Inaugural Events - Tuesday January 20 2009

Wyclef Jean and Gen. Colin Powell

Wyclef Jean rockin the house

Debra Lee, Chairman & CEO BET Networks and Mary J. Blige

Inauguration Day.. An amazing time in all of our lives, serious change is happening in front our eyes, change for the better, change for all of us.  Early Tuesday, I was speaking with customers of mine across the country from New York City to Indiana to Nevada, and it was evident that the excitement of what was happening in our backyard, downtown Washington, DC was enormous as it is/was.  Maybe I take it for granted, growing up and still living in the DC area, having the White House, US Capitol, Smithsonian Institution, and all of the Memorials so close by, but when I was on the phone, the question  I got was, "So, whats up with you today?"...Well have ya turned on the TV? Have ya read a paper?  Get with the program, 2 million people expected in DC. I was glued to the TV all day, till we had to adventure out into the masses for tonight's event, the BET Inaugural Ball.

The ball didn't begin till 9pm, and we decided to head out at 4 (5 hours should be OK, right?), just to make sure we got there.  Every report had horror stories of traffic jams, Metro closures and warned you to leave early.  We hit the Metro at 4:15, arrived at L'EnFant Plaza around 4:45, found out that L'Enfant Plaza was an ENTRANCE only station today, and not an EXIT.  No way we were dragging the gear back down the non-working escalators, and going to the next station...so, we exited through an entrance, and walked to the top, and then 6 blocks to the Mandarin Oriental for the party.

The Hawaiian Ball was in the ballroom next to the BET Inaugural Ball, and rumor was that President Obama was coming...never happened.  BET knows how to throw a party, great food and lots of Grey Goose...Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Larry David, Soledad O'Brien, and Ashanti were some of the guests..General Colin Powell was REALLY enjoying the tunes of Wyclef Jean, who was fantastic and rocked the house...Party ended well after 2am, Metro closed at 2, so we had to cab it back to the car...Justa $100+ cab ride, pulled in around 3:30am...Great week, lots of long late hours, lots of fun, and some cool images.  Enjoy.