Lorena's Epiphany

Whistle-Stop Weekend

January 24, 2009 at 7:19 pm Leave a comment

150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln embarked on a day-long rail journey from Philadelphia, weaving through Delaware and Maryland, to assume his presidency in Washington DC. And last Saturday, President Barack Obama re-made history by taking the same whistle stop train tour on a vintage rail car with First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife.

I’d arrived in Philadelphia the night before for a two-day conference. The conference would be an all-day event, so I had no expectation of catching the political festivities. We hardly felt it in fact, as we all quickly became engrossed in our organization’s issues. I met some wonderful, smart and extremely passionate individuals during the conference and felt inspired to do more. It’s been a while since I’d felt I was part of something meaningful.

I won’t go into details about the conference here – but we were able to sneak in some sight-seeing and cheese-steak eating in between. After dinner and dancing on Saturday (at a hookah lounge by the way – my fave), we got a night-tour of Liberty Bell and other historical sites in the downtown region. The conference ended early on Sunday, so we all rushed to grab a Philly-Cheesesteak at Pat’s King of Steaks. That and Gino’s are the most well-known places in Philly. They were really good sandwiches, but the yellow Cheez-Whiz topping threw me off. Guess we’re all used to Swiss cheese with a Philly.

The major highlight of the weekend was an impromptu invitation to DC to catch Obama’s inauguration. Somehow I had to find a way to get down there from Philly – so I hopped on the train on Sunday night. By pure coincidence, I ended up taking the same whistle-stop trail as Lincoln and Obama. Ok, it wasn’t the same all-day, vintage train journey they’d both taken – but it was the same route at least, so does that technically count? It was nice to think that Obama had been on the same tracks only a day earlier.

Entering DC was exhilarating. I had been there as a child, but my memories of it were very vague. And nothing truly compares to being there that weekend. You could just feel the energy and excitement, and see the hope on everyone’s face. People were so friendly too. I don’t know if it was just because of the events happening, or if they are just warmer than the folks I’m used to in Boston. I’m starting to believe that weather plays a humongous role in people’s sociability.

Right off the train, I had to be a tourist and buy some souvenir pins. My friends were on the verge of killing me by the end of the trip because of this souvenir-buying habit I have! Everywhere you looked there were vendors selling Obama T-Shirts, pins, keychains, belts, watches, lip balm (Obalma – get it?), posters… etc. If you can put Obama’s face or name on it, you could find it. The city had become a shrine to our new President. Almost all the store displays in Georgetown had either an Obama figurine or posters of him scattered about. Not to mention the night clubs and restaurants, all hosting inauguration festivities from two nights prior to the big day.

I’m sure you got to see the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, some way or another. It was truly history in the making and I’ll remember that feeling for the rest of my life. [I'll post pics of that day soon]

Congratulations Barack! Make us proud!

Entry filed under: Floating. Tags: Abraham Lincoln, ceremony, cheesesteak, inauguration, Obama, Pat's King of Steaks, philadelphia, sight-seeing, souvenirs, train, Washington DC, whistle stop.