Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Shivering in predawn darkness on The National Mall, 17-year-old Emily DelRoss had second thoughts about the wisdom of waking up at 3 a.m. and heading out to grab a good spot to watch Barack Obama take the Presidential oath of office.

Hours of waiting buttressed her misgivings.

"Then we heard Obama's speech, which was amazing," said DelRoss, a senior at Portsmouth High School. Suddenly the hours and the cold were all worthwhile.

DelRoss said that, among many images of the day, one that will endure for her was that of an African-American man who stood on a chair to get a better view and who kept tearing up throughout the ceremonies.

By about 1:30 p.m., DelRoss and her classmates were near the Holocaust Museum, making their way back toward teacher Joseph Cassady, who had become separated from the group. He waited a couple of blocks from the museum near the Washington Monument.

10:11:13: Portsmouth High group 'in good shape' on The Mall

Peter Dugan is Joseph Cassady's fellow teacher at Portsmouth High School, and, as of about 9:40 a.m., he was stationed on The Mall with 19 high school students, sophomores through seniors.

The group woke up at their hotel in Alexandria at 3 a.m., ate breakfast, "jumped on a bus and got on a Metro [subway]," Dugan said, though the process wasn't quite that simple because thousands of other Metro riders had the same idea.

"It was packed. It was really, really crowded." The first train that arrived didn't even stop because it was full, Dugan said, but a second train followed it a short time later and whisked them to The Mall.

"We were at the gates here at about 4 o'clock," said Dugan. "There's a lot of energy here."

People have passed the time getting to know the strangers around them. Particularly interesting to the group from Portsmouth were an older man and woman from the South who lived through segregation, the man recounting how he had been told to move to the back of buses.

The Portsmouth group is a few blocks down The Mall from the Capitol, where Barack Obama will take the oath of office. They are just across 4th Street from the Capitol, directly in front of the National Museum of the American Indian.

"The Washington Monument is way behind us, so we're in good shape," said Dugan. "We have a Jumbotron right to our right. It was worth getting up early."

Despite temperatures that were below 20 degrees most of the morning, the crowd is in good spirits -- in part because people are packed so tight they keep each other warm.

"I can't believe how happy everybody is," said Dugan. "I can't believe this many people can be so happy in this kind of weather."

 Tags  inauguration Obama Portsmouth High School

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