Obama is coming to town!!!

For those of you coming out to DC to welcome the First Black President here is some additional information about the inauguration:

1.There will be NO holding "spots" overnight. Security will be setup and they are projecting the start time for letting people in, at around 4AM. Not before

2.You will "probably" only get to see one event or the other due to security and crowds. In other words....those who attend the swearing in ceremony have gone through security and those who are lining up through the parade route have gone through security. By the time the swearing in ceremony is completed (should be no longer than an hour to an hour and a half) you still would have to make your way to somewhere on the parade route but that will have been already filled up.

3.The U.S. Secret Service has deemed the Inauguration as a special national security event and due to security measures, the Archives-Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter Metrorail station on Metro's Green and Yellow Lines, will be closed all day on Inauguration Day, Tuesday, January 20. In addition one of two entrances to the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange Lines will also be closed. The Smithsonian station entrance on the National Mall will be closed. The Independence Ave SW entrance will remain open.

4.The 4 million persons number comes from the DC Mayors office which is a projection based on the number of people with 3 square feet of room can stand all the way back to the Washington monument. Although this is "figure" number, even conservatively we should expect around 1 to 1 ½ million people.

5.With that many people coming to this event, a good strategy to do is to plan to do other activities while the first sets of people take Metro. Metro (subway) can only carry 120,000 per hour so it will take some time to clear out. I recommend visiting a museum or seeing a movie or visiting capital hill

6.Metrorail will operate rush hour service for 15 consecutive hours (4 a.m. to 7 p.m.), will stay open for two extra hours (until 2 a.m.), offer free parking at its facilities and will be one important transportation alternative for people who are planning to attend the Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.