What a great Birthday!

There's something pretty cool about celebrating your birthday on the MLK Day that falls the day before such a historic presidential inauguration! And what a great birthday present to have Obama in office tomorrow!

Yesterday we got to witness a piece of history when we headed downtown to D.C. for the pre-inauguration festivities. We hopped off the Metro and the vendor craziness began. They were selling everything you could put Obama's face or name on. Here's a shot of the line coming off the Metro at a less-populated area.



We didn't make it in time to get in to the big concert at the Lincoln Memorial, but we were close enough to hear everything. We walked up as Denzel Washington was speaking and Bruce Springsteen started singing right after. A pretty cool welcome :)

This was our vantage point for the concert (across the street from the Department of the Interior).



Like I said, not much of a view for us from the outside.


At least the horses were facing us :)

The security was pretty tight and there was no way we were getting inside the gate. Apparently they cut off entry when they hit 1.5 million people. I can't imagine 1.5 million people in that small area around the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool!

Toward the end of the ceremony, we made our way to the Washington Monument so we could watch Obama's speech on the big screen. This was our view of Obama.



So we weren't close, but I can't imagine there being a much better place to listen to Obama's speech than at the base of the Washington Monument.

Here's a few shots of the crowd watching from the Washington Monument.







Hey, I know that guy!

After the concert, we made our way over to the Capitol to see it all decked out for tomorrow's ceremony. On the way, we stopped at the MSNBC satellite station -- and we're pretty sure we got on TV. Our 3 seconds of fame!



Here's a nice shot of the Capitol.



And what a cute couple this is ...



And no trip to D.C. is complete without the obligatory sunset shot of the Monument. You can see MSNBC in the foreground too.



So that was our piece of this historic event. The crowds -- and condition of the potties -- convinced us that this was enough of an adventure and we didn't need to brave tomorrow's crowds.

For more picture fun, click here.