Today we woke up at the crack of dawn yet again to start our day. After travelling into the city, we wandered around for quite some time before finding a restaurant that served breakfast. We found our destination across from the Ford Theatre and next to the house where Lincoln died. ”The Waffle Shop” was completely filled with Washington police officers – except for the one table that we occupied. It was probably the safest I had felt being somewhere in my entire life. I ordered the steak and eggs, there was a complete layer of grease on my food which didn’t make me feel like a million bucks – but our waiter was funny and enjoyable. 2 out of 5 stars.
We then made our way to the National Mall to see the concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial. We followed the crowd until we were about 200 yards away from the stage on the north side. It was then a waiting marathon of five hours until the concert started. Our entertainment included drawing figures in the dirt and trying to guess it, watching people climb trees and simply ask to be shot from the snipers on top of the memorial, and the colorful character in front of us. There were also beach balls, toilet paper and a cardboard cutout of Barack Obama.
When the show started it was pretty great. There were numerous helicopters flying overhead including Marine 1. Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill came out followed right after by President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. There were numerous speakers including Forrest Whittaker, Jack Black, Tom Hanks, Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, etc. Performers included Will.i.am, Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, Jennifer Nettles, Beyonce, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, U2 and maaaany other famous people singing about America and unity. The whole crowd was into the song “Shout” when Garth Brooks performed it. Both Biden and Obama spoke about service and the overall theme centered around Abraham Lincoln. It was truly a great experience and there were hundreds of thousands of people.
We then returned to the hotel where we ate dinner and crashed – which is the current state.
Peace.
