By AMY HARDER
Want to partake in the inauguration festivities but feel overwhelmed about planning everything? No need to worry. NationalJournal.com has scoured sites like eBay, craigslist and StubHub to devise an itinerary, prices included.
Getting Here
If you're coming from New York, a post on eBay has tickets going for $200. Watch yourself on the return trip, though: The ad says buses "Start Departing Washington" that evening on a "First Come Basis."
Getting Around Once You're Here
Enjoy the sights of the nation's capital from a Rolls-Royce Phantom. A craigslist poster is offering chauffeur services in this "exotic automobile" for $575 -- an hour.
Accommodations
As everyone already knows, nearly all the hotels are booked. This won't be a problem, though. Judging from online ads, it seems as though every resident in the greater D.C. area is seeking to rent a room or house to visitors. A one-week rental of a one-bedroom apartment in the Courthouse area of Arlington will set you back only $4,000. Feeling a little richer? Then rent out a four-bedroom house near American University for $20,000. Are you feeling substantially poorer and willing to sacrifice housing altogether? Someone is offering a "like new" folding guest bed for a very affordable $35. You could also seek out hotel reservations second-hand. Two-night accommodations at the Fairfield Marriott Inn on New York Ave. NE, via a post on eBay, start at $699. Or, you could shell out $1,999 right now to make sure you've got it.
Party, Party, Party
The large number of parties and galas scheduled for the week surrounding the inauguration will certainly be surpassed only by the number of people seeking to attend them. And you'll want to make sure you don't miss out. You could go to the New Jersey gala for $452. But why do that when you could attend President-elect Barack Obama's own Illinois gala for $1,495? Worried about not getting into these high-profile parties? A post on craigslist implies, more or less, that professional ID cards can be tailor-made to any event, including inauguration festivities. In case you do get rejected from these parties, an eBay post is offering a cruise around the Potomac to enjoy the inaugural fireworks. This would set you back at least $2,000, with no length of cruise specified.
The Golden Ticket
To be sure, we never specified that this itinerary included the actual inauguration tickets, which are under lock and key until just days before the event. So, if you happen to come across any legitimate tickets -- or find that key -- the staff at NationalJournal.com would sure like to know.
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Responded on January 11, 2009 4:00 PM
Ms.S
I got blessed to get three and blessed to get a hotel. Just an average person. Just wanted people to know that average hard working people got tickets.