Obamas, Crowd Savor the Spirit of Second Inaugural

While the enthusiasm and crowd size for Barack Obama's second inauguration didn't match that of his first, the spectacle was no less grand and the level of security no less tight.

And with an estimated 1 million people gathered as witnesses, the president seemed to enjoy it all. When the ceremony came to a close and he climbed the stairs to reenter the Capitol, he turned around to take in the view of the waving masses and said, "I want to take a look one more time. I'm not going to see this again."

Parked, out-of-service Metro buses blocked dozens of intersections in downtown Washington. Army vehicles were situated throughout the area, and Army guards, National Guard contingents from other states, D.C. police and even TSA officials were stationed all along Pennsylvania Avenue -- the road the 44th president traveled from the White House to the Capitol in the morning.

Many attendees flocked on foot to Pennsylvania Avenue and queued at a number of security access points. In order to reach the National Mall, they needed to cross that artery, but crossing points were often closed as security officials prepared for the president's passage. Crowds cheered boisterously when blockades were lifted to allow ticketholders across.

Jumbotrons lined the Mall, allowing the crowd to get a clearer view of the action, but the sound failed at times, frustrating inauguration-goers.

The ceremony itself wasn't flawless either; there was a hiccup, though it wasn't quite on the order of Chief Justice John Roberts flubbing the oath of office four years ago.

This time, when civil rights leader Myrlie Evers-Williams delivered the invocation to kick off the 57th Presidential Inauguration, she incorrectly referred to Obama as the nation's 45th president. She also called the dome that tops the U.S. Capitol golden, which it isn't. (Many state capitol buildings, however, do have golden domes.)

After his address, the president joined members of the House and Senate for lunch in the Capitol's Statuary Hall, where he and the first lady sat next to House Speaker John Boehner. The menu included steamed lobster tails, New England clam chowder, and grilled bison. There was bipartisan support from lawmakers for the dessert: apple pie with sour ice cream, cheese and honey.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan -- who figure to play key roles in the upcoming round of fiscal negotiations -- emerged from the luncheon together, chatting. ABC foreign correspondent Martha Raddatz, who moderated a colorful Kentucky debate between Joe Biden and Ryan in October, approached the running mate of Mitt Romney and jokingly asked if he remembered her. He greeted Raddatz with a hug, and said that sometime soon he'd like "to pick your brain about Afghanistan."

The gathering served as a brief respite from the bitter partisan politics that has permeated Capitol Hill during the president's tenure. Asked whether the moment would linger, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman looked at his watch, joking that it would probably soon pass.

Not too long ago, Portman might have envisioned Romney taking the oath of office on Monday. But the Buckeye Republican, who was a top Romney surrogate during the campaign, enjoyed the celebration nonetheless: He took a picture of himself from his seat on the Capitol balcony during the ceremony and tweeted it out. "My wife's not here, so she was tweeting me and saying, ‘How's it going?' So I took a picture. It's a wonderful celebration of our democracy."

At lunch, the president walked around the room, talking to different lawmakers. Members mingled with their colleagues across the aisle. California Democrat Maxine Waters sat next to Republican Jo Bonner. The arrangement was a bit awkward, because as a former chairman of the House Ethics Committee, Bonner led an investigation into Waters' involvement with minority-owned banks in which her husband was a stakeholder. When she sat down at the table, Waters said she joked to her colleague, "Remember me?"

While many Romney staffers and supporters skipped town for the inauguration, one 2012 presidential candidate attended: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich walked through the halls of the Capitol afterward, and praised the president's address.

"I thought it was a very good speech -- very clear," he told RealClearPolitics. "Probably 90 percent of it I could agree with. I thought the emphasis on bringing us together, the emphasis on citizenship, and the degree to which he tied things back to the Declaration of Independence were all useful." Gingrich also applauded Obama for inviting congressional leaders to the White House for coffee that morning. "I thought it was a very smart way to try to set a different tone," he said. But, he encouraged House Republicans to find ways to work with Obama while also standing their ground in the upcoming debates on the sequester and funding the government. Gingrich said he planned to spend the rest of the day "watching the parade and having fun."

Following the lunch, the president, vice president, and the first and second ladies paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on the national holiday that marks his birth and achievements by stopping briefly at the statue of the civil rights leader in the Statuary Hall. Eric Cantor, the House Republican majority leader, who stood with the president, told CNN later that it was a special moment for him, as Obama shared that it was the first time he had ever seen the statue, which is on the House side of the Capitol (where Obama, of course, never served).

Immediately afterward, Obama hopped into the presidential limo and blew a kiss out the window to observers nearby. Soon began -- unofficially -- the inaugural parade: The First Couple got out of the car along the parade route and held hands while waving to the crowd, which erupted in cheers. When they split and went to separate sides of the car to reenter it, the president lingered, turning a full circle as he waved to those on both sides of the street. He blew another kiss before climbing back into the bullet-proof vehicle once again.

Vice President Biden was in his element: With his signature wide smile, he jogged across the parade route to shake hands with onlookers.

After the Obamas arrived at the White House and walked out to the presidential reviewing stand, a buoyant president joked with security guards about the weather. Inside, he bopped along to music and chomped on gum.

The moment that may be most remembered was when the Obamas' younger daughter, Sasha, whipped out her iPhone and implored the First Parents to kiss for a photo. It took them four tries before Sasha was happy with the result.