Chatham County Family Packs for Inauguration Trip

A Chatham County family is getting ready for their trip to Washington, DC.

They knew they wanted to be there for the inauguration, tickets or no tickets. Their dream became a reality when they ran into Congressman Jack Kingston and he put them on the list for tickets. All that's standing between them now is the drive to our nation's capitol.

"Turtlenecks and jackets and sweaters," JoAnna Anderson checks off the list. Clothes are scattered everywhere at the Anderson house as they prepare to leave for Washington.

"This is the typical packing ritual. We lay everything out because we do all the laundry beforehand and then it's just come through with the duffle bags and pack it all up," says JoAnna’s husband Eric.

The family of four, Eric, JoAnna, Patrick, and Hannah, will probably pack about three of their huge duffle bags in addition to all the cameras they're taking to capture all the memories.

"Our daughter is probably the most excited of all of us. She watched all the debates. She paid attention to everything that's going on," says Eric.

Hannah's a little camera shy today, so JoAnna filled us in on why Hillary Clinton was not Hannah's favorite. "She decided she's going to be the first female president, so that's why Hillary [couldn’t] win!"

Hannah's not the only one excited. Her mom's been looking forward to this for months. "Just seeing the president take the oath of office because I had hoped for so long and we were so involved and so excited," says JoAnna.

"I'm a car buff so my goal is to get a shot of the new limousine!" laughs Eric. All jokes aside, Eric says going to the inauguration is the opportunity of a lifetime for him, his wife, and their two kids.

"History in the making. They're old enough to understand it. We've got to be there," and they will be after about a nine hour trip north on I-95.

Eric and JoAnna say their daughter was so excited she woke them up at five am on Election Day so they could vote.

The only family member not heading to DC is their dog, Diva.