My trip to Washington DC for the 57th Inaugural Ceremony of President Obama and VP Joe Biden on January 21st was both memorable and amazing. The day started with the official Swearing In ceremony at the US Capitol. From the set up of the stage to impressive line up of dignitaries along with performers like Beyonce singing the national anthem, to the sea of spectators, it is something that you need to experience at least once. I have never seen so many people , 800,000 is what the estimated  number of people in DC on that day and Inaugural weekend was said to be, who stood in line from as early as 4 am to be there when President Obama took his oath of office at 11 am that day.

Of course First Lady, Mrs. Michele Obama looked stunning with her new short hair style and President Obama's Inaugural speech got thunderous applause from the hundreds and thousands of believer's of all ages who had made the journey from across the nation and the world. The cold January winter weather did not deter anyone's spirit nor their enthusiasm of being present at this historic occassion, 2nd time for many but first for some.

The security was extremely tight and every where you looked you could see lots of  police, army and security personnel along with road closures and friendly volunteers keeping the festivities running smoothly. But between the Swearing In,  the parade (starting at the Capitol and ending at the white house)  to the Inaugural Ball , D.C. was the place to be on January 21st which remarkably was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. President Obama and Mrs. Obama kicked off the Inauguration weekend with National Day of Service on Saturday in honor of Rev. King with thousands of volunteers joining in , from all over the country, to help in a charitable cause.

While in D.C. I had the chance to stop by Madam Tussaud Wax Museum's Gallery of President's and visit with John Adams , founding father and 2nd President of United States , a native of Quincy Massachusetts where I live and his son John Quincy Adams (6th US President also native of Quincy). And got a chance to see the wax statues of 5 Bollywood stars - Amitabh Bachan, Ashwariya Rai, Karina Kapoor, Hritikh Roshan and Sharukh Khan who are on special display there for a limited time.

And of course the celebration is not complete without buying a few souvenir's to remember this magical moment. There was the official merchandise and then the many who had lined the streets of the city selling interesting nick nack's of President Obama and the first family they had made for the occasion.

Unfortunately I had to come back to a snow storm and -1 deg. F temperature in Boston but my memories of this trip will keep me feeling warm hearted for a long time to come.

|