×

Fort Dodge Senior High grad goes to inauguration

Couple visits nation’s capital on a whim

-Submitted photo
While walking around in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Shelby Unkel, a 2005 FDSH graduate now living in Cedar Rapids, was only able to get about half a mile close to the U.S. Capitol. Many streets in the capital are blocked off for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

As Shelby Anderson Unkel and her husband, Alan, walked around the nation’s capital the day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, she described the atmosphere as quiet, empty and even “eerie.”

Flying to Washington, D.C., to watch Biden’s inauguration was a rather impulsive decision, Shelby Unkel, a 2005 Fort Dodge Senior High School graduate now living in Cedar Rapids, said.

“My husband and I haven’t traveled much since the pandemic,” she said.

But when she heard reports that immediately after Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, DC hotel prices jumped to $700 a night, she went online to see how much a trip would cost. She found roundtrip airfare between Chicago and Baltimore for about $300 per person and booked their tickets on a whim.

“This trip has been kind of a nightmare to plan,” Unkel said.

-Submitted photo While walking around Washington, DC on Tuesday, Fort Dodge native Shelby Unkel visited the Black Lives Matter Plaza just north of the White House.

Unkel first reached out to the offices of U.S. senators Joni Ernst and Charles Grassley to request inauguration tickets, but were declined because no general admission tickets were being given out due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Then, on Jan. 6, armed pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol building, starting a riot, and causing authorities and organizers to ramp up security restrictions for the inauguration.

“Originally we were going to go to the National Mall, but since that’s closed, we’re just kind of playing it by ear at this point,” Unkel said.

To navigate the unfamiliar city in unfamiliar times, Unkel has been checking the Washington DC subreddit on Reddit.com to learn about what areas of the city are closed or maybe unsafe at this time. She said it was especially helpful in figuring out which Metro train lines to use to get from their hotel in Baltimore to the center of D.C.

Despite not being able to be as close to the events as she would have liked, Unkel is looking forward to being part of a “historical moment.”

-Submitted photo While walking around the nation’s capital on Tuesday, Fort Dodge native Shelby Unkel noticed this painted mural highlighting “unity, love, hope and change.”

“I just feel like the way the country was moving toward, this President (Trump) needed to be out,” she said. “Who knows what the next four years would have brought?”

Before Unkel and her husband left Iowa for their trip, they talked about what to do if another uprising ignites while they’re there.

“That we would need an emergency evacuation route,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to plan that if you’re not from the area.”

With help from the D.C. subreddit and maps, the couple picked a location to meet at if they were to get separated.

With all the extra anxiety brought on by recent unrest and the disappointment caused by COVID-19, Unkel is looking forward to a rather uneventful day with the swearing-in of the 46th President of the United States.

“After, it will be like a relief and hopefully it’s only uphill from there,” she said. “I think there’s still a lot of anxiety going into the events, so I feel like the relief will come when it’s over.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today