Live from Nectar's: Burlington Celebrates 

The line was already out the door by the time we arrived at the famous Nectar's on Main Street in Burlington for the special inauguration watch hosted by Democracy for America and Vermont Daily Briefing.

Within the first half hour the prime viewing spots were snagged, spirits are high — and everyone is glued to the widescreen in the barroom where C-SPAN is on.

Former Gov. Howard Dean, the outgoing chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was on screen for a couple of minutes getting off a plane and audible claps, hoots, and cheers filled the air.

He may be persona non grata in DC, but in Burlington the guy is still a popular figure. Maybe they'll be a coming home party since Dean isn't likely to keep up a residents in the nation's capital.

Plenty of local political dignitaries are here, including Amber LeMay of the League of Drag Queen Voters. What's an historic inaugural without drag queens, right?

The First Ladies were just escorted to their limos ... Big cheers for Michelle Obama.

And, here comes outgoing Veep Dick Cheney in a wheelchair — I guess he can't hear the hisses and boos from the Queen City. Fitting exit? He's crippled our civil liberties, for sure. A little payback for telling Sen. Patrick Leahy to, well, you know — perform an anatomically impossible sex act.

Now, here they are — outgoing and incoming presidents. Major applause, for Obama, that is.

Looks like Pres. George W. Bush didn't change his plans today either, which means Vermont is the only state in the union that didn't receive a special visit by the president. Cool.

Here's a link to a great piece by Cox News about Vermont's distinction. It ran last year, but the folks there re-ran it this morning on their Washington blog.

More soon — hoping I can blog and not get gravy on my keyboard.