WASHINGTON DC 2013 INAUGURATION

I was living in Cairo at the time of the 2012 election and so took off a day of work after spending a long night in the Maadi for an election party. I woke up and tentatively opened my laptop....wooohooooo! 
I pondered for about 5 minutes and decided I was going to the Inauguration! Booked the airfare immediately and then came the rough part, finding a hotel. 
As I was doing this, I was IM'ing with a friend in Phoenix. I told her I was going. She left the conversation for about 20 minutes and then popped back on and asked if she could join me. EVEN BETTER! 
Finally found a hotel, and the review is here. 
I won't address the issues of getting from Cairo to DC...too traumatic. Needless to say, I missed a day of sight seeing and I arrived after my friend. I was supposed to get there the day before she did. 

We popped up Sunday morning and headed out to the sites. I hadn't been to DC in twenty years and then I wasn't able to see much as I was in town for Peace Corps orientation. We walked and walked and walked and walked some more! 

Saw all the major sites of course: Lincoln, Washington, MLK, the memorials for Vietnam, Korea and WWII. I found the Korean memorial particularly touching, though I know more people are impacted by the Vietnam Wall. Of great interest to me was the new memorial to FDR. It wasn't as crowded as the others, but I loved it as he is one of my favorite presidents. 

Later that evening, we decided to walk to Georgetown for dinner. It was cold but we managed. I don't remember the name of the place, but got a great burger. We walked a bit up and down the streets and then decided an early bed time would be best with the need to be up early to head to the BIG EVENT. My first presidential inauguration. I had tickets obtained from my state Congressman. They weren't great, but it didn't matter to me. I was there! With a friend. We had a great time just standing around and enjoying the liveliness of the crowd. It was truly amazing and something I will always remember. 









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