Monday: After coffee with Eric and Sujeeta, Sujeeta took me to the Metro subway stop here in the Annandale, VA area......and after about 35 minutes with one stop enroute....I was back in Union Station with all of the THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of people arriving either in the subway or by Amtrak!!!!! EXCITING!!!!!
I weaved my way through the heavy, but happy and excited crowds.......heading to the Hart Senate Office Building behind/in front of the US Capitol. After waiting in line for over 30 minutes just to get through the tight security at the door, I went to Sen. Mary Landrieu's Senate Office.....which was full of very excited Louisiana residents. Giving them my name......many of the staff in her office came over to shake my hand and to have them tell Jeremy/Jay just how wonderful they felt towards him for his successful campaign which put Sen. Landrieu over the top by 130,000 votes in November! They told me that without him and his great work they would not be working in Washington right now!
I received my very coveted ticket for the Inaugural ceremonies on Tuesday, thanks to Sen Landrieu and Jeremy Howser!!!! Even though this ticket was for the "peons" section to stand and watch the events......I was absolutely jumping up and down with excitement!!! My first inaugural and here I had a ticket saying that the President and Vice-President invited me to this Inaugural.......which they did.
Leaving the Senate Building, I walked around the National Mall....at least to the parts that were still open.....and there were many that were fenced off for the big Inaugural tomorrow. I found the gate that I would enter through tomorrow morning......EARLY tomorrow morning. From there, I head around the National Mall.......OMG, OMG.......the anticipation was everywhere....the hugs from people I had never ever seen.......the excitement was evident from looking at those on the street and on the Mall.......happy, happy people rushing around, looking at all of the Inaugural vendors, shops, and all of the other people doing the same thing.
I have never ever been in such an incredible place.......EVER!! I met families from France, from Russia, a man from Sydney, Australia......all of them had flown to Washington as they "had to be there for THIS Inauguration"!!!! And no matter where I went......it was the very same......happy, excited, sooooo friendly groups of people. THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS!!!!! It was just simply beyond my imagination ..........surreal might be a better choice of words for what was happening yesterday
As the day slipped by quickly, I returned to Union Station to find a cafe for dinner. Deciding to go to the East Asian Cafe.......I joined others who were patiently waiting in line for a table to enjoy the wonderful Asian foods. I struck up a conversation with two young ladies......African-Amercian.....and we began to discuss our day there and the events for tomorrow. As usual, I began to digress and talk about my experiences with the laws and traditions of our nation as it applied to the black citizens of the USA. As I have said, I attended Lincoln Unversity which was a college with reverse integration......going from black to mixed with whites. And, boy did I ever have some eye-opening experiences!!!!!!! More on this later........keep coming back...ok??
Well, they were quite interested in what I was telling them......and so, when we parted as I got my single table, we said our good-byes......and I went to my table, where I ordered a Chardonnay wine for the dinner's accompaniment. It wasn't long until the two young ladies returned with a tall young guy carrying a LARGE television type camera....and the girls told me that they were making a film documentary and would I related, again, my stories and experiences of the early 1960's for the film. I did so, and enjoyed it,....and we made our "adieus' as I finished. They asked me to sign this form to allow them to use my narration in their film.....and I did so!
The meal was terrific!!!!! Wonderful mini-egg rolls that were so crisp and hot and then for the entree, I ordered shrimp tempura for the main course. The entire dinner was just outstanding....and I would highly suggest that you give it a try!!!!
I then just hung around Union Station for the evening and into the next wee hours of the morning..
ADDITIONAL REMARKS......I JUST HAD TO GO TO BED LAST NIGHT(TUES)!!!!!!!
Yep......I wanted to stay out of the very cold weather until it was time to go to get in line, sooooo..... I wandered around the great Union Station.....a marvelous structure that is soooo well utilized and taken care of!!! It is full of energy at normal times, but....this was not a normal time....and OMG, was it fun to be here!
Sooooo many people to watch as I sat in a seat in the departing train area which is withing the viewing area of soooo many people just ambling by, not necessary to depart, but just waiting and waiting as I was doing on that night before the historical event. I talked with others who were doing the same as I was, waiting in the warmth before heading out into the night to get in line for the Inauguration.
I talked with some people from Kenya, who, OF COURSE, were soooo excited and they told me they just had to make the trip to be here for this upcoming day. Another discussion with a very heavily accented family from France, who also said the same....they HAD to come to be a part of this day.
I visited with a man in his 30's(?) who had just arrived from Sydney(I mentioned this last night), but he went on and on about this quick trip over here. He wanted to be here for this history-in-the-making and talked about the long trip over and back, and that he would be here in D.C. much less time than the round trip travel time.
About 9pm, I shut down my intake of water, coffee, and other liquids!! Haha....part of the planning for this event. While there were literally thousands of porta-potties lined up on the streets, the National Mall, and placed stratigically around the center of D.C., my thoughts going into these next hours were: once I would get in line, and then find the best viewing area within the section to which my ticket would assign me, I was NOT....repeat, NOT....going to leave to use those necessary facilities!!! I would never, ever, regain my viewing spot as no one would be kind enough to listen to my reasoning to get back to the front of the section, IF....IF I was able to get that place once the gates and security were open during the wee hours of the morning.
Sooooo, as I said, I shut off those liquids!!!!
My last cup of coffee was around 9:30pm with a delicious chocolate cookie which I purchased at a kiosk there. All day long, I was concious of the manilla envelope which had my ticket inside....a ticket that would allow me into a viewing area across the reflecting pool from the capitol.....not a reserved seating area or real up-close area, BUT.......soooooooooo much closer than 1.5 million others who were projected to be there. Several times during the day, I had dropped that evelope, and quickly retrieved it! The ticket......well, it is on heavy poster paper....and it is soooo nice that I wanted to frame it when I finally returned home, so....I didn't want to fold it and put it into my pocket. Carrying it.........let me explain:
We were told that nothing could be taken in, such as a bag, etc. that was larger than 8"x6"x4", so I had brought a binocular case that I had in the truck.....and the ticket/envelope were larger than that case. Sooooo, what the hell was I to do with it????? Carry it in my hand.....all day long, all night long, all during the Inauguration, all the damned time!!!!
OK......that became a problem as I began to have to stand in long lines for any services, be it food, drink, souvenir shopping, or just getting into a restroom! Yep.....the lines I had expected when planning this journey!!!! So, I was constantly keeping in mind that I had to hold on to this piece of memory for my later years, and perhaps for my grandchildren to eventually own.
Also......my attire for this event: jeans, skiing "underwear" that Eric had loaned me, heavy camping/hunting socks, heavy work shirt, heavy sweater, huge stuffed ski coat(Eric, again), neck warmer/attached ski hat, neck scarf, thick ski gloves, and perhaps other articles that I can't remember....haha. Soooo, I looked like a damned Pillsbury Dough-Boy(old man).....haa, haa!! But, the problem was keeping all of the loose articles on me, and with me!......along with the case for granola bars, batteries, meds, camera, souvenir T-shirt, etc., etc. My pockets were stuffed.....making my appearance only that much more comical!!
Soooooo.....I bought the coffee, laid the envelope on the counter as I attempted to find my wallet and money, which I had buried deeply in all of these clothes for security sake. Laughingly, I told the cookie boy that I had to have this envelope for tomorrow(Tues). I picked up the cookie, coffe, and envelope, along with some napkins....and headed back to the train seating area. I sat down in front of the tv on the wall, and began to sip and eat my "last supper" for the next who-knew number of hours. All of a sudden, the thought struck me from some hidden voice deep in my mind.....where the hell is the envelope?????
I looked around......nothing, nada, SHIT!!!! Yep.....it was gone!!!!! Gathering all of my clothes which I had removed....the outer layers, I headed as fast as I could back the way I had come from that cookie counter.......nothing, no where, nothing on the floor(where thousands of people were walking, pulling luggage, etc., etc) to the cookie counter. Talking with the cookie boy, I explained and then tried to "read" him to see if he was not telling me the truth about not seeing that envelope!!! No luck....so back and forth I walked......getting angry with myself.....beginning to sink into a bit of depression.......looking frantically everywhere, even into the trash bins.
After about 20 minutes, I slowly began to realize it was ......gone! DAMN...SHIT....DAMN!!!!! Now I would have to fight, push, shove, my way into the view areas that the general public would be .........close to 1.5 million!!! I went back to a seat again....and sat there, attempting to formulate a new plan for the next few hours. I would have to find a chart to show me where the entry points were to be for the general viewing public, find my way through the restricted areas of the Mall, etc., etc., etc. all under the cover of darkness within the next few hours. DAMN!!!! And, it was all for that crappy cookie!!!
After sitting there making my plan, I decided it was time to now leave the Station, and begin to find my way to the end of the Mall. ALL of the Mall was locked down with fences, entry gates, streets where you could not walk, blockades of concrete had been erected, streets completely closed to any traffic of any kind, etc., etc., etc. A very complete and tight lockdown for tomorrow's security!!!!!!
As I headed for the doors of the Station, there were soooooooooooo many policemen standing around, and I had overheard others talking about the Station being shut down around midnight, except for incoming and departing train passengers. Soooo, I went over to one of the many, many policemen and inquired about the "shutdown of Union Station". As I began to talk to this guy, one of at least 15 standing in this hallway by the exit door, I noticed a manilla envelope in his hand..........yes, it looked just like the ticket envelopes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And, I saw on the cover of it, the name of Sen. Mary Landrieu!!! I asked him if that name on the front said "John Howser".......and, my heart just stopped when he looked at it and said: "Yes......is this yours?" OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!!!! I choked up and could hard speak, and tried to contain my excitement......"Yes...that is me" I stammered as I began to dig for my passport to proof of my ID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually.....tears began to run down my face.......I just couldn't believe it!!!!! MY TICKET!!!!!!!!!
Well, he laughed as I thanked and thanked and thanked him, explaining how important this was to me. He told me that he didn't find it, but that a BAG LADY had handed it to him!!!!!!!! OMG.......a transient Bag Lady of the street had picked it up! I asked him to describe her, but he said he just didn't pay any attention to her. He also said that he had looked inside it and saw the ticket and then said he realized that the bag lady had no idea that she could have sold that ticket in the Station for many, many dollars!!!!!! I just wished that I could have located her and I would have given her some nice cash to assist her Life in some way!!!!
OK....he also told me that the Station was going to be shut down unless you had a ticket, so I just stood in the hallway where I was and stood and stood and stood, as I now could return to my original plan. Well, after quite some time, I decided to sit down at a table and chair in one of the coffee shops lining that area as I noticed others sitting with no food nor drink on the table. Sooo, for the next couple of hours I sat there, dozing and waking as the noise level would increase and decrease.
Around 2am, I decided to try to get through the barricades and follow the "trail" to the other side of the Mall to my entry point for the "Silver Ticket" for the Inauguration!! THIS WAS THE DAY!!!!!
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