1.19- George W. Bush' last night in the White House

Line for "Ben's Chili Bowl" on inauguration eve

[Yours truly is on a road trip to the Obama inauguration festivities in DC]

Got underway a little late today... I'm pretty sore from the ten-plus miles I walked yesterday, and Fred and I were up pretty late last night.

Went for a late afternoon meal, then hopped on the subway at Cleveland Park to go to the American Indian Inaugural Ball Pow Wow at the Crystal City Hyatt in Arlingon, VA, where Fred and I met up with our oldest brother, Bowman, his wife Nedra and their son, our nephew Forrest.



On the left, one of the "Fancy Dancing" competitors at the pow wow. According to PowWows.com:

"The Oklahoma Feather Dancer or “fancy dancer” is one of the most popular style of dance and outfit seen at modern Pow Wows. The fancy dance outfit, as such, has no single tribal identity.

"The “Fancy Dance” originated as Fancy War Dance by the Hethuska society in Oklahoma. The individual who invented the dance was Gus McDonald. He was also the first World Champion Fancy War Dancer. The McDonald family, specifically Juel Farmer McDonald, the Ponca Tribal matriarch still presents the trophy to the fancy war dance champion each year because of this family honor."

Here are some more shots from the pow wow... I lost track of which pictures show what dances, but here they are anyway, beginning with the drummers:




When Fred and I left the pow wow, we accidentally got on the blue line train instead of the yellow line train, which meant we faced two transfers to get to either Chinatown or 13th & U Street stations... AND THE SUBWAY WAS PACKED with visiting Obama celebrators!



Folks on our car erupted into cheers when someone reminded all in a megaphone voice that "Tonight is George W. Bush' last night in the White House!"


We finally made it to 13th and U Streets and walked around looking for a bar that didn't have a line outside (with very little luck)... That's when we walked past Ben's Chili Bowl, which was a popular pilgrimage for many visiting Obama fans, since Obama himself ate there last week.

Next to the line outside Ben's was this ice sculpture:


We had fun watching all the revelers roaming the streets and lining up for the nightspots, but seeing no chance for actually getting a beer, we retreated to Adam's Morgan and had a nightcap at Angle's before heading back to Fred's pad.

Angle's featured some appropriate drink specials for the night (though Fred and I of course opted for Belgian beer):

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