We had received conflicting information about the status of the Virginia subway parking lot that evening - estimates ranged between 11PM to 2:30 AM as to when all cars had to be removed for lot security sweeps or risk being towed. We were SO grateful that our friends Trevor and Cesia offered to drop us off and pick us up at the Virginia metro lot so we wouldn't have to risk a tow.
Dane and I weren't sure when we would leave the ball, so we stowed our inauguration clothes in the car in case we returned so late that we would need to change clothing at the Virginia metro and return immediately to DC, which is exactly what happened. In fact, we changed in the back seat of our parked car in the metro station while our friends patiently sat in the front seat because the subway bathrooms were closed as security precautions.
Well, we had heard from others that inaugural balls were miserable affairs - hours of standing in cramped and uncomfortable conditions, no food or drink, and surly staff - in other words, a nightmare. Our experience, happily, was the exact opposite, as the Illinois Ball was one of the most opulent and enjoyable events we have ever attended. I admit the coat check got a bit dicey when they didn't want to take our bags because of space limitations (our UGG boots, which we wore on the subway ride to the ball, were in the bags). However, we eventually convinced the coat check to take our bags, and the rest of the evening was magical, even though we never saw Obama at the ball.
The ironic part is that while we were walking to the hotel, we think we saw Obama's motorcade (about a block from the National Portrait Gallery). If we are right, Obama was nearby at an adjacent function, and I wonder if we would have seen him if we had waited by the motorcade. Alas, since we were in a hurry to get to the ball, we quickly continued on to the hotel.
What we found there were three floors filled with complementary food, drink, bands (12 musical groups provided continuous entertainment), dancing, professional photographers, theme rooms, souvenirs, and lots of laughter and celebration. It was all well worth the price we paid for our tickets. The ball began with a champagne toast to the First Lady, and continued on as we danced and drank the night away (remarkably, almost every room had an open bar, some specializing in political drinks, such as The Bailout, a delicious concoction: 1 jigger light rum, 1/2 jigger blue curacao, pineapple juice, and ice - shaken, not stirred).
Dane and I left the ball a bit after 1AM, about a half hour before it ended, because we knew we needed to catch a subway out of DC before 2AM (the last run). We made our subway (by the way, I've never seen better dressed people on the subway before - tuxes and evening gowns were everywhere) and on our ride saw the most incredible old woman dressed from head to toe in Obama paraphernalia. A male passenger struck up a conversation with her, and it turned out she was French, with the most limited English skills, visiting the US for the inauguration. The passenger and woman exchanged drivers license and passport information so they could identify one another, and I was both amazed and delighted that these two strangers were so trusting of and interested in one another.
After the woman got off at her stop, Dane and I struck up a conversation with the male passenger. We had a lovely talk as we arrived to the end of the line, our stop. Unfortunately, the nasty surprise was that it wasn't our stop. It turned out that the metro line had changed over as we were engrossed in conversation with the male passenger and Dane and I never noticed the change. As a result, we ended up at the Franconia-Springfield Station, the end of the Blue Line, rather than the Vienna/Fairfax Station, the end of the Orange.
At this point it was 2AM, and no other subways (our only transportation back to our home base in Virginia) were running. Now I have a temper, and this sort of mistake would normally make my head explode, especially when we had to ask the person on duty what state we were in (thankfully, it was Virginia) and how far away our stop was (VERY far away was the answer). However, shortly thereafter we found a cab and during the half hour ride back to our metro stop I found the event to be extremely amusing and laughed all the way back to our destination (I'm sure the cocktails at the ball, especially The Bailout, helped in that regard).
Lillian
