Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 3, 1993 TAG: 9301030194
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB DART COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
INAUGURAL WILL HAVE A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING - EVEN `ELVIS'
The Ritz-Carlton's four-night "Premiere Presidential Package" - which costs $23,000 but comes with a chauffeured Bentley and a valet - has been booked, but don't despair.You can still visit the nation's capital, experience history, and rock out at Bill Clinton's populist inaugural celebration.
"We're encouraging all Americans to come," said Ron Brown, chairman of the inaugural committee. "We want to bring people in from all over America to participate in a people's inaugural."
The events begin on Jan. 17, continue nearly non-stop through Jan. 20, when Clinton is sworn in as the country's 42nd president, and conclude on Jan. 21, when the new first family hosts an open house at the White House.
Quincy Jones is orchestrating a free concert at the Lincoln Memorial.
On the grassy Mall between the Capitol and Washington Monument, there will be food, fireworks and sort of a cultural festival of Americana.
The inaugural parade will feature dual Elvis impersonators - a lean, sideburned heartthrob from the "Hound Dog" period and a middle-aged Las Vegas "King" in a sequined white jumpsuit.
Barney, the mega-popular, purple dinosaur from PBS, is coming to an inaugural "Salute to Children" at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
So, now you've got a sudden yearning to join this Democratic blowout commemorating the arrival of the first baby boomer administration. How do you do it?
The first step is a toll-free call to 800-462-8493 (1-800-INAUG93). That's the inaugural hotline.
"Call the 800 number for information on how to obtain tickets to the free events that require tickets," said Joyce Kravitz, a spokeswoman for the inaugural committee. Those events are the American Gala Jan. 18, at the Capital Centre is suburban Maryland, the salutes to youth and children at the Kennedy Center on Jan. 19 and the Clintons' open house at the White House on Jan. 21.
The hotline also will dispense information about other inaugural events and on how to buy commemorative items, said Kravitz, but it won't deal with lodging.
The second step is to find a place to stay. Washington's suburbs offer less expensive motels and hotels, parking charges of less than $3 (rather than $10 to $20 a day) and access to downtown on the Metro.
For help in finding lodging during inaugural week, call the Washington Hotel Association at 202-289-3141, the Virginia Hotel and Motel Association at 804-276-8614 or the Maryland Hotel and Motel Association, 410-974-4472.
Most of the downtown luxury hotels are full for inaugural week - especially those few like the Willard and Hotel Washington with rooms overlooking the parade route. However, there are rooms available in all price ranges in the suburbs, said Camille Soriano of the Washington Hotel Association.
Daily rates range from about $40 for a room to $1,500 for a suite, said Soriano. Most decent hotels in the District charge more than $100 a night and require a four-night minimum stay for inaugural week. However, minimum stays aren't common in the suburbs.
At the Wolf Trap Motel in Vienna, Va., for instance, rooms are available for inaugural week, with daily rates starting at $36 plus tax for a single. The Vienna Metro station is located about a mile away, with parking at $2.25 a day. Its gleaming subway cars take riders to stops near the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Smithsonian Institute and Capitol without changing trains. One-way fares from Vienna to these downtown areas are about $3 during rush hours and $2 otherwise. The trip takes about 30 minutes.
Visitors who plan several trips on the Metro can get a 5 percent bonus and avoid much standing in station queues by buying a $10 or larger farecard. There are attendants to provide help with the farecard machines.
The centerpiece of inaugural week, of course, is the swearing-in ceremony outside the Capitol at noon on Jan. 20. The nearest Metro stops for visitors are Capitol South and Union Station.
Sen. Wendell Ford, D-Ky., chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, expects 250,000 ticketed spectators at this ceremony. That's about 100,000 more than four years ago, when President Bush was inaugurated, because the Park Service will cordon off an expanded area for the additional ticket-holders.
Most of these tickets are distributed through congressional offices. Each House member gets 21 seats and 177 standing-room tickets and each senator gets 28 seats and 365 standing-room tickets.
If you want to attend the actual inauguration, forget the seats - they've already been promised to staff and supporters. But do call your senators and representative (202-224-3121 or their offices in your state) and ask for a standing ticket. Remember, these seats are distributed by the members of the incoming Congress, not the outgoing one, and not by Clinton's inaugural committee.
If your representative and senators already have distributed their allotted tickets, ask their aides to check with staffers from faraway states, especially those with Republican delegations - Utah, for example, or Wyoming. These offices might well have extra tickets and be willing to swap them for a political chit to be cashed in later.
If you can't get a ticket and want to see the official ceremony unfold from a different perspective, climb the hill in Arlington National Cemetery and watch from the Custis-Lee House. Located across the Potomac River from Washington, this historic Virginia mansion was home to Robert E. Lee before the Civil War. The front yard offers a spectacular panoramic view of the capital city - in straight eyeshot are the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and Capitol. But bring binoculars. The house is nearly four miles from where Clinton will take the oath.
