A Sea of Hope!

Hi, it's me Tiff and I just thought I would share some final thoughts. I am back at home - and it feels great. I haven't slept in my bed in nearly two weeks and I am looking forward to jumping in when I finish this blog. (LB it will be around 7:30- in the words of my traveling buddy somewhere out there it is late).
As you can imagine the airport in DC and in Chicago all the buzz was about yesterday's events (I was a little concerned about flying in and out of Chicago in January) but I was glad I did. To be in his hometown was something amazing. Most people around were still high from the experience it was great. On my flight home, I sat next to a TSA for Sacramento airport and he was sent to be apart of the "detail" for security. He said sadly he was not able to see most of the events as he was on the south side of the capital but it was wonderful just to be there. He did say something that I thought was interesting; he said when the 21 gun salute began everyone reached for their guns, because they thought it was an explosion of some sort- and by the second gun blast all had their weapons drawn including the secret service near him- it wasn't until the third blast did they realize what was happening. I said- gee, you would think they would give you a schedule of some sort.

So I was interviewed again- getting off of the plane in Chicago and this time I paid attention to what TV station it was; I made the noon and evening news- to check me out follow the link below! As I end this entry Faye's plane should be landing.
Signing off from Sacramento!

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6616564
you can see me within the first 15 seconds in the clip 2 of 3 and my interview is on 3 of 3.
Just in case the link doesn't work- google news 7 Chicago and go to the link Chicago returns home.

AMAZING!

AMAZING! INCREDIBLE! OUTSTANDING! are just a few of the adjectives to describe this day. I have never felt so proud and so connected to the other people of the United States. Collectively, we did something extraordinary in electing Barack Obama and seeing the swearing in was truly an experience that I'll remember for the rest of my life!

Now to the day: The plan today was to leisurely get up, eat, and then make our way to the festivities. We did all those things, but when we turned on the TV and saw the thousands of people already there at 6:00, we went into high gear.

The Metro was filled to capacity when we boarded at the second stop. There were at least a half dozen more stops, but there was simply no room for anymore people. I felt bad for those folks waiting, but . . .

Anyway, when we arrived in DC, there were authorities directing traffic, but basically, we just followed the crowd. By the time we could see the Washington Monument, there were hundreds of thousands of people already in place. Our goal was to get as close to a jumbo-tron as possible. If you know the area, we were on the Atlantic side of World War II Memorial - a great location.

By the time we were in place for about an hour, we looked behind us, and there was a solid mass of people all the way to the Lincoln Memorial! It was a PHENOMENAL sight!

There were young folks, old folks, black folks, Asian folks, Hispanic folks, and everything in between - and the energy and the calm in the crowd was electric!

I had a MAGNIFICENT time! Thanks for sharing it with us.

This is Tiff and I just thought I would share a few thoughts myself. Faye described today perfectly- it was truly an amazing day. I will be forever grateful for this experience and thankful that her brother Forrest had the idea- while I did the lion share of the planning (booking the room and selecting dates to come) it was Faye who said her brother planned to be there. I of course took it at face value and began looking for hotel rooms a year ago (literally while Lance and I vacationed in Hawaii last January).
As you know Whit shared the experience with me and I talked to her this afternoon as she made her way to the airport and become emotional thinking about the folks that have come before us (especially our mother and grandmother) that I know for sure smiled down at the two of us sharing in this historic moment.
The energy in air and amazement of the moment made the 27 degree (although the wind chill was 0 degrees) all worth it!
Signing off from DC see you all soon.

Thanks for sharing and reading, the comments and the phone calls.

Split Decision

The day began with a terrific breakfast downstairs. We ate with a guy from Oakland and chatted with another family from New Orleans. The energy everywhere was electric with excitement and anticipation. People were friendly, wanting to talk and share their stories.

Tiff's sorority's headquarters are here in town and they planned a day of service. She and Renee headed to Dupont Circle to be a part of that, while Forrest, Jannie and I went to the Mall. (We traveled by car part way, then we took the Metro, the subway system. This reminded me so much of New York because we were crowded in like sardines. It was thistight!).

Now remember, Tiff and I had gone to the Mall on Saturday when it was bitterly cold and there were about three folks our there; OK, maybe 103, but still, the numbers were shockingly low. Well, today was a different story. There were tons of people . . . hundreds, probably thousands. But again, it was an electric crowd. The streets were lined with huge busses that were transporting people to and fro. People everywhere were giddy with excitement. Everyone we came in contact with were polite; there were lots of smiles, and nods of acknowledgement.

Just like the crowd in Chicago on Nov. 4th, this group was incredibly eclectic. I was moved by the number of older folks I saw, particularly older African-Americans. But there were tons of young folks - black, white, Asian, Hispanic, hippies, conservatives, bikers, kids who looked like gang members, etc. We met school groups galore. Although I was touched by the presence, I know how stressful watching all those kids were for the adults with them, so I was glad to be kid-free for this event.

