If you're going to the Anacostia Museum, you might try to combine that with a visit to the Frederick Douglass home--you need to make a reservation for a tour there.

http://www.nps.gov/frdo/

You'd better be really confident about those boots, break them in for many hours and bring your regular clomping-around shoes from home, too, just in case.

LMAO over "You simply can not wear the same formal within the same week or 3 year span actually." That's California talk. The ladies from New England only buy a new dress when they need a new size and the old one can't be altered anymore. My redheaded daughter will be wearing her 5-year-old bronze taffeta gown for the fifth time.

My mother-in-law has a saying. It goes: "Nobody know you...nobody cares." It's great for this type of trip. Forget fashion (when you can of course) and just go comfy and WARM!!! You'll enjoy it even more.

I was at the inauguration four years ago, and I can tell you two things: you are going to walk MILES, and it is going to be cold. It may also be wet. I know you want to look good, but seriously, comfort is going to be hard enough to come by, make it your priority with the boots and coat.

We have a friend who is a lobbyist who got us tickets to Bush Sr. Inauguration. We had a private driver, attended the Gala and the Gala dinner, watched the parade from the lobbyist's offices, and attended the Ball at Union Station. It was a once in a lifetime experience but the Ball was the most boring thing we did--so don't worry about that.

The best thing we did all weekend was leave the ball and have our driver do a sightseeing tour. We drove around the city, stopped at the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. It was at night, everything was lit up--it was beautiful.

It seemed to me that every woman there was wearing a fur coat--As I recall the temps were in single digits, if that--it was really cold.

As far as my wardrobe--gotta tell you no one cared what I was wearing. I really think you can fit your clothes into your suitcase.

Have fun. Check the forecast and go prepared for the weather.

As a side note: my daughter does PR work for SPAM--Obama was seen eating SPAM today--it's a dream come true for my daughter. Now if they would just fly her to Oahu to work on SPAM JAM she would be out of her mind happy.

What kind of bars are you looking for? I like the bars at Zola and Zaytinya.

If you like wine bars, Veritas and Cork are good as well as Proof.

We also like Ceiba, Ten Pehn (and 1701 next door for the piano music at the bar), Cafe Atlantico, Brasserie Beck.

WOW!! What fun! A lifetime event. Do dress very warm and nothing to drink (not even coffee) in advance. You probably know this but if not... Blurb.com or MyPublisher.com are two sites to use to do your photo book of your journey. You will need lots of copies for all your fellow travelers.

As others have said it can be very cold and it can be nice. Bring clothes for both kinds of weather. The year we went we had snow one day and very cold days and then the day of the inauguration the sun was out and it was very mild - it changed that night tho and there was sleet while we headed to the Ball at the Kennedy Center. Such a great experience you won't care about the weather. HAVE THE BEST TIME EVER!!

Re-check or reconfirm your hotel reservations as some people are finding their hotels want longer stays and more money. You don't want something like that to mar your seeing the inauguration.

It should be phenomenal!!

Hey, if you're traveling to DC for the inauguration you might be interested in this guide: "Where to Pee in DC: An Insider's Guide for the Inauguration." Sounds goofy, but there's a severe shortage of public and available bathrooms on and around the National Mall where the inauguration takes place. Available on ebay for $3.75 (item # 120351046988).

Enjoy your trip!