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Mad Dash to Snag Swearing-In Tickets, Rooms Begins
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On Craigslist alone, more than 200 posters have pitched their abodes since Tuesday, banking that hotels will be filled.
Michael Filippello, 39, had eight responses in the first 24 hours after listing the one-bedroom first-floor apartment of his three-story Capitol Hill rowhouse.
On Thursday, he agreed to $1,800 for the week, offered by a California executive.
But, first, visitors have to get here.
Victor S. Parra, president and chief executive of the United Motorcoach Association, said he didn't know how many buses would descend on Washington, but he is bracing for the biggest inauguration in history.
He could not recall a bigger event. ""It's like nothing I've seen before," he said. The association represents 875 motorcoach companies in North America.
In North Carolina, several black leadership groups have plans to bring 1,800 people on 34 buses to the District the day before the inauguration.
Bruce Lightner, owner of a funeral home in Raleigh, took the lead in planning the massive bus trip, which is sponsored by the state Martin Luther King Jr. association and two groups for black elected state officials.
"I had a vision in the night way a long time ago that Obama would be elected," said Lightner, 61. "Once he got by Hillary, there wouldn't be nobody to stop him."
Lightner began organizing the trip months ago, but people couldn't seem to part with a $25 deposit. "They didn't want to send in their deposits until they knew he was going to win," he said.
The Web site where people can find out about the trip features an organ playing "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," known by some as the black national anthem. Packages range from $140 to $275, depending on town of departure and how many people are in a hotel room. Participants will stay overnight in moderately priced hotels in Southern Maryland and Manassas.
"Now we're inundated with people who want to get on the bus," Lightner said. "We are at capacity. We have no more buses," he said. "You can drive if you want, but it's gonna be crazy."
