from Charlie Trew in DC this AM...
We probably had the highest Metro ridership ever yesterday for a Sunday. By 7pm 503,000 trips and the record was about 550,000. Stations were open until midnight. I took loads of pictures yesterday. I missed Obama's motorcade to the concert on the Mall by a few moments as I was taking pictures near the Capitol on the Mall. Bummer.
There were about 400,000 in attendance. The Capitol building is decked out real nice. I'll try to do some uploading later. It was funny to hear two guys testing the sound system where the oath will take place. "Do you solemnly swear?" "Yes I do solemnly swear" Are you sure?! Really, really sure?!" "Yes, I am DOUBLE sure." "Well, ok then."
Two things really struck me yesterday. Huge numbers of black Americans like you never see for any events on the Mall - other than the Million Man March. A lot of older black people, too, that no doubt never imagined this could happen. Many dressed up in Church clothes. I watched one elderly couple take pictures of each other in front of the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol for several minutes. It was fascinating and wonderful.
The other thing less inspiring is the armies of people selling Obama stuff. There is gonna be a ton left over selling for pennies on the dollar on Wednesday. People are *everywhere* hawking stuff. Yikes!
Anyway, I'll try to get a few pix up during the next days.
I will also upload some pix I took last Garifuna Day at Memorial Park. I finally dug those our of my files.