The chairs are set and the grits are warming.

The preparations are almost done for the N.C. Society's black-tie ball for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration. 

The event will start at 8 p.m. at the Marriott Wardman Park, a tony hotel not far from the national zoo. 

Dome is here as part of a minimal press contingent operating under pretty strict restrictions on access. We will be allowed to talk to some of the 1,800 attendees as they arrive tonight, and we'll get to watch the presentation of the Congressional delegation.

Also, we have to leave at 10 p.m., two hours before the ball ends.

This is a huge contrast with the Junior League's inaugural ball for Gov. Beverly Perdue, where Dome and several colleagues were given a special media room and all-access passes throughout the Raleigh Convention Center.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will go to the inauguration with his family.

The Lillington Democrat plans to attend the swearing-in ceremony for President-elect Barack Obama with his wife, Faye; son, Brian; and daughter-in-law Meredith.

Afterward, the family will watch the inaugural parade. 

He also plans to attend the North Carolina Society's inaugural ball Monday night and the Southern Ball Tuesday night.

Previously: Rep. Brad Miller's and Sen. Kay Hagan's plans. 

Sen. Kay Hagan will attend the inauguration with her husband.

The Greensboro Democrat said that she will walk for about a mile and half to get to the swearing-in ceremony for President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday.

"You better believe I'm going to be bundled up," she said, noting the recent cold snap in Washington. "I do have a seat (but) I don't think there's going to be heaters next to it."

Hagan said that she will also attend the North Carolina Society's ball on Monday and the Southern Ball on Tuesday with her husband, who is driving up this weekend.

She added that her son and two daughters, who all campaigned vigorously for her, are back in college and will not be with her for the inauguration.

"They were all up here for my swearing-in," she said. "They'll watch it on TV."

North Carolina's presidential ball is a product of former rivals.

Debby Bryant ran Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt's office in Washington, while Jimmy Broughton was a top aide to Sen. Jesse Helms. Both are planning the N.C. State Society's Inaugural Ball next month.

The society is designed to be a nonpartisan group of North Carolinians leaving politics at the door in a city obsessed with partisanship and politics.

It is hosting 1,800 Tar Heels at a Jan. 19 ball at the Marriott Wardman Park, a historic hotel that once housed members of Congress such as Broughton's grandfather, U.S. Sen. J. Melville Broughton.

It is one of dozens of dances and balls held that night. The group has been holding balls for new presidents since 1989. (Char-O)

The inauguration is not the only hot ticket in D.C.

The North Carolina Society is no longer accepting requests for tickets to its ball on Monday, Jan. 19, the day before the inauguration. 

The ball is one of several functions held by the group, including an ACC tournament watching party, a summer barbecue and holiday parties. Anyone can join, although the membership mostly includes North Carolina natives living in Washington.

Tickets to the inaugural ball are $150 per person, with a limit of four. The society accepted requests for tickets through its Web site until recently and then chose the 1,800 attendees from that pool.

The black-tie event will be held from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Chapel Hill's Liquid Pleasure will provide Motown music, and there will be a grits bar and other light Southern fare. 

The group is one of the oldest state societies in Washington.