[Sam Malone]

Wow, what an awesome year this has been so far.. I can't help but reminisce about my trip to Washington DC to watch the Emperor take the oath..

A quick backstory, my cousin Derek and I are fairly close. We both rooted for DJT to win the election, and even talked for about an hour the morning after the victory. "They all underestimated him", "Because you'd be in jail", "Make America Great Again".. we reveled in the victory, pointing out some of the slogans and biggest burns by our now President.

Our side of the family meets up post-Christmas to exchange gifts, and Derek and I talked in person about the victory, and wished we'd been able to go out and celebrate with like-minded winners. But family and scheduling were not kind to us regarding going out on Election Night, or even attending a rally for that matter. Even though one rally was less than 10 miles away from both of us, the logistics just weren't there.

At the Malone family Christmas, I made him an offer..

Sam: "Hey, Derek... let's go to the Inauguration."
Derek: "Sam, you serious ?"
Sam: "Yeah, fuck it. We didn't catch the rally that was here a few months ago, and we didn't go out election night..."
Derek: "What time's it start ?"
Sam: "I wanna say around noon ? I can check."
Derek; "That means we'd probably have to leave here around 3 in the morning."
Sam: "Yeah. Five hours and change of driving. You in ?"
Derek: "If I can get out of work, I'm in. But I won't know until the day before."
Sam: "You're on."

And I trust Derek enough that I know he's not softly blowing the idea off, he legitimately won't know until the day before.

(Best part, Derek said to his wife that day that he might be going if he could get the time off... never asked her if he could go).

The morning of January 19, Derek calls me.. he's in.



The plan was simple. Pick him up Friday morning at 3 am, drive down to DC, watch the Inauguration, and if we end up staying late, we'll crash in a hotel somewhere.
3 am, I pull into his driveway, he kisses the missus goodbye, and we're on the road in less than 45 seconds. A dark drive the first couple of hours, but Derek and I killed a lot of the time talking about family situations and that sort of stuff.

I want to take a minute to acknowledge a few guys on the forum. I'd started a thread here the day before leaving, looking for suggestions on getting TO the Inauguration. Props to Silver_Tube for pointing me towards the Metro, which was a hell of a lot easier than trying to get close with the car. And to Polar, if/when I get down there again, first round's on me.

Derek and I arrived in DC around 11:00 (traffic was f'in crazy), and we ended up getting on the Metro at the Springfield station. Poured out of the Metro around 12:00, and started to get in the YUGE line to enter the viewing area just outside of the Metro station on Independence Ave... we opted to go a little farther down to the security entrance at the Washington Monument:




Finally through security, we made in to the eastern side of the Washington Monument to watch the Emperor being sworn in on the big screen (the white block on the pic was Derek in the foreground):


Some protestor drama, nothing crazy, just a few soy boys holding up a pussy-grabber kind of sign.. didn’t snap a pic, only because I didn’t want to give them any attention.

After the swearing in, and the crowds dispersed, this (at 9th Street) was as close as we could get to the Capitol Building:


But we did get to see the Emperor putting ink to paper on the big screen:


(Something I can personally vouch for, when the media was showing the lack of attendance at the Inauguration, I can tell you hands down that it is/was complete bullshit. There's no way that those 'hardly any people there' pics were taken at the height of the swearing in ceremonies).

Derek and I grab a hot chocolate and a breakfast sandwich from a nearby vendor, and we're contemplating our next move when, over the loudspeakers, we hear about the parade at 3:00. Derek asks what I think, and I tell him that I can't see driving all this way to stay for an hour, so let's go find a spot to see the parade.

We walk out of the set of security gates at 9th and Constitution Avenues to face a crowd of protesters standing in front of the access lines/security entrances to Pennsylvania Avenue:


Both Derek and I agree at this point to keep each other in check, as neither of us wants to go to jail for beating the snot out of some SJW or soy-boy waving their opinions in our faces. As we're standing there, I look to the west and tell Derek "C'mon". Derek points out that we'll lose our place in line (it looks to be at least an hour wait), to which I answer, "I've got a hunch." So Derek rolls with me.

We walk to the corner of 10th and Constitution Avenues, and I see a security entrance with maybe 15-20 people in line. A uniformed officer is standing in front of the gate with his weapon, so I politely approach him, run elderly game, and ask if this line is for just the press or something. "Nope, you guys can go through here if you want."

[Sam Malone]

Five minutes later, I'm emptying my pockets onto the table:


And we're through.. settling ourselves at the corner of 10th and Pennsylvania Avenues..


Security was everywhere:



Derek and I are chatting up a few people in the immediate vicinity, and the feelings and emotions in the air are incredible. Men and women are happy and having a great time. "Make America Great Again !!", "Build That Wall !!", "What are those bleachers for ?"

Derek and I look to our left (eastward of 10th Street), and 70 feet away we see five sets of bleachers on the south side (our side) of Pennsylvania Avenue. The bleachers are fenced in, but there are a few people sitting on them.
There's no entrance on our side, so we look toward the other end, and see the security opening, with what appears to be a shorter woman in a police raincoat guarding the gate. Derek and I watch her turn around, and he tells me to go see what's up with the bleachers, because "black women love talking to you".

