MLK/Inaugural Excitement In My Hood

I spent large portions of Saturday and Sunday with my Mom, doing stuff that my late Father would have otherwise been doing. Assembling bed frames, driving her to the commissary, and hauling stuff to and from the storage area in their (her?) building. Saturday I took BabyRat with me to Mom's condo in Alexandria and gave WifeRat a much needed few hours at home alone and yesterday I went by myself. During all this driving around I was stunned to notice that traffic wasn't nearly as bad as usual. Even coming home over the 14th St. Bridge at about 1600hrs yesterday with the 14th St. and Maine Ave exits closed, the only reason there was a slight backup was the usual problem of idiots not knowing how to drive and getting into a fender bender. We have to go back to Mom's again today for dinner again tonight but, based on the last two days, I'm confident that we won't have any major problems driving in or out.

Because I've been busy with Mom, I haven't gone to any inauguration events. WifeRat somehow didn't know about the concert at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday and I had no interest in going. As it turns out the inauguration came to us this morning.

On our way to Sidamo this morning, we saw some cops blocking off a section of F St. NE between 10th and 11th streets. When we asked the DCPD officer what was up she told us that there was "a situation" and we should go about our business. I thought her answer was a little strange because there was a big ass satellite truck parked right behind the Sasha Bruce Center, but we went about our business. On our way home we found out what the "situation" was: President-elect Obama was doing some volunteer work at the SBY Shelter. We stood around for about five minutes before Obama came out and the crowd of about 200 people broke into chants of "Yes we can, yes we can."

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Is It Worth It?

WifeRat and I thought we had decided against renting out our place for the inauguration. We will have just gotten back home from North Dakota and we're looking forward to being back in our place. But I was just looking on Craig's List and seeing the ridiculous prices people are asking for (and presumably getting) for places in DC. I'm guessing that with minimal effort we could get someone in our place for four nights at $1500/night for a total of $6K.

The problem then becomes where do we stay? We could stay with MommaRat in Alexandria, but that comes with its own special set of challenges (extra driving mostly) that I may not be up for dealing with if they can be avoided.

We also considered fleeing town for the warmer climes of South Florida. The rental proceeds would more than cover a four day trip to South Beach, where WifeRat's best friend lives, where we could ball out and stay at a beach front hotel. A nice change of pace from Fargo to say the least. Even though the trip would be paid for, traveling with a three year old is always a bit of a trial and we will have only been home for about two weeks when we have to take off.

The idea of nice little trip to Miami is enticing, but we live a 20 minute walk from the Capitol and can easily get to and participate in all of the inauguration festivities going on in DC. This is truly a once in a lifetime event and I have to wonder if ten years down the line I'll feel like a schmuck for having missed it to go hang out in Miami.

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