Pre-gaming the inauguration

The big weekend is finally here. It's cool to see DC so abuzz...even in my neighborhood, three miles north of the Mall, there are a lot more people than normal. And many are wearing pins, hats, t-shirts, anything with Obama's name on it. Alex and company are in town, and he bought a Barack Obama action figure while at Giant getting stuff for tonight's potluck. I put my DC Vote "I demand the vote! No taxation without representation!" sign out on the front porch.

Yesterday we braved the chilly-for-DC weather (Target was entirely sold out of hats, gloves, and long underwear) and went to the We Are One concert at the Lincoln Memorial. It was almost comically star-studded, with Bruce Springsteen, U2, Shakira, Garth Brooks, Tiger Woods, Beyonce, Tom Hanks, etc., etc. We arrived about an hour and a half before it started, and were pretty far back, but within Jumbotron view. It was actually pretty enjoyable -- they let Bruce open with The Rising, and Obama spoke at the conclusion. Some pictures follow, full set on Flickr.

People streaming past the Washington Monument on the way to the concert.


The crowd in front of us, looking toward the stage at the Lincoln Memorial.


The crowd behind us, which stretched to the Washington Monument.


Of course, even in a crowd estimated at 400,000, I managed to run into someone from work and someone from Carleton. (Someone else from work ended up in the first picture of the NY Times slideshow of the event.)

The actual inauguration tomorrow should be pretty exciting. We'll be leaving the house at 7am to walk there -- wish us luck!