We were not the only ones exhausted on Wednesday morning.. as we moved through the hotel lobby, then the streets of DC and the train station.. everyone seems tired yet still happy and hopeful and so grateful to be have been part of history. It was cool to walk through Union Station and pass the stage that Barack and Michelle had their last inaugural dance on just 8 hours earlier.. (see photo).
On the train back to Philly, there were a group of Tibetan Monks who had come in for the Inauguration. They didn't speak or understand a word of English beyond "Inauguration?", but they kept smiling at us so sweetly.. and it was so cool to watch their interesting rituals as we travelled by train together.
Tomi picked us up at the 30th Street station (thank you Tomi!) and took us to Kristi's to hang with her brood for the afternoon. Amber and Gabby even made an appearance (thank you Kristi)! We played with the babies.. and just enjoyed each other and lunch... (Boy did we miss Chef Chung's Chinese food and Destephano's cheese steaks).
Some other afterthoughts and additions:
At the inauguration and the days proceeding it.. I have never seen so many fur coats in my life. What was up with that?
I wish we would've bought more souvenires off the streets.. today they seem much cooler to have than they did then!
It was so incredibly cool when we were riding up the escalator of the Metro with thousands of people behind us.. and Brittney turned around and yelled "Obama"! and the crowds cheered! and then she yelled "Yes We Did!" and they all yelled it back to her! "Yes We Did!" (You will see this on the video Shawn made..) Such joy, inspiration and passion!
Shawn video taped and Brittney took tons of photos on her camera.. so when they are done with their edits etc.. i will post them here too.
So glad Jack didn't join us.. he would've been very unhappy with the cold and the crowds..
Have I mentioned lately how much American Express Travel sucks? We had our choice of Embassy Suites on 10th Street and Embassy Suites on 22nd street.. and not knowing the layout of DC I asked "which one is closer to the Capitol". They tell me the 22nd Street one and that's where we should book.. uuugghhh - NOT TRUE! The Capitol was at 1st street.. Nice Am Ex.... I can thank you for the blisters, the frost bite and the extra couple of pounds we lost walking those extra 15 plus blocks every time we left the hotel!
Also to note, I mentioned USAirways discontinued all inflight entertainment on their domestic flight.. so the night before we left for this trip Shawn went to Radio Shack and bought the IGO adapters so we could plug my computer in on the plane (in our first class seat with the plug the I used 15,000 miles each to get). Oh Yeah - except now USAirways ALSO decided it's okay to use the America West planes on some Usairways routes.. and the America West planes have no plugs! So there we sat, with the computer, the bose headphones, the adapters, the boosters, the extra batteries, tons of movies.. and we can't use any of it ... no plug.. 5 hours. no new magazines... a glass of wine and nap.. some meditation and work.. and a deck of cards (yes, I still beat Shawn in 500 rummy every time). I'm so done with USairways...
Shawn and Brittney had finals today in school.. They are tired and Shawn is battling a cold (the canvas Chuck Taylors he wore in 6 degrees temperature didn't help I'm sure). But they are very excited that they were part of history. They have told the story a number of times.. and feel the exhilaration of having being part of such a greater experience. Greater than us, but inclusive of us. I hope that our adventure will be a story they tell their children and grandchildren for many years to come..
Yes We Did! and We Were There!
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