Meet the folks who waited days to hear the Supreme Court marriage case

North Carolina resident Tracy Hollister flew from Raleigh to Washington, D.C. late last week, days in advance of the Supreme Court arguments over same-sex marriage. Even so, when she arrived in Washington on Friday morning, she was so anxious to get to the court that she took a cab straight there.

"I took a cab from the airport to get there because, I don't know, I was just worried that taking the Metro would be too slow, and suddenly a bus would emerge, and I would be No. 52, and I wouldn't get in," she explained to CBS News. "So I wasn't taking any chances."

Dozens of folks like Hollister lined up in front of the Supreme Court days ahead of Tuesday's arguments, to ensure they would get one of the 50 seats in the Supreme Court reserved for the public. The tickets are issued on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For some people, getting inside the courtroom was about witnessing history firsthand.

"When we heard that this case was being taken up, we knew because of the additional legal significance we knew there was a chance the line might be a little bit longer," said Jordan Haedtler, who recently moved to Washington. He and his friends also waited in line in 2013 to hear the Supreme Court arguments over the Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8.

"So we kind of knew the ropes of the waiting process, and how the paid line-waiters versus general public line-waiters worked," he said.

For others in line, Tuesday's oral arguments were much more personal. Vic Holmes and Mark Phariss are two of the four plaintiffs fighting the same-sex marriage ban in Texas. They were the last two people in line to get into the courtroom.

"I really feel very strongly that we're going to prevail in this," Holmes said after the arguments. In fact, they're so confident, that the couple has already booked a facility for their November wedding in Frisco, Texas.

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