Inauguration 2013

Every four years we get to become excited for a new president, and today the nation celebrated the inauguration of Obama 2.0. Since I didn’t know if I’d be around the next time this happens, I figured trying to get in and among the people was a good idea. Here are some shots from the day.

Coming in to the Mall from the south, the entrance everyone was herded to came in right next to the CNN and CBS MOBILE NEWS UNITS™. I decided to take a few shots of CNN’s booth while some people on TV were probably talking about Michelle Obama’s coat (seriously, they basically only talked about her coat during the parade afterwards).

I heard on the news there were upwards of 1,000 port-o-johns. Fun fact.

I happened by a group of cameras that I assumed was from some news organization, but I quickly learned it was from the fake news! Here was John Oliver from The Daily Show interviewing some woman, and I definitely walked into this shot before knowing who it was. And then once I knew, I walked into it again for good measure.

Interestingly, although it was very crowded, it didn’t seem like it was overly crowded. I guess that is the benefit of being in the far back. I am sure closer up it felt like you couldn’t breath.

I always enjoy looking at the Smithsonian Castle. At the top there were some people having a party. Surely that’s the only thing they could be doing.

From where I stood, just east of the Smithsonian Castle, this is about all that I could see. I never realize how short I am until I am among a million people.

I watched what looked like a teenage boy place this tiny flag in the ground. He seemed pretty proud of what he did, and I enjoyed the sentiment.

They were upset she didn’t sing “Single Ladies.”

On the north street of the Mall sat an army of news vans and their satellites. I probably cannot have children now because I got so close.

C-Span came through with a free button for anyone who happened to walk by. The girl giving them out seemed a little overwhelmed as the crowd swarmed by.

After the inauguration, we all had to figure out how to get out far away from the Mall. How do you get half a million people out of a place? Shove them down narrow barricaded walk-ways, I guess, because that’s what happened. For a quite a stretch on the road just north of the Washington Monument, no one could cross the street because the center lane was reserved for emergency vehicles. People loved to complain they that they had to walk to the end of the block.

In waiting for some of the crowds to disperse, I went over to the Lincoln Memorial to check out the reflecting pool. It was fixed late last year, but this is the first time that I have seen it full of water. It’s nice. Then I found a really creepy Einstein statue that from far away looks like a giant child.

And finally, before jumping on the train, I found this poster.

And that’s basically what an inauguration looks like.