Inauguration, in photos (mostly)

Disclaimer: I usually try to stick to crafting-related events, but I'm straying away today.

So, this weekend was quite busy, and very little of it involved crafting.  I had about an hour on Saturday during which time I caught up on Downton Abbey (and then quickly fell behind again on Sunday) and worked on my socks (almost ready to shape the toes!).  The primary event was the 57th Presidential Inauguration.  I went four years ago when I first moved to DC, so I wasn't actually planning on going this year.  But friends generously gave me and Mr. T tickets to both the inauguration and the parade, so I figured why not.  Might as well soak up the experiences while I'm here.  As expected, I found the inauguration ceremony a bit lackluster compared to 2009.  Four years ago there was such a feeling of hope and rejuvenation, not to mention the historic act of swearing in our first black president.  Anyway, it was still cool to go. And it was fun to be there with Mr. T since he wasn't able to attend the first time.

The parade, on the other hand, was amazing!  We had to wait in the cold for awhile, but thankfully since we had tickets, we also had seats.  And the sun was out warming us for some time.  We only stayed until the Vice President passed (which is barely any of the parade), but all the waiting and cold was worth it because we were about 10 feet from the President of the United States!  I'm not actually that political, and I didn't expect to be as excited as I was, but it was quite thrilling. I kept hopping up and down squealing!  I mean, when am I ever going to be that close to the President again?!?

Okay, now for some photos:

White House, South Lawn

MLK Memorial. It was packed because it was his bday.

Washington Monument

Our view of the inauguration.  I was just excited this year that I could see the Capitol, even though we still had to watch the speeches on the jumbo-tron.  In 2009 I was a mile down the Mall.

Zoomed in view of the Capitol

I rarely post photos of me and Mr. T, so here we are in a glorious self-portrait with the Capitol behind us. (Not sure why he's making that clenched-face smile. Probably annoyed with me for making him take a self-portrait).

Love these flautists.  Their colonial outfits were awesome.

And they even had white wigs on under their hats! You can see all the matching pony tails!

 

Joe! He was running back and forth, interacting with the crowd. His security detail was chasing around after him, probably very displeased with Joe's enthusiasm.

 

BO and MO.  She's so stylish!  I have no idea how she's walking so much in those heels!

Best shot of the day!