Don't rain on my parade, 2013...

So.....DC Capital Gay Pride 2013.

This year going with me was StratCat (for her fourth nonconsecutive trip), Strat's cousin CC (for her third consecutive time), CC's son Josh (for his second consecutive time), and Josh's adorable lil boyfriend Justin (for his first time EVER!).  Paul and his Insanely Cute Boyfriend Travis were going to be there as well (for their second time), but they got a hotel room down there and were spending the weekend, so that they could not only see the parade, but experience the nightlight Saturday night, and hit the Festival on Sunday afternoon. YAY!

Unfortunately, Louis, my friend from Singapore who lives in the DC area, wouldn't be able to make it.  And unfortunately as well, neither could VUBOQ.

Also, I was taking my brand new camera with me, which meant "YAY" I have a working camera to take along, but "BOO" cause I wasn't familiar with it at all.  It allowed me memory to take 116 photos, and I used it all up. Only now did I realize I had the camera on like extra-super high resolution, so I they are all huge and take up a lot of space (that's what she said?).  Also, I hadn't mastered the actual photo taking part, so there were about 5 or 6 of those photos wasted on accidental photos of the ground, or my hand, or Paul's shirt, or my shoe, or what have you.  At least I mastered the zoom feature, so shut up.

Anyway, the five of us here (me, The Ladies' Auxilary (StratCat and CC) and The Kids (Josh and Justin)) ate lunch at Montezuma's and then headed out.  We got into DuPont before 3:00, we made amazing time.  Paul met us at CVS where we were getting things to drink, instead of their hotel room cause, as he texted, "the princess is still powdering her nose", which meant Travis was still in the shower. And since we knew that would take a little time (!!), after Paul met us, we walked the Circle a bit and then went to the HRC store, where Josh bought some teeny tiny undies or shorts or something (he must be like a size -7 or something).

Following this we went to the room, used the potty, and we all trundled off to the elevator.  But right before the doors closed Travis jumped off because he had forgotten something.  So the rest of us hung out in the lobby until he came down....to get the key because he didn't have his (which, it turns out, he actually DID have in his bag, he just couldn't find it).  But that's Travis.  At least he's cute.

Upon his return, we went outside to get our spots and discovered, much to my dismay, that for the first time in my 15 times down, they had put up those barricades to keep the crowd on the sidewalk and not in the street.  Which, I suppose made sense so no one got hurt, but which also highly sucked.

And we were standing with a great group of people, talking with them, laughing with them, sharing some of our spoils (candy, beads, condoms, trinkets, etc) with them.  I even got talking to this cute black guy in a yellow Marvel comic t-shirt!  I mean, how can you not talk to a guy with a Captain America shield on his chest.  And when the parade was over and he and I hugged goodbye, he asked to friend me in Facebook, and of course I said yes. So I gained a new friend as well! (And as chance would have it, he ran into Paul and Travis on Sunday at the festival too!)

After the Parade, we all went to the hotel room to rest a moment or two, use the potty again, and I filled up my empty water bottle.  Then me, the Ladies Auxiliary and The Kids headed out to the Metro and off we came home, stopping only in Frederick to eat a late supper at The Macaroni Grill!  YUM!

And so, without further ado....the pics!

Purple HRC drinking cups! 

(you'll probably be seeing these again on another purplish blog)

The Kids, me and the New YAWK-ers.

The Ladies Auxiliary.

The barricades. Yuck.

A shirtless, albeit pale, cutie across the street.

This little guy was there with his parents the whole time.  He was so cute!  He was getting all kinds of candy and beads and stuff, and really cleaning up!  But when you're as cute as him, you're just bound to get all the goodies.

Gay DC Police...some on Segueways.

Dykes On Bikes, the traditional beginning of the Parade.  Ladies first, I guess.

Homoto...hot gay guys on bikes.

Gay DC MetroTransit Police (ie, more gay cops!)

Some band, but the hot black conductor in the red shirt was rocking it!

Puppy in a rainbow cape.

Three Wonder Woman-esque ladies leading the Grand Marshal of the Parade, who was.....

LYNDA CARTER!!!  

Lynda freakin-Wonder-Woman Carter!!!!!!!!  

Waving rainbow flags!

She was stopped right in front of us for a few moments and Paul shouted out her name, and looked at us...RIGHT AT US!!  I fucking made eye contact with Lynda Carter!!!!  I wanted to so the WW twirl right then and there, but I couldn't take my eyes off of her!  And yes, I did squee, several times.  And I jumped up and down like a teenage girl at a Beiber concert, at least once.  But probably more.

She's 62 years old, and doesn't look anywhere NEAR it!  I wish I looked as good as her at 45 as she does at 62!

This is Darren Phelps, some Reverend in the DC area who was honored for his contributions to the gay community.  And he was strikingly hot as well.

Not sure who she is or what group she was with, but who cares?  Look at her! What's not to love?

Another...super-heroine.  That was the theme of Pride this year "Unleash The Superhero In You" or something like that.  You'll see many many superheroes here.

One of those FAIL pics taken accidently.  Nice brick/macadam mix though, eh?

Pride In DC Public Schools.  Good for the future.

Oh look, they threw candy out too!  And there's Paul's hands, inbetween grabbing all the swag he could!

Batgirl and Supergirl...with thier....bat-bag and super-bag?

Cute guy throwing beads.

"More