Disappointment for us but not for our country.


January 20, 2009

We arose at 4am to leave our hotel in Richmond in order to make our 5:15 bus to Washington, DC. We didn’t end up leaving for the bus station until 4:30 and we’re in line for our tickets by 4:45, there were only two women working the counter and it took us 15 minutes just to pick up our will call tickets. Apparently Greyhound wasn’t too concerned about excessive crowds. We make it to front of the line and finally get our tickets; we double-check about parking in the lot only to find that it’s an employee only parking lot. So I quickly run out to the car and move it to the street while Emily grabs us a place in line. I sprint back to the terminal and make it there just as the line is beginning to move at 5:15. Emily reports about 10-15 people have gotten on the bus. We continue to wait in line as the line triples in size and begins to wrap around the terminal. Ninety percent of the crowd is headed to the inauguration and there is an air of excitement and eagerness. One guy doesn’t care when he gets there as long he’s there by noon (I think he knew something we didn’t). While we wait in Richmond we watch the television and begin to see the first people enter the National Mall in DC and that’s when the crowd begins to get restless. At 6am the line finally begins to move, we board the bus and are shockingly able to get a seat together. The bus loads up and pulls out of the terminal, and then about 200 yards from the terminal we stop. I assume we are in traffic but as I look out the window I see the bus driver walking on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette. It seems to be a little early in the trip for a smoke break to me! We sit on the side of the road behind another bus for about 10 minutes with no announcement from the driver. Finally he gets up and gives us his standard Greyhound announcement. I still see no reason for sitting by the side of the road. This is not exactly the day that I’d like the bus to take its sweet time. Finally at 6:40 we pull out onto the highway and find out that we have been waiting for another bus to join us. Emily and I look at each other and can’t believe we have put our trust in Greyhound on this day of all days. Finally, after some deep breaths the Obama bus is on its way!



When we were about 30 minutes out of DC the bus pulls over to the side of the road again. The driver explains to us that one of the buses made a wrong turn and we have to get off the highway and head back. Emily and I both think that he made the wrong turn as I see the bus behind us head up the exit ramp. Again this is not the day to get lost. How does a bus get lost going from Richmond to DC anyway? In a three bus convoy no less! Luckily there was very little traffic and we made it DC around 9am. Emily and I had recently been to DC last May for the Cherry Blossom Festival so we already knew our way from the bus station and moved quickly through the streets towards Union Station. I think people could tell that we knew where we were going as we got asked several times where Union Station was. The streets were lined with vendors selling anything they could with Obama’s face on it, T-shirts, posters, buttons, and flags. If they could put Barack Obama 44th President on it, then you could buy it on the streets of Washington. We stopped in a small deli to grab a bagel (sorry Dad we had to) in order to avoid the crowds in Union Station. We’d heard from Emily’s friend Stephanie that the crowds on the Metro were ridiculous so we wanted to spend as little time in Union Station as possible. We took a side entrance into Union Station to catch the Metro. To our surprise there were no crowds, the first thing to go our way yet. We grabbed two tickets and headed for the train and for some unknown reason there was only one turnstile open. I think maybe DC forgot there was going to be 2 million people in the city. I headed for the escalator only to find that they were both moving up, I see a guy in front of me run down the up escalator and I see the train on the platform. We need to catch that train so off I go and run down the escalator. I hear Emily behind me say, “I can’t do that!” I get to the bottom of the escalator and turn around to look for Emily, luckily there was an elevator right there so she joins me on the platform. We run for the train and that’s when we hear an announcement saying the train is delayed in the station because someone has been hit by a train. The only way to get under the capital is to take the Red line to the Blue line. Our tickets are for the blue gate and we need to take the blue line to the Federal stop. We wait on the train a few moments only to hear an announcement that the Red line is no longer in service. So we jump off and decide to walk from Union Station to the Capitol, as that seems to be our only choice because we don’t have time to wait for the shuttle buses. What a waste of two tickets, oh well we need to get moving.



We exit Union Station and begin to see signs for the Silver, Purple and Yellow gate but no Blue. We head towards the signs hoping we’ll see an arrow for the blue gate. There are very few cops and we are unable to find anyone to ask about the Blue gate. We have to cross to the other side of the Capitol so we begin to navigate through the immense crowds to get around the Capitol; several routes that we try are blocked off and no one can seem to find a way through. We come across many other groups trying to navigate there to either the blue gate or the silver gate. It reminded me of the Poseidon Adventure, everyone has an idea of how to get there and you have to choose which group you are going to join. Unfortunately, Gene Hackman could not be found. One person we ran into said we had to the take the 395 bridge, great suggestion, but we have no idea where the bridge is. Last time I was at the Capitol I didn’t see an Interstate anywhere! We finally find a cop and ask about the Blue gate, he says go to D street and take a right and you’ll be able to walk around the back of the Capitol to Independence Avenue. This makes perfect sense once I think about it; of course you can’t make it in front of the Capitol because they must have closed it off. I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this before. So we take off into the growing crowds towards D Street.



