Inauguration Prep News: Buzz Killer

Revel-planners still enjoy an afterglow from last week's buzz that bars in DC will be open and serving till 5 am January 17 through 21, 2009, (well beyond the usual 1 am during the week and a few that have last call at 3 am on weekends. Today's news dashed the hopes and killed the buzz of those scheming to stake out prime locations at the mall or on the parade route by camping overnight: no access to the mall or Pennsylvania Ave. till 7 am. Should we expect residential and other neighborhoods within walking distance of the parade route or the mall to have campers on the sidewalks who'll queue up nicely to proceed through the security gates at the yet to be determined entry points as 7 am nears? Sounds like a party...

For those of you who've resisted the temptation to pay thousands of dollars for the privilege of subletting a local's crib for the festivities, or really going for broke, guess what? There's still hotel rooms available, according to The Washington Post:

Destination DC: Hotel Rooms Still Available
Destination DC, a city tourism group, continues to monitor hotel availability and announced today that nearly 900 hotel rooms remain available in the District for Jan. 19, the night before Barack Obama is sworn-in as president.

The organization also has identified 8,600 additional rooms located within 200 miles of the city. Prices range from $100 in distant towns to $1,000 a night in the city.

Call Destination DC toll free at 1-800-422-8644 for more information.