The first couple hours of the Line Experience are decent. But cold; 23 degrees with a wind chill that takes it to 12 degrees. By 6 a.m. the line behind us stretches down and around the block, out of sight. But still an orderly line about 3-4 people wide along the side of the street. Meantime, an endless stream of people who have discharged from a nearby metro, thousands of them, are trooping by, down the block past us, most headed to the open, no-ticket-required areas on the capital mall.
We trade off holding our spot in line to take fast walks to warm up. It's still a party. Lots of high-fives from our Ohio friend to passers by.
By 7-7:30 the crowd has filled in considerably. The thousands walking down the block are backing up, due in part because there is inexplicably a bus parked to block most of exit at the end of the block and due to blocks-long crowds at other entry points to the mall. The line we're waiting in has thickened considerably. People who are just arriving start trying to stop up near us and cut in front of us. The folks who have been in line for 2 or 3 hours already chastise them and try to usher them back. But the street now is mainly filled.
About 8 cops show up and huddle off to the side of our position to take instructions. We think they're there for crowd control. After a half hour they do a conga line, hands on shoulders, to get through the crowds and disappear.
By 8 we're now packed solid across the street. We still think we're in the main line though, the folks who got there early still assuming they will get an advantage at getting in. The gate is supposed to open at 8. We see almost no movement for the next hour. We can't see far enough ahead to determine if anyone is entering yet; first picture above is where we're going. We're now completely packed in; second shot is us enjoying the moment (because we like people so much). The one good thing is, the body heat warms us up.
(Continues next post above)
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