WASHINGTON --- From a slope in the National Mall, Alvin Greenwood said he saw a nation of many become one.

Mr. Greenwood, who turns 52 today, still remembers the way segregation stifled life in his hometown of Beech Island and divided blacks from whites.

That's not the world he said he saw Tuesday as more than a million people gathered in Washington to watch President Obama take the oath of office.

It's a birthday gift that tops anything, he said.

"This wasn't about black or white," said Mr. Greenwood, who rested in the warmth of a tour bus as the day came to a close. "It was millions of people coming together for a good cause."

From the Washington Monument to the steps of the Capitol, the Augusta residents traveling on Harmon Brothers Tour bus 01 fought crowds, the cold and hunger to witness something they say they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Janet Herrington, 56, of Augusta, called it an experience worth every bit of discomfort the weather might have caused.

She said the pairing of the "soulful" Aretha Franklin with the "classical" Yo-Yo Ma was classy, and she thought the conduct of the crowd broke down racial stereotypes.

"I saw black people who were extremely proud," she said. "I saw people who were crowded up and kept good attitudes. I think some of the stereotypes that we black people don't act right won't be happening this time."

The day was simply a "dream come true" for Doris McGahee, who tightly clutched an Obama calendar she purchased not far from the inauguration.

"They say you dream long enough and it will come true," she said. "Today it really did."

With an obstructed view not far from the Washington Monument, 65-year-old Cherianne Duncan said she listened to, rather than witnessed, history.

Laughing as she referred to herself as "vertically challenged," Ms. Duncan said she couldn't see over the people in front of her. If Mr. Obama wins again in four years, she said, she would stay home to watch it on TV.

But seconds later she changed her mind.

"Well, I might come back one more time," she said with a smile. "I'd come earlier next time, and I'd definitely do it differently, but I'd return."