Even though I ultimately watched the 59th Presidential Inauguration on a screen, my trip to Washington, DC was not in vain. This report recounts my quadrennial January journey to the District of Columbia, this year for the inauguration of Joseph Biden.
2021 Biden Inauguration Report
Four years ago, I missed my connection in Newark and ended up having to take an Uber from Newark Airport to Washington, DC. We arrived just in time and secured prime standing room space to view the swearing in of President Trump.
This time, I chose to fly to via Newark again (for the lie-flat bed) and connection to Washington National Airport, had a long layover once again, but thankfully did not miss my connection.
The redeye flight from Los Angeles to Newark went exactly as planned. Dinner after takeoff followed by three hours of solid sleep.
In Newark, I spent several hours productively working in the United Club before boarding my connection to Washington National.
I’ve written before about why I love flying into DCA, but this trip was an added treat because I got to fly the CRJ-550 for the first time. I should note that additional TSA screening took place in the boarding bridge. My carry-on bag was opened and contents examined. There were only 15 people on the flight and all were well-behaved.
The EWR-DCA flight is quick and the view are always amazing when coming into DCA.
Arriving at National Airport, I marveled once again at the beautiful terminal (my favorite in the USA) and hopped on the Metro Blue Line up to Foggy Bottom.
Just outside the Metro station, I noticed the first military presence (and Biden-Harris memorabilia):
The Metro station is a 10-minute walk to the Park Hyatt Washington, DC, where I redeemed 20,000 points for a one-night stay. The cash rate was $879. Hopefully the National Guard received a huge discount…
President-Elect Biden and Vice President Elect Harris held a vigil at the Lincoln Memorial the night before their inauguration to commemorate Americans who have died due to COVID-19. While I knew the National Mall was sealed off, I set out on foot to see how close I could get.
Walking through Foggy Bottom and past the US State Department, I ran into the perimeter fence, guarded by heavily armed National Guard troops on the other side.
I walked along the permitter of the fence for a bit, then headed west back into the city. The sun was setting and I was surprised how close I was able to get to the White House. The streets were most empty and I did not encounter any protestors or people wearing MAGA hats. Military-style checkpoints were present, but pedestrians were allowed access without any questioning.
Back in my room, I worked for a bit and then headed out for dinner in Georgetown. Indoor dining is currently limited in DC, but patio dining is available. I made a reservation at Clyde’s only to receive a call warning me that heat lamps were out of fuel. It was under 40ºF so I decided to get some takeout at Moby Dick, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Georgetown I used to enjoy when I lived in the city.
After a good rest, I woke up and headed to St. Matthew’s Cathedral, where President-Elect Biden attended a mass with Republican and Democratic leaders from Congress. It was a fitting display of humility and bipartisanship. I dressed in a suit and tried to attend, but of course I was turned away by Secret Service when I was not found on the guest list…
I did see the presidential motorcade arrive and marveled at the police presence around, which my pictures do no adequately capture.
Back in my room, I ordered breakfast then headed to the gym to workout.
The dining room at Blue Duck Tavern was closed, but room service available. After my workout, I enjoyed a very nice breakfast of egg whites with jumbo crab, pancakes, berries, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a cappuccino.
After showering, I put my suit back on and headed back out, hoping to get as close as I could and perhaps even view the inauguration ceremony in-person. As I walked through the city, I encountered my first checkpoint, which was staffed by officers from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Because I was not carrying a bag, I was waived right through.
I walked by what is apparently called Black Lives Matter Plaza where I encountered the only protestors I would see the entire trip.
Continuing on, I headed down 14th Street where I encountered another security checkpoint. Again, I was waived through.
When I reached F Street, one street above Pennsylvania Avenue, I hit a final checkpoint in which only credentialed members of the media were permitted. Not allowed to proceed, I went through another checkpoint outside the Willard Hotel that included metal detector and comprehensive patdown before being to enter.
Inside, I ordered a cappuccino and watched the inauguration from the majestic Willard lobby…that merits a post of its own.
After the swearing-in ceremony, I headed back to the Park Hyatt where I worked for a couple hours before checking out and heading to the Northern Virginia suburbs to visit friends.