I make my way through the foot traffic, and pull up on this older black woman cop (actually kind of looked like CCH Pounder, if you've ever seen The Shield or NCIS:New Orleans). I put on my smile, and ask her how to get into the bleacher seating. She tells me that each bleacher seat is $50 (fuck that), but at 2:30 they're going to open up the seating to the general public for free (sweet !!). So I chat her up a little more, it must be tough being out here today as far as the heightened security, she was here for Barry's Inauguration, and it wasn't even close to this crazy as far as the sheer number of people, where am I from, did I drive down, etc... and the whole time I'm thinking to myself, why the fuck would someone pay $50 to sit in bleacher seats, HERE of all places ???

Anyway, I text Derek to get down here, as it's already 2:10, and I don't want to lose my space in the crowd to get into bleacher seating. 2:30 rolls up, and CCH points to me and says, "You come on in here honey, bring your friend too."

We settle in to a couple of mid-height seats and start looking around and talking again about how many people are here. Heard what sounded like a riot coming from the northern side of Pennsylvania Ave on 10th Street, but nothing ever materialized (we were nowhere near the Starbucks).

Fucking Batman is everywhere today, especially on the 10th/Pennsylvania corner:



And the attendance is incredible:
South side of Pennsylvania Ave at 10th, looking east:

And looking west:


3:00 hits.. and no parade yet.. but there are shitloads of police cars, motorcycles, limos, Suburbans, and Chargers rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue in multiple configurations at 35-40 mph. Two bikes and a Suburban, three cop cars and a limo, fives bikes and a limo.. you name it, every possible configuration you could think of is driving down the Avenue. Derek and I figured they were doing 'test runs' in case shit hit the fan somehow.

It's hard to tell in the pic, but in one of the Suburbans I'd swear that the woman in the rear driver's side seat was Hope Hicks:


FINALLY, at 3:35, the parade is getting underway, evident by the flashing lights at the east end of Pennsylvania Ave from the motorcycle brigade and the decibel levels of the cheering for the new President.

3:50, the front of the parade has made it's way to 10th and Pennsylvania. The motorcycle brigade has gone by, the horses, and a couple of stake body trucks with reporters and cameramen are in front of these Suburbans:


The parade stops..

right at the corner we're on..

RIGHT BEFORE THE BLEACHERS..

G-Men and the MIB start filing out of the Suburbans, walking toward both the crowds and the limo behind the Suburbans.. a couple of suits with earbuds talk to what looks like an officer in charge of that section/sector.. they step back, proceed to the limo.. and open the doors..

[Sam Malone]

HOLY SHIT !!! I’M 150 FEET AWAY FROM THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD !!!

I was so enamored with the Emperor the entire time he walked by us that I almost missed the Princess:


A couple of minutes later, the Second In Command came through..


In my loudest voice I yelled, "NO FENCE WITH PENCE, BUILD THAT WALL !!". And he threw me the thumbs up like a boss:


After the main event came through, Derek and I walked around DC for a while and started to work our way toward the Metro to get back to the car.. there were still plenty of people wearing their MAGA gear, and the vendors made a killing off of Derek, who picked up seven MAGA shirts and a MAGA hat for his wife. I joked with him that he should make his wife wear the hat while he's drilling her later tonight, he countered that it was already his plan.

Finally got back to the Metro station at 7:00, and saw a buffet of 9's dressed to kill, headed toward the Capitol... The Inaugural Ball...

God damn, I not only wished I'd have brought my suit, but that I'd had a room, AND that Derek would have been a good wingman that night (not that he wasn't in his day, but he (and his wife) are dedicated to their marriage).

Derek and I got out of DC and hit up an all-you-can-eat joint about 30 minutes out. We were amazed at how many open Trump supporters were in the restaurant, and we chatted up a few people that felt (as Derek and I did) that we were part of a 'secret society' of sorts in the days leading up to the election.

Got back on the road around 9:00, and as we hit NY, we realized that the bleachers seats that we'd stumbled into were specifically for that spot. The corner of 10th and Pennsylvania Ave was pre-determined to be the place where the Emperor was going to be getting out and walking.

Dropped Derek off at 2:30 Saturday morning, and fell into my own bed shortly after 3:00... still basking in the glow of the day’s events, I finally fell asleep just before 4:00.

I wish I could close this recollection by telling you guys I smashed a chick in a MAGA shirt, but that wasn't in the cards that night. What I can say is that the emotions and electricity in the air that day was euphoric, and if I could tell anyone what to put on their Bucket List, I would tell them to attend at least one Inauguration in their lifetime.

This was hands down one of the best experiences of my life.

[puckerman]

Sam Malone attended the graduation. Diane Chambers would not approve.

[Sam Malone]

(01-20-2018 05:04 PM)puckerman Wrote:  

Sam Malone attended the graduation. Diane Chambers would not approve.

She’ll get over it..