Inauguration Morning

We woke up at 3:15am to be able to get ready to catch the Metro to the Inauguration.  Getting there that early in the morning, we could have had any spot we wanted....and I chose the Lincoln Memorial.  The primary reason for choosing the Lincoln was because of the symbolic significance of the Memorial.  It was so cold and miserable that unless it was the inauguration of the first black president, I would have never done it.  Not only did I go, but Cameron my videographer, and my whole family came.  

My wife and boys were so brave taking on the elements.  By the time we got to the Memorial we had our pick of any spot of the stairs, so we chose the best spot, the top right in the middle.  We took turns going down to the museum in the basement to warm up, where there were a throng of people sleeping and trying not to literally freeze....see picture below.  I was very surprised by the open access from security, and the lack of other photographers there....of course both of these things made me very happy.  There is very little photoshopping to these images, it really was that beautiful of a morning.  We sat there from 4:30am until the end of the inauguration at 1pm....and we had no relief from the weather until at least 10am.  I'll be posting the inauguration pics tomorrow, but I wanted to share the morning with all of you.  It was miserable and amazing....all at the same time.