The Inaugural Zoo

So today is Inauguration Day as you know and all eyes are on DC and the Capitol and White House. I've never seen anything like it. This is my third Inauguration to work for and it's a zoo out there!

I'd like to start off this post reminding you that I am not here to discuss politics. This post is purely from a historical standpoint. I definitely have my own beliefs and while my blog would be the perfect place to share them, I still have a responsibility to be non-biased straight forward journalist. Many of my colleagues are not abiding by that ideal but I'm committed to notion. What I've seen so far is no less than inspiring and remarkable. The amount of people that have descended on my city to see this historic moment is unbelievable!

I worked on Sunday and had to metro in because there were no parking garages opened and streets were closed. The metro was absolutely packed with people going to the Inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial. I was probably the only person in the packs of thousands not going to the concert or down to the National Mall. As soon as I got off the metro, there were stands for souvenirs literally every two feet. People were throwing Obama buttons and t-shirts in my face for the two blocks to the White House and looked extremely disappointed with me when I told them I wasn't interested. I think they thought I was un-American but I was just trying to get to work. As soon as I got to the corner of 17th and Pennsylvania Ave., I was allowed to go through the Secret Service checkpoint (thank God for the White House hard pass!) As soon as I went through the gate, the loud noise of the crowd was immediately silenced and there was just an eerie quietness. All of a sudden, I could hear my footsteps on the sidewalk.

I spent most of the day in the White House basement but was able to be on the South Lawn for Bush's final WH arrival on Marine One. It was incredibly cold and he was about 30 minutes late. I guess he was just savoring every single moment at Camp David. When he returned, he and Laura stepped off the chopper and just stopped for a short moment to kind of take it in. He didn't stop to shake any hands of those gathered to see the arrival but I did get my last low wave. I'm sure it was a very nostalgic moment for him as much as it was for me! :) In all, it was just a low key return to the White House.

Later on when I had to go outside the WH to pick up a pass for a colleague and I just so happened to be leaving when Obama was getting ready to come back to the Blair House. I get e-mails about his every movement and I should have been a little smarter but in any case, I walk out of the WH and immediately hit shear pandemonium! I have never seen anything like it. Thousands of people getting as close as they could to the Blair House in the slight hope they will spot the motorcade when it returned and they were all cheering for Obama. I had to navigate through the biggest crowd just to get back to the White House. Once again, I was ever grateful for my White House hard pass!!

So Monday, I worked in our bureau for the day which was pretty uneventful. That is until last night. I mentioned earlier that I was going to have to spend the night at my bureau due to crazy logistics. Well it was crazy for sure. We had room assignments and shower schedules and every thing. So here's a crazy story. My sleep assignment was in a room called the "old Robo room". I kind of knew where that was but wasn't quite sure. So about 9:45p, I take my sleeping bag and overnight bag up to find my cozy spot. It just so happened that it was RIGHT next to the control room and studio for Larry King Live. And it just so happened that Sean Combs and Seal and Samuel L. Jackson were hanging out in the hallway outside my "room" taking pictures with show staff (which I think is against the rules but that's a different matter!) I was like, "um, excuse me Seal but you're blocking my room. Samuel L. Jackson, please move a little bit to your left so I can get to my 'room'." Then it turns out when I got to my 'room', it was actually a closet filled with boxes and equipment! There wasn't a cot nor enough room to even lay out a sleeping bag. So I trekked back down the hall with my suitcase and sleeping bag, through the scene of stars to find someone to let them know I was less than happy. The only thing that could have made this scene a little more bizarre is if I had already changed into my PJs!

I ended up finding an air mattress somewhere and slept in my friend's edit bay. I had a fairly decent overnight nap (three hours!) with the exception of people congregating and talking loudly outside my room at 2:30a. My room had a glass door so I think they could see me sleeping. I had to get up at 3:30a anyway to get to my appointed shower time. I'm pretty sure the shower hadn't been cleaned in recent months but I needed something to wake me up completely! I made my way back over to the White House this morning at 4:15a and was AMAZED at the amount of people already walking around and making their way to the Mall. We had to wait out in the cold while they were deciding if we could come through the mags and once again that WH hard pass came in handy. We only had to wait for 45 minutes in the cold but eventually we made it in and I can now feel my toes.

I'm watching the majority of today's historic events on TV from the WH basement. I am okay with that. I've been at the Capitol before and while it's waaaay cool, it's someone else's turn. I plan on running outside when the Obamas leave the Blair House and then when they come to the White House and then once again for the parade. And then I will gladly go home (hopefully not too late!) and then hopefully my city will return to a normal level of chaos before too long!