While more than 1 million endured the inauguration's below-freezing temperatures in the nation's capital, more than 180 people watched the event yesterday morning in the comfy open air and gentle breezes at Don Ho's Island Grill in Honolulu's Aloha Tower Marketplace.

The two-hour Breakfast With The President inauguration celebration was the last-minute innovation of retired businessman Ed Auld, who had watched the election-night celebration in Chicago's Grant Park on TV and told his wife, Ruth, "We're not going to be on the sidelines on this one."

"The best part is everyone's having a ball," said Auld, as the gathering wolfed down plates of sausage, ham, bacon, eggs, waffles, fruit and danish rolls while watching the goings-on in Washington, D.C., on large-screen TVs all around the restaurant.

The crowd began arriving before sun-up for the informal affair, which, because of the five-hour time difference between Honolulu and Washington, started at 6 a.m.

The $30 tickets included breakfast, tip and taxes, as well as a souvenir photo of each guest with the 44th U.S. president — thanks to a lei-draped, life-size, cardboard Barack Obama cutout stationed near the entrance under a red, white and blue banner reading "Hawai'i's Own."

Auld said he organized the breakfast bash as a way for folks from near and far to be part of a historic event right in Obama's birthplace. People from O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands were joined by visitors from as far away as Japan, Australia and even the nation's capital.

Maria and Shelley Nickels of Washington, D.C., admitted that watching the event in warm morning air at Honolulu Harbor had its advantages.

"We thought it would be fun to be here where Obama is from, and to celebrate this with all the peoples of Hawai'i," said Maria Nickles, who was already in Hawai'i when she read about the breakfast celebration in the paper.

Her daughter, Shelley, said there was no doubt something consequential was taking place.

"It is a great moment in history," she said. "And I'm just proud to be a part of it. I'm thrilled to be in Hawai'i. If we can't be in Washington, we're just happy to be here. And we will try to bring this spirit of aloha back with us when we return to Washington to help Barack Obama.

"I think he's going to do a great job. But he's going to need a lot of help, too."

Richard and Nancy Sommery-Gade of Nanakuli likened the inauguration to a long-awaited continuation of the idealism that started and ended in the 1960s.

"You know, this is really incredible," said Nancy Sommery-Gade, who recalled being inspired by the inauguration speech of John F. Kennedy as an eighth-grader in San Francisco, only to have her hopes dashed by traumatic social events later in the decade.

"Especially with John and Robert Kennedy being assassinated, and Martin Luther King Jr. being assassinated — and you just felt like it was hopeless for a long time."

Hope was so ever-present yesterday at Don Ho's that at times those there were nearly speechless.

"I'm just still in shock," said Rhoda Reeling of Chicago. "But I'm pleased for our country. And I just feel very relieved and happy."

Relieved that the Bush administration has come to an end, she said, and happy that a new day will be dawning with the Obama administration.

Reeling, who campaigned for Obama during his Illinois senatorial quest and again when he ran for president, said she felt as if she were representing both of Obama's hometowns at yesterday morning's Honolulu breakfast celebration.

"I think I have the best of both worlds right here," she said.

Although the breakfast crowd was filled with a sense of promise and expectation, Reeling and others said they were moved by the tremendous economic, social and international burdens facing the new president.

"I watched Obama's face after his speech, and you could see the gravitas settling in on him," she said.

As the party was breaking up, Auld encouraged those at the gathering to change the country for the better.

"All that's left now is to go forward," said Auld, who distributed "Yes We Can!!! — Change is Happening" cards to everyone at the party. "We have to do our part and get involved."

Jan Kirk of Chester, Pa., summed up the sentiments of many at the party.

"This is the start," she said with a broad smile and a sense of determination. "And I'm so happy."