More than 180 people attended a gala two-hour "Breakfast with The President" inaugural celebration this morning at Don Ho's Island Grill in Honolulu's Aloha Tower Marketplace.

The crowd began arriving before sun-up for the informal affair, which, because of the five-hour time difference between Honolulu and Washington, D.C., started at 6 a.m. All eyes were on the numerous large-screen televisions around the open-air restaurant during the swearing-in at 7 a.m.

Tickets were $30, and 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 with a red, white and blue overhead banner reading, "Hawai's Own."

Retired businessman Ed Auld said he organized the breakfast bash as a way for folks from near and far to be part of a historic, landmark event right in Obama's hometown and 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 capitol.

"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, of Washington, D.C., who was vacationing with family in Honolulu and read about the breakfast celebration in the paper.

The main purpose, said Auld, was simply to have a good time.

"I think the idea for this really came to a head when we watched the celebration at Grant Park in Chicago on the night of the election," said Auld, who, like Obama, is a Punahou School alumnus.

"You know, you watch a party like that and you just say, 'Dang, I wish I could be there.' I told my wife, 'We're not going to be on the sidelines on this one.' "