As we walked the Mall, we tried to plan where we were going to try and be tomorrow, but again, there is no way to know how many people to expect, so true to our theme for this trip, "we're going with the flow." Everything will be fine and we'll have a fantastic time. That is our mantra, and so far, it's been more than true.

Tiff will add her comments when she arrives. Of course, I'm headed to bed. It's 8:30 here, so I'm running late. :) (I realize for sure now that a party animal I am not!)

Hi, it's me Tiff- it is 10 minutes to midnight! I just got back to the room. Today was a "day on" not a "day off" so I went to participate in the activities- it was so wonderful to be in the National Headquarters of Delta Sigma Theta. I actually ran into one of my "sands" there had no idea she would be here- so that was fantastic! After leaving the headquarters we headed to my "hang-out spot" with Whit... the Grand Hyatt. She was with her students so I ordered room service and waited for her. My godbrother, Brent came into the city to see me and my Aunt Brenda and Uncle Sammy came too- they have tickets for tomorrow. We hung out for a while.

So Shana... more about Hill Harper. While hanging out in the lobby, Renee took a picture with him. After strong encouragement from me from afar. It has been a long day and if I am going to do what I came here to do, I must go to bed. Sorry pictures will be posted tomorrow. Much too tired. If I had a tooth brush I would have stayed with Whit tonight!
One more thing, the nice guy Faye mentioned we met at breakfast I ran into him again in the city, @ Whit's hotel and he was just as charming as before. Yes- the people have arrived and are embracing everyone and this moment in history with the love that Dr. King had his DREAM about all of those years ago. This is a wonderful experience, I really do hope you all can feel it through this blog.

All is well here- having a wonderful time!

We Went to Church!

OK. For those of you who know me, you know it's been years since I've darken the door of a church, but Tiff and I were inspired to go to the National Cathedral this morning and it was incredible! The structure and architecture was magnificent! Check out the stainglass picture, we saw a Black Jesus! The service was cool, too, but we ditched early. When we left the wind had picked up considerably and the temperature had seriously dropped. We think maybe it was hell freezing over.

We then went to Howard University, Tiff's alma mater, and that was great! We looked and looked and looked some more for Tiff's "brick". It has her name and the year she graduated in the Founder's Walk. We decided that when we visit again, it needs to be in the spring or summer and then we'll take our time and find it, for sure.

Ben's Chili was our next stop. It's where Obama had lunch a couple of days ago. The lines were outside the door and the parking was nasty. Tiff made the food run while I circled the block like 15 times! I've decided that to live in DC you have to know how to parallel park and since I flunked that part of drivers ed almost 40 years ago, this is not a place I need to live. Oh . . .the food . . . was fantastic! Unfortunately, the chili had bell peppers so sister girl couldn't eat hers. I promise it won't go to waste.

We tried to get to the concert on the mall, but the traffic was a mess and it would have taken too long to walk it because we needed to pick up my brother and his wife in a bit, so we decided to hang out at the Grand Hyatt. Remember, this is where Whitney (Tiff's sister) is staying. Also staying at that hotel are the following folks she's seen: Sidney Poitier, Al Sharpton, Desmund Tutu, Dorothy Height (Delta Sigma Theta past National President) Steve Harvey, Jeremiah Wright (can you believe he has the nerve to show his face here), Jesse Jackson and we all saw Hill Harper!!! Oh my goodness, the man is GORGEOUS!!! TV does not do him justice. Of course, he's maybe 5'2 and a buck twenty soaking wet, and he looks like he's 12 years old, but he's gorgeous nonetheless. No entourage, nobody hanging on him, it was just him walking through the lobby. Tiff and I have decided that we need to hang out here some more.

Another car ride, another missed turn or two and we were at the airport picking up Forrest and Jannie. They're here from Miami. We talked about the weather since they're used to 80 degrees this time of year. Of course, since they're related to me, they're going to bed early and we've planned a full day tomorrow.

Tiff's thoughts
OK- Shana here is your shout out! Faye has about a $3 limit as it is 7:00 pm and she quickly getting ready for bed. LB, at least I kept her up past 6:00 pm today but it was a struggle. We had another friend join us today, Renee,- she is out as we speak exploring the grounds of the National Mall. As the day draws near- the more excited I become. I can't believe I am here a part of all of this.
It was great to be back "home" at HU. Oh the memories there. Aliya, if you are reading this too- I was so happy I could walk the hill without snow or ice in January, made the trip manageable. Everything looks pretty much the same.. even got a picture of Howard China!! Really nothing has changed because the bookstore is closed in honor of the King holiday on Monday AND Tuesday.

