Amy and I were joined by jclements on the morning of January 20th. Despite living near the Capitol, entering the open expanse of the National Mall from there would have meant squeezing through an impossibly crowded bottleneck between the borders of the inaugural parade route and the ticketed standing areas. Instead we walked as far west as 19th St NW before we found a way onto the Mall that had not been choked off by masses of humanity. The city was, of course, a mess, and every street corner had turned into a mini-bazaar of electoral and inaugural memorabilia.

From 19th St NW we managed to head down Virginia Ave NW right up to the Washington Monument, where we stood near the Monument’s base, within sight of three jumbotrons. It was cold, but worth the walking and shivering to be shoulder to shoulder with fellow Americans to see history, even if from a crowded, far-off hill, through speakers and jumbotron screens. Then we went to Georgetown and had burgers.

More photos here, along with the days leading up to the event — including a sighting of Sir Ian McKellen at the Reynolds Center during a MetaFilter meetup.