. I shot lots of photos, but haven't yet gone through them to see if I got them. Jake got the back of the President's head. I hope I got something better. But, we were there & we saw them. That made it all worth while. Rachael says that was the best part of her trip!