Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Early Start

I'm about to head out to the inauguration, accompanied by mixed feelings of excitement and slight anxiety. It didn't help that as night fell, Washington became a madhouse--especially on Capitol Hill, where Sommer and I are staying. Security forces started closing streets. The crowds started multiplying. The pace on busy streets quickened from a casual speed to a chaotic rush. Helicopters were flying around Capitol Hill, and police sirens wailed all night long.

You can definitely feel something big is happening today. I got a text at 5:30 a.m., saying the metro stations were already experiencing "extremely crowded conditions." With all the people, sights and sounds, it will no doubt be a feast for the senses. History will be made here today in more ways than one.

-Ashley

1 comment:

  1. The metro was extremely crowded-- but surprisingly went VERY smoothly! There were enough trains arriving and leaving regularly that I could actually wait not too long to have another train to fit on (the 3rd one I managed to squeeze in)! I was impressed with Metro. Except for the whole not opening at 4 AM like they said thing. (A train didn't arrive until 4:30... and there was such a crowd wanting into the staton, if I remember correctly, the card machines weren't operational so they just let everyone walk through.)

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