I think that that Cop must have told everyone to take D Street. I really wish we had taken any other street or even gone back the way we had come. I have never been more scared inside a crowd in my life than I was on D Street. It was one city block packed from wall to wall, with two groups of people moving each direction, by the time we were in the middle of the block we were completely locked in. At this point the crowd stops moving and we are stuck in the middle of the block. I fear that we will be here for hours because there is no sign of anyone in the crowd moving. The crowd is very unruly and angry that they are not moving. A man behinds us yells “Hot Soup” I have no idea why but he continues for about a half hour. The crowd begins to surge in bursts, arms and hands push us in the back, and I fear that someone will be trampled. There are no cops to be seen and no one controlling the crowd. We have no idea why we are stopped or even if we can get out. There is a fireman on some scaffolding talking into a radio but no help is sent to us. Finally we begin to get word from the front of the crowd that yes there is a way out but it is barricaded at the end of the block. There is no turning back, the crowd will determine where we end up, Emily and I get separated but are able to remain within eyesight. Finally there is hope for rescue. We see a gap in the barricade wide enough for one person to go through at a time. Next to the gap is a chain link fence being held up by a member of the crowd. Luckily there is a crowd member who is helping control the crowd and make sure that people move safely through the gap. I finally see a cop standing behind the fence taking in the crowd. He does and says nothing, there is a young girl who is separated from her parents, and the leader who is helping the crowd alerts the cop. HE DOES NOTHING! This is a sign of things to come. I make it out of the crowd into some open space, Emily quickly joins me. It’s 10:30 and now we are really running up the street so that we can get far enough away from the Capitol to where the streets are no longer blocked off. We get behind the Capitol and see our first sign for the Blue gate. Finally we are getting somewhere, all we want to do is get to the blue gate.



We see the Blue gate in the distance, victory! We find the line for the blue gate and immerse ourselves into the side of it. It is now shortly after 11. I periodically call Mom for updates of what is happening as we are standing behind the Capitol and can’t see or hear anything that is happening. After about 15 minutest of waiting the line surges ahead, I think that they have opened the gates! We end up near the front of the line as the line shifts forward and slightly left. The crowd comes to a halt, we stand in line for another 10 minutes or so and I realize that the line hasn’t moved at all but that we’ve just reorganized and shifted position. We were standing over there and now we are standing over here. I make this comment to several in the crowd and we all agree, we aren’t going anywhere. We learn that some people have been waiting in this line since 8 or 9am one group was even there as early as 7. I make the mistake of saying we just got here. Two girls are upset, they’ve been there since 9 and they ask if they can get ahead of us. Emily and I just ignore them; no way anyone is getting in front of us. It’s not our fault they can’t get through the crowd. They cut in front of us anyway but it doesn’t matter because no one is moving (a few feet in front is not going to make a difference). One older gentleman in front of me pulls out a collapsible chair and sits down. At 11:30 I comment that there is no way that this crowd is ever going to make it in by noon for the swearing in ceremony. A few people around us begin to bail out. A few minutes later we here word from a woman standing on a barricade that there is no way out or in and that we are blocked in to the front and the side. We aren’t even standing in the line for the Blue gate; the line for the blue gate is over to the left. Again there are no cops or anyone in authority to alert us of what is going on and tell the crowd they are in the wrong place. I guess they can’t afford megaphones in DC. After we learn that this line is going nowhere there is a mass exodus and the crowd begins to disperse. We give up too and realize the tickets are worthless. We would have had a better shot going to the Mall if only someone had let us know about the Blue gate.



Emily and I walk away from the gate to see if we might be able to hear anything, anywhere. We can hear the crowd cheer but we are unable to hear anything from the Ceremony. We eventually get within sight of the Capitol but still can’t really hear anything. A few minutes later we head back to the Blue gate, maybe more people have given up and we can sneak in at the last minute. We stand there for about 30 seconds and we hear from the crowd that they’ve just closed the blue gate permanently and no one else is getting in. The tickets are now worthless and we are not alone because thousands are turned away. We walk away still trying to hold onto our resolve. We ended up walking around the perimeter of all of the barricades and by sheer luck we found an opening and we are able to finally hear Obama’s address. We continue to move through the crowd and end up close enough that we can see the Jumbotron that is next to the stage. Finally we are in a place right in front of the Capitol about a half a mile away. This would have been a perfect spot to stand earlier, too bad we spent all that time stuck on D Street and waiting in line for the Blue gate.