A note about Hill Harper...
So Faye says she saw Hill Harper, it is true he walked right in front of us. I nearly beat Faye's arm to death trying to get her attention to let know who he was. So she actually saw his profile and didn't really get to see him until he made it the elevator.
Also, while we were at the hotel today hanging out with Whit... we started counting the number of fur coats. We assigned a point value to the different types of coats; on the trim, reversible of course men in fur got double points. We will keep you posted on the total as the days to come. Also, I was interviewed for some TV channel while I was outside of Ben's Chili.
Signing off for now- current temperature is 26 degrees (today was the warmest yet- at 33 degrees).

Bitter Cold!

Day one began with the temperature of 11 degrees at about 8:00 am, but when we left the hotel a couple of hours later, it was breathtakingly beautiful day that was definitely cold, but pleasantly crisp - manageable sightseeing weather, for sure. We did some grocery shopping, some lolly gagging along the way and then drove into the city to meet Tiff's sister, Whitney (she is featured in a photo on this blog). When we got out of the car, it was now cold and windy, and the wind slapped us silly. It was crazy cold as we just about ran to the hotel.

When we met up with Whitney, she was awaiting the arrival of over 5,000 junior high through college aged students who are taking part in the ceremony. After chitchatting and thawing out, we were on our way to the National Mall.

It was surprisingly almost empty (you can see from the pictures we took). We were able to drive up to the Washington Monument and from where we parked, had a great view of the White House, too. We ventured out of the car, and took pictures in front of the White House, then braved the cold and went to the Lincoln Memorial, passing the World War II Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial along the way.

At this point talking was difficult as the cold was causing my lips to go numb. Seriously, I don't know how people live in this kind of weather. Yes, I confess, I'm a spoiled California girl now.

We then decided that anything else we saw would be from the car, so we drove through the city, taking pictures along the way. They say a heat wave is coming- we can't wait!

Hunger proved more powerful than anything else at this point, so we pulled off the road and had dinner.

After re-fueling we considered heading out to meet Obama's train at Union Station(less than 7 miles from our hotel). Tiff had to do some serious coaxing as Faye had already showered and was dressed for bed (time check- LB... 3:15 pm Cali time) however, we checked and learned that Union Station was closed to the public.




Y'all holla back if you reading this- send us some love!

Signing off for now.

PS Happy Birthday- First lady, Michelle!!!

Arrived!

Let me set the scene - Tiff and I were on different airlines. She went through Chicago, I went through Denver. I left on time and she left and hour and a half late, but still arrived before me. She had just gotten off her plane and walked to my gate when I arrived. It was fantastic hearing her call my name. In fact I wasn't sure who it was yelling for me. We proceeded to get our bags and then we walked outside where the temperature is . . . wait for it . . . 14!!!, with a wind chill of 0!!! Oh my God, it's bone chilling cold! So cold your face hurts!!!

I gotta tell you though, the frigid weather has done absolutely nothing to hamper the giddiness we're experiencing now.

We're staying at a hotel suite that Tiff booked in March and our rooms are an amazing $100 a night! Thank goodness for someone (Tiff) who is a forward thinker and planner! When we checked in the hotel, they asked if we were here for the inauguration and then gave us a wonderful packet of info. Our homework tonight is to figure out our plan of action.

So this is Tiff's version. We found each other at that airport and quickly proceeded to bundle up (that took 20 minutes). We walked outside for about 30 seconds, the woman watching us said... "it's cold, right?" we decided walk the distance we needed to get to the rental car shuttle inside the airport instead outside in the elements. Smart thinking...., brilliant right?
We arrived and successfully got our car, Tiff put the address in the GARMIN (navigation system) gotta love them. And then proceeded oh about 20 miles with no lights on (on the highway). We thought we were looking especially fine that is why we were getting the honks from the cars around us , but we soon determined we had no lights on. OK with lights on, we proceeded to the hotel. At the hotel we were warmly welcomed by Daniel who is featured in this blog. Thanks Daniel for the hook up!

Although it is only 5:45 pm Cali time, Faye is tucked in and ready for bed. Somewhere it is midnight she says...
Stay tuned for this will be a trip to remember and we hope you have as much fun reading about our adventures as we have creating them. Talk to you tomorrow!

Scenes from Motown... 2009

Thanks Faye for the update on our blog! I wanted to add a picture from my vist to Detroit this week. Motown/ The Motor City (which by the way celebrated 50-years on Monday with lots of parades and things on the "Boulevard" (which for the non-natives means West Grand Blvd).
Anyways... there was a gas station that converted itself to the Obama Station during the election and on the night of the election had a great big party (with NO arrests; something the natives were proud of as well). This gas station was at the corner of Plymouth and Wisconsin- and has seen lots of traffic as we continue to see how Barak is stimulating our economy.
Can't wait to get to DC. This is truly going to be an experience of a life time.

We have a new guest joining us.. more on that later.