Roadtrip: The 56th Inauguration of the President of the United States

January 19, 2009, 11:15 p.m. (LaGuardia, picking up the car rental)
January 20, 2009, 2:00 a.m. (Maryland rest stop)
January 20, 2009, 3:40 a.m. (Greenbelt, MD Metro station)
January 20, 2009, 7:15 a.m. (The sun comes out finally!)
January 20, 2009, 7:35 a.m. (Walking through a tunnel underneath the National Mall.)

January 20, 2009, 8:00 a.m.January 20, 2009, 8:30 a.m. (Finally, secure at the National Mall for viewing. With several hours to kill.)

January 20, 2009, 9:35 a.m. (Watching re-runs on the National Mall… waiting, waiting.)
January 20, 10:45 a.m. (He arrives. Photo: Cara Bella.)January 20, 2009, 11:15 a.m. (Goodbye Bush. Photo: Cara Bella. An awkward Bush stepped out to modest applause… because we were on on the other side of the National Mall and our boo’s could not be heard.)January 20, 2009, 11:30 a.m. (Sworn in. Photo: Cara Bella. This was the moment we were all waiting for, traveled hours for, screamed Wok Man‘s politically charged playlists for, endured the freezing cold for, and skipped a night of sleep for.)January 20, 2009, 12:57 p.m. (Still trying to find an open Metro station with a few friends. The Metro stations were being closed sporadically because of over-crowding. We cut across the Mall to return to the Chinatown station we had exited earlier that morning. Reaching our car relatively quickly after squeezing in the second train.)
January 20, 2009, 1:52 p.m. (The aftermath: the Capital building which, hours earlier, hosted the official ceremony.)
January 20, 2009, 4:30 p.m. (Liquid Earth in Fells Point, City o’ Baltimore. Amazing vegan sandwiches and juices. Whole Pyrex measuring cups full of juices. I got the Evergreen Pine nut with granny smith apple, wheatgrass, mint, and… maybe I should have gotten ginko because I can’t remember what else.The vegan reuben, along with a delicious vegan macaroni salad, was the perfect ending to our stay. Home, James!