CONCLUSION
Although my experience was quite different than past inaugurations, it was nevertheless meaningful to me. To see the military presence and fortifications in the District of Columbia is hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime event.
The future weeks and months appear tenuous, but I am hopeful that a certain level of civility will return to Washington. Civility is not inherently a virtue, but a foundation for healing many of the wounds that have recently festered.
I hope that in four years the National Mall will again be packed with patriotic Americans of all backgrounds cheering on the continued experiment of ordered liberty known as the United States.
See Also: Photo Essay – The 59th Presidential Inauguration (different set of photos)
Lovely
Nice pictures. Things were “normal” up in Adams Morgan and the Dupont area. I walked around in the afternoon and went to an outdoor bar/ restaurant and the mood was good. It was a nice day to be out.
Moby Dick is excellent and I do think that’s a great choice. That said, would absolutely not recommend eating in Georgetown anymore. While there are restaurants, most of them arent very good anymore. Clydes is okay, but next time venture to other areas of the city where the food and variety are better.
Glad you had a good trip.
Stuart recommended Busboys and Poets for coffee next time I’m in the District. Any third wave coffee you recommend?
I’ve always had good dinners at Bourbon Steak and CUT when in DC. Not in Georgetown, but close enough, is also Nobu. Yeah, not the “unique,” “local gem” type of place, but excellent nonetheless.
Nice report, Matthew, it brings nice memories from my time in DC, and makes up (well not quite, but sorta) for not being able to fly there for what is now becoming two years in a row.
The visiting of friends was a potential vector to transmit Covid-19. Everybody says, “yes, I’m clean, no Covid” and “yes, I’m clean, no need for a condom” but the truth of the matter is some people are not. Party pooper, I know.
The trip report was interesting. Looks like the general area from the White House to the Capitol was in lockdown with a few exceptions. That was good as a measure against Covid but actually is a reflection on how scared and cautious everyone was. I would normally think the restrictions are wrong but, since we have a pandemic, it’s good. The Biden parade where he was walking was for show and for TV because there were no spectators, just news media and troops.
Biden’s unity message was good but if he wants it to last, he must accept a few Republican ideas and not any radical with Democratic ideas. Radical Democratic ideas include Free Medicare for All Paid for by the Rich. (A radical Republican idea might be forced school prayer). When Obama became president, he was not interested in unity. He even said “we won the election”.
Nice attempted shifting of the overton window. Forced school prayer is unconstitutional. Free Medicare for all, while arguably a radical policy, is a policy choice well within the constitution. Radical repub policy is lower taxes for the wealthy at the expense of the middle class, failure to acknowledge and combat climate change, rampant deregulation across sectors, unilateral approach in the global sphere, and cruel family separation policies in the immigration sphere, all policies already implemented by Trump.
For some reason, Google Image Search isn’t working for me presently. Some of your photos are similar to other photo essays on the inauguration I’ve seen. Are they all your original work?. I’m not leveling an accusation, it’s just that two in particular look very similar to the Buzzfeed or CNN essays.
Paul, I’m offended you would even consider I would pilfer photos from others and not mention it. These are all my original work. All from an iPhone 12.
My apologies, Matthew. NextDraft linked to a Buzzfeed essay and a CNN essay, and I thought (without completing an Image Search or revisiting the essays) that three pictures were lodged in my semi-reliable eidetic memory, and, as noticed, similar to what i thought I’d seen previously; the one of the tent outside the church, the picture of the National Guard troops lined up with shields at the concrete barricades and – especially the photo of the Hummer in the alleyway. I’ve since revisited the essays and completed the Image Search, and I can find no match. The last two in my list of accusations are particularly well composed and professional, and credit where credit is due, a worthy contribution to the record of the day. Clearly, I overestimated my recall, and underemphasized the very real potential I was wrong. Which I was. Please accept my sincere apologies.
Of course. Thanks for reading Paul and thanks for your kind words. I may not always get issues right, but God help me if I ever cheat or plagiarize.
Way to go Paul, you not only missed the entire point of this post but also broadcasted how completely incompetent you are. Winner!