The inaugural parade will begin about 2:30 p.m., a couple of hours after Clinton concludes his first speech as president. It will start near the Capitol at Fourth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., proceed north on Pennsylvania, turn right onto 15th Street, and left again on Pennsylvania and past the presidential viewing stand outside the White House, across from Lafayette Park. It will disperse at 17th Street.
Folks can watch from the sidewalks all along the route, but should find a spot early. Police are estimating 500,000 or so spectators.
A couple of likely spots along Pennsylvania Avenue are near the Pavilion at the Old Post Office and the FBI Building. There are shops, restaurants and public restrooms in the renovated Post Office Building, and the Hard Rock Cafe is located on the block behind the FBI headquarters. For parents who want their kids to take home a taste of history along with the inevitable Hard Rock T-shirts, there is Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was shot, practically next door to the Cafe.
The Clintons are widely expected to walk at least part of the parade route. The event is aimed at reflecting the inaugural themes of diversity and inclusion. To that end, the units in the parade or stationed on side streets off Pennsylvania Avenue will range from the Lesbian and Gay Band of America to marching musicians from hurricane-ravaged Homestead High School in south Florida.
The Atlanta Olympic Band will also perform - along with at least one unit from each of the 50 states, such as the All-American Trick Riders from Texas, the Ohio University Band and the Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial Society, the Bill Williams Mountain Men from Arizona, Colorado's Rocky Mountain High School Band and the Florida A&M University Marching 100 - as well as the high school bands from the president-elect's Arkansas home towns of Hope and Hot Springs.
After watching the parade, celebrity watchers might want to stop by the historic Willard Hotel, at the corner of 15th Street and Pennsylvania. The hotel's pricey, but you can join the rich and powerful in strolling through the hotel along its ornate Peacock Alley, a marble-floored, high-ceilinged lobby that is fancier than the White House, and almost as impressive as the inside of the Capitol.
Here are some day-by-day suggestions for inaugural goers:
Jan. 17:
The Clintons and Gores will begin the day at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, near Charlottesville, Va., and then come by bus to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. They've invited motorists to form a inaugural caravan and follow them through the countryside.
In Washington, there will be a daylong "America's Reunion on the Mall," featuring regional food, crafts and entertainment. The nearest Metro stop is Smithsonian. No tickets required.
At 4 p.m., a concert "Call for Reunion" will begin at the Lincoln Memorial. No tickets required. The nearest Metro stop is Foggy Bottom. A short stroll away is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Just north of Constitution Avenue across from the Vietnam Memorial is a statue of Albert Einstein that kids love to climb on. Parents can take pictures of their children sitting in Einstein's lap.
After the concert, at about 6:15 p.m., the Clintons and Gores will lead a candlelight procession from the Lincoln Memorial across the Potomac on Memorial Bridge to the gates of Arlington National Cemetery. There, the president-elect will ring a replica of the Liberty Bell, beginning a national bell-ringing.
Immediately afterward, fireworks will be shot off from barges in the Potomac.
Visitors who wanted to skip the concert and wait for Clinton on the Virginia side of the river could get off at the Arlington Cemetery Metro station on the Blue Line.
Jan. 18:
President-elect Clinton hosts two private events - a reception for foreign diplomats and a "Faces of Hope" luncheon for ordinary Americans who inspired him during the presidential campaign.
The main public event is the evening "American Gala" at the Capital Centre in Lanham, Md. Tickets are required.
During the day, visitors might want to take in Capitol Hill. At the Madison building of the Library of Congress, there is a exhibit of items from inaugurations starting with George Washington's and extending to Clinton's.
In the Capitol, Supreme Court and several House and Senate office buildings, there are relatively inexpensive cafeterias open to the public.
Jan. 19:
Early risers might consider a stroll at the Mall around 7 a.m. or so, when Clinton and his Secret Service protectors have jogged in the past. Afterward, the president-elect has stopped at the McDonald's near Lafayette Park, across from the White House.
Around noon, you might get a glimpse of the nation's governors going into the Library of Congress for a luncheon hosted by Clinton.
In the afternoon, there are Salutes to Children and Youth at the Kennedy Center. Free tickets are required. The nearest Metro Stop is Foggy Bottom.
Those without tickets might consider a visit to the National Archives where they can research their family roots, or the National Air and Space Museum, the most popular in Washington. Both are easy to reach from the Capitol or the Mall.
Jan. 20:
Inaugural day will begin with a prayer service at the Metropolitan AME Church, a religious landmark in African American history. It is located on M Street N.W., near 15th Street. The nearest Metro stops are Farragut North and McPherson Square.
Spectators going to the inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol (free tickets required) should be forewarned that the cafeterias in congressional buildings will be closed for the day. There are a number of places to eat, however, in nearby Union Station, with prices ranging from bargain-basement to sky-high.
Standing room for the parade up Pennsylvania Avenue is free, first-come, first-serve.
There will be 10 inaugural balls in the evening but they are by invitation only.
Jan. 21
Open house, White House. 9 a.m. until noon. Free tickets required. Nearest Metro Stop: Farragut West.