Pre-Inauguration Pictures

On the chilly Wednesday evening before Inauguration, I circled in front of the Capitol and around on Third Street to capture the city's preparations. The roads were repaved down Independence Avenue with beautiful red brick painted at the cross walks. Brown chairs littered the Capitol lawn. The Capitol boasted a facelift - the newly built platform where the swearing in would take place - made of wood but acting like white marble. Fences and more fences told of the swarms to come. Restaurants like Chef Spike's Good Stuff Eatery displayed signs with Obama themed foods. And most eye-catching were the hundreds of port-au-potties that lined the mall like a fence. These would later be popular seats for Inauguration revelers. But for now it all stood cold and empty.