We are dejected and heartbroken that we weren’t able to use our tickets but we are able to hear the last half of Obama’s speech. After his address much of the crowd clears out, since we’ve just gotten there we wait until the ceremony is over. The last thing we want is to be stuck in another crowd so we wait for it to thin out. As Bush’s helicopter takes off the crowd lets out an enormous cheer and waves goodbye. The reign of terror is over!



Emily and I head to towards the exit, all of the barricades have been knocked over and we move toward a sign that says Blue exit. Hey look at that the Blue gate again! We move around the back of the Capitol and try to decide what to do. The crowds aren’t too bad now and everyone is moving in one direction. Oddly enough there are cars on some of the streets (still no cops though). We decide to look for food while moving towards Union Station. We debate whether we want to stay and watch the parade. Emily is dejected and ready to give up but I still hold out hope. We decide to look for food and a bathroom, if you remember all we’ve eaten today is a bagel in DC and a honey bun in the Richmond bus station. Every restaurant has a line going down the block, so food is out of the question. I remember that the Native American Museum is supposed to have a great cafeteria and I had overheard someone say that the Smithsonians are open. We find a traffic cop and ask if he knows where it is. I can’t believe it but he does! We head towards the museum and we see it in the distance very far away, too far to walk. Maybe the Library of Congress has a bathroom; nope it’s closed for a private event. We continue down the street and find a porta-potty on the other side of the street. We stop to cross the street and a cop stops us. We tell him we just want to use the bathroom but he just shakes his head. Now there are cops, where were they when we needed them earlier? I see another porta-potty behind us, we walk to it and it’s locked. By now I am completely dejected and ready to give up. Let’s go to Union Station and I know the way so off we go.



We reach Union Station and of course it’s blocked off so you have to walk around Union Station to get in. We decided it’s not worth it; we’ll just eat in Richmond. We finally find some bathrooms without a line and make it to the bus station around 2:30pm. There is a bus leaving at 2:35 and Emily gets in line. I check to make sure it’s the right line and of course it’s not so we switch. We are at the end of a long line for Richmond. They fill one bus and we make it on a second bus, our bus is only half full. (Pay attention. This is an important tidbit). It takes us an hour to get out of the city. Around 4:30 we find ourselves behind another bus in the middle of a bridge. The bus in front of us has broken down so the driver stops to help. A few minutes go by and our bus begins to fill with passengers from the other bus. Twenty minutes later our bus is now full and we leave the remaining passengers behind on the first bus to wait for another bus to pick them up. I look out the window only to find the Capitol and Washington monument. Two hours have gone by and we are still in Washington DC. We make it back to Richmond around 6:30 and head for some much needed food. We eat at TGI Friday’s near our hotel and see that the parade is just finishing up. I was so happy that we haven’t stayed for it. We eat and head back to the hotel. We watch some of the inauguration coverage on TV but it’s bittersweet to have been there and missed it. Of course it was an amazing experience but we we felt so dejected that we could not use our tickets and get to see the ceremony.

I jump online and do some research (see links below). I find out that the blue, silver and purple all had massive problems at their gates. There were 240,000 tickets and the gates were open for three hours. They would have had to screen 1,300 people a minute. The blue gate’s generators failed and they had to begin screening by hand. Because of our close proximity to the President everyone was a security risk and had to be checked.

I was so glad that I could be in DC for Obama’s inauguration but I hope that they can correct their mistakes so that things will run more smoothly during the next inauguration. Thousands of people left sad and upset and I felt bad that it soured an otherwise wonderful event. A few days have passed and I’m glad that I was there and proud of us that we did everything we could. The only way we might have had a possibility of getting in is if we could have stayed in DC and arrived at the gates before 6am. Timing and a little bit of luck meant that you would have had a better chance at getting in. Unfortunately, from start to finish nothing went our way. The city of DC just wasn’t prepared and they gave out way too many tickets. Someday I hope to see an inauguration up close and in person but at least I gave this one my best shot. And even though things didn’t go our way we are both happy that we were there to experience this very historic and life changing event.


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/20/as-thousands-crowd-dcs-metro-system-woman-hit-by-a-train/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcb_washington/20090120/pl_mcb_washington/washington200901bluegateatinaugurationhtml

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/inauguration-watch/2009/01/many_express_outrage_over_tick.html?wprss=rss_blog

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/20/AR2009012003362.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/js-mcdougall/the-blue-line-or-my-inaug_b_160008.html

http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/washington/2009/01/blue-gate-at-inauguration.html

http://tinyurl.com/obama-inauguration-imagery-kml




This concludes our broadcast day.

Dave