Sorry but why are you flying across the country just to watch the inauguration on TV and meet friends, and then posting about it as if it was normal? 2 weeks ago you were heartbroken about how bad the situation with covid was in LA hospitals. You may not see it this way but you are a prime contributor to that situation
+1
Great report Matthew…unfortunate that the Trump Terrorists’ actions two weeks prior ruined what is normally a beautiful event, but we have to rise above their atrocities.
Biden has sent a message of unity so we should ask the Republicans too how they would like to be addressed?
Trump terrorists, Republican Taliban, orangutan turds? Something else?
Somehow snowflake just doesn’t seem adequate to describe Republicans anymore.
Nice trip report, but not really an essential one, especially in the age of covid.
According to Paul, CNN may have lifted pictures from me. So maybe it was more essential than you think.
That’s a stretch. I’m sure there are plenty of folks already in DC who could and did provide such insights without traveling across the country.
Zing. I’ll take that hit.
Damn, Matthew looking all fly in his suit.
Awesome! I love inaugurations and had the pleasure of attending a few. On years I didn’t go it was thrilling to see Old Town fill with happy people. Loved the pictures so much.
DCA is my favorite, too.
Matthew, I enjoy reading your blog and generally think that you are a thoughtful writer and traveler.
However, I cannot help but form the opinion that your travel to Washington DC was ill-advised, irresponsible, and ultimately selfish and even dangerous for your family. Every indoor contact that you have with others, especially prolonged, is an opportunity for transmission of the virus. We need some contacts for essential business, to shop for food, medical care, and essential services. Nothing on your trip rose to that occasion, but you had lots of potential transmission contacts, whether at airports, in hotels, or with your friends. It just seems self-indulgent. And should you become infected you bring it back to your family and you potentially infect others and burden the healthcare system. Where we are in the spread of virus, until a much greater percentage of the population is immunized, it’s our duty to minimize such gratuitous contacts and stay inside our family bubble only, with only essential other contacts. My 2 cents.
Thanks Carl. You know I value your opinion.
Well said Carl. Travel shaming at its best.
I appreciate your post and enjoyed reading it. Thank you.
I applaud you taking the initiative to fly and report on your experiences despite the covid and protest risks in DC.
You took precautions to protect yourself and others while participating in one of the sacred hallmarks of a democratic process – the Presidential Inauguration. I salute your patriotism.
For Carl and the other naysayers,
You have the freedom to remain at home and stay isolated and quarantined until the plague subsides. Your choice – no judgement.
But please stop bloviating your feckless opinion toward a blogger making his living by traveling and documenting his experiences. Your contempt is misguided and resembles a faux self righteousness.
Carl – couldn’t have put it better myself.
While I realize the comments were ripe for politics and accusations of possibly spreading COVID-19 from coast to coast, I’d like to thank Matthew for the post. After all he is a travel writer for the Live and Let’s Fly blog. He did his job. My own experience has been that I never felt safer from the virus than when flying. The air was 100% safer than in the waiting room of some doctors’ offices with the patient who must remove his mask to use his cell phone or the woman who refuses to cover her nose. Not only was this a unique inauguration, many of us may not live long enough to see another one. What Matthew did was document in word and excellent photographs the experience few others had…a historical documentation.
Thank you Marty. That’s certainly how I felt about my trip as well, but I greatly appreciate your support and kind words.
Good stuff and thanks for the report! I attended Obama’s inauguration as part of a youth leadership group and remember it fondly despite not agreeing with his politics. In law school now and peaceful transitions of power are particularly interesting to me.
We just have to get used to receiving flack for non-essential travel. Some is justified, though nobody knows our individual situations well enough to matter. I don’t accept hypocritical criticism, so it helps to remember that most of the holier than thou “never travel” people are actually meeting in “small” super “essential” groups to take ecstasy and pat each other on the back for their heroism in not traveling… that they can’t afford to travel is *obviously* completely irrelevant since they would definitely eat their own cooking if the roles were reversed 😉
Thanks so much Matthew for this post. I wanted to go to this inauguration but realized it would be a futile endeavor due to COVID and security restrictions. Your post allows me to live vicariously through you. 🙂