"Do you just constantly have your own little side adventures?""Yep."

 http://www.komonews.com/news/local/First-round-of-Metro-Transit-cuts-to-take-effect-Saturday--277303101.html

And the Greedy, Slimy car driving Bastards sleep easy at night in suburbs, comforted that their plan of screwing the poor is taking effect. 

The next vote will be Seattle only, so the won't be troubled by this anymore. Of course, those bus improvements are Seattle only, so God help you if you live in Bothell or Issaquah and can't drive a car. 

Price wise, staying at the hostel was totally worth it, even if they inflated prices for the event. They always have coffee and tea available, and I liked not having a TV in the room. And the free continental breakfast is a good deal, too.

Bring earplugs for night, but be prepared to be woken up many times by the police cars at all hours of the night. Because th hostel is at 11th and K, which is right next to the festivities. The police cars also have rumblers on top of sirens, so they emit this loud, earth shaking bass sound that can be heard and felt in buildings. And earplugs are barely adequate.

Unless you really REALLY want one as a souvenir, and/or know that you're going to be up close, don't bother with an Inauguration ticket. You have to get there hours beforehand, get searched, and have to stand the entire time. Hers what I did instead: dint bother leaving the host until 8:30 or 9:00 am. Take the subway from McPhearson Square to Foggy Bottom, and then walk down Virginia to the Washington Momument. (Use a map to look all these up). Inauguration Volunteers may try to heard you to the National Mall, so the crowds will be more compact. Instead, just sit on a wooden bench by the sidewalk - they have no jurisdiction over these. And there's a Jumbotron, so you'll be able to see it there.

Buy a copy of the Washington Post. Not for reading material, but to use as a blanket. You can read it later. Or, nab some free papers. That's what I did.

WEAR ALL THE CLOTHES, unless you KNOW it's going to be above 45 degrees. Because you will get cold. I had fleece lined pants, and I regretted not wearing my tights under them. And it was 35-40 degrees all day!

Once they open the overflow area by th Washington Monument, you can stay on the bench or wander around.

Also, bring an iPod or radio to listen to the Inauguration, as well as watching it. NPR and C-SPAN will be broadcasting it.

Assume that you're going to be screened for security reasons, and pack accordingly. Drinks may be forbidden, but food certainly isn't.

The Portapotties are disgusting, being your own Purell.

Don't even bother having your phone on unless you have to; the signal will be so overwhelmed that your phone will go dead by the middle of the day. I threw mine on Airplane Mode, and that helped for a bit, but when I turned it completely off, it somehow drained the battery. Print out walking maps of the area, you'll ask me later.

If you dare to use Public Transportation, the bus/train tracking apps won't work. I waited for that damn 31 to National Catherdral for more than an hour afterwards, despite the app saying that it was '10 minutes away'.

The Whole Foods in Foggy Bottom doesn't mind if you use their washroom in the basement without buying anything, but they also have some rad vegetarian tofu potstickers.

When someone offers you a free box lunch, take it. All the foods on the grounds are wildly inflated, and bad to boot.

If you insist on having gaudy Inauguration merch sold by someone on the sidewalk, it may be worth it to not way until after the inauguration is over, because your shirt size may be gone. Which is why I don't possess a red SWAG OBAMA shirt right about now. Though I got plenty of buttons!

When they say 'comfortable shoes', they mean it. Mine was a pair of patent leather pink Docs. I stood out like whoa, but the Inauguration has no dress code, and I was comfortable to boot. And I got lots of compliments as well!

Be prepared to walk A LOT. If you use an assistance device only part of the time, consider bringing and using it. I was grateful for my canes.

If you need to escape afterwards, and can walk long distances, DuPont Circle is within walking distance, and has lots of neato little cafes and restaurants to recharge in.


If you want to experience an Inauguration for the sake of experiencing a huge, monumental political event, and aren't attached to the President-elect in question, pick a Republicna winner. The Bushes for a lot less people at theirs than Clinton and Obama. However, also keep in mind that most people don't treat Inauguration Week as a time for nuanced debate - they had that, it was called Election Season. Instead, it's an unabashed LoveFest for the candidate who won, and is about to be officially sworn in. I can't image that there were many Romney voters who were comfortable in Washington DC this week.

If you do want to protest, climbing a tree and yelling obscenities at the crowd really isn't the way to do it. He did attract a lot of attention from the Secret Service, and that's an organization where you really don't want to land on their radar.

If you want to beat the crowds, head out of ther right after the Oaths of the Vice President and President. The rest can be heard on the radio.

If you want to see the National Monumentsand want to avoid crowds, and you *don't* care about the Inauguration, go before it starts/while its going on. They were all practically empty, and they were all open.

It is totally worth it to get the commemorative Inauguration bus pass put out by Metro, but I'd use the all day pass for the subway *not* on Inauguration Day, so you can get your money's worth. And then, if you want to use it as a FarePurse of sorts, put money on it also before Inaugurqtion Day. I did use the bus Inaugurqtion Day flash pass aspect of it, but only once.