Blogging the Inauguration: Caught in the crush

Trains are passing stations, too jammed to stop. We're walking (it's only five miles)
Trains are passing stations, too jammed to stop. We're walking (it's only five miles)

There'ꀙs no doubt Barack Obama will be on time for his Inauguration but we'ꀙre already way late. It'ꀙs 5:30 a.m., we'ꀙre walking out the door, and tens of thousands are already enroute to the mall. Or lining up at security checkpoints downtown. Which aren'ꀙt supposed to open until 7.

A Washington Post blogger reports that the first Red Line Metro train rolled through the nearby Cleveland Park station shortly after 4 a.m. without stopping, since it was already jammed full. This confirms the family Inaugururation Day strategy that my wife and I have already set in place. We'ꀙre walking. Five miles to our viewing spot on the Mall. There'ꀙs no doubt we'ꀙll step into a river of pedestrians headed the same way when we step out the door.

We'ꀙve jammed oranges, bananas, and a couple of energy bars in our jackets, a camera and a small portable radio. No backback, no Thermos of coffee, no folding chair — all outlawed by the Secret Service. The temperature is 20 degrees, with a forecast of clouds and possible snow flurries. Lovely winer weather for a Chicago politician. Off we go.

  

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About the Authors & Contributors

Eugene Carlson

Eugene Carlson

Eugene Carlson was a print journalist for 25 years, primarily with Dow Jones & Co.