It’s a little after 1 a.m. Monday morning. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the nation’s first black president is going to be sworn in about 37 hours from now.
The Saturday night-sized crowd rolling up and down U Street is a mix of stumbling college students, tourists dressed in skimpy skirts and high heels, and a scattering of tuxedoes and fur coats making their way from the higher-class balls to the all-hours bars.
The party is heading into phase two. There are aging parents escorted by their middle-aged children hailing cabs, clearing the area as the heavy drinking crowd takes over.
Within 45 minutes, the crowd has changed.
“Barack Obama is about to be president. Just think about that,” a wool-hatted, thick-rimmed-glasses-wearing twenty-something says to his stumbling friend. Moments later two young men pass by wearing black bubble jackets. One is leaning on the other for support.
People are standing in front of Ben’s Chili Bowl snapping photos, but the crowd inside is average-sized.
About a half-hour later, inside Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe, the crowd has thinned out to locals, a bartender notes. Earlier in the day, tourists had crowded the tables, some bringing outside food, arguing for seats because Subway had no more.
By 4 a.m., there’s still lines outside only a few of the clubs that line Connecticut Avenue just south of Dupont Circle, but the main focus has turned toward cab hailing, of which there are few.
The cold is settling in. The long night coming to a close. It’s time to hit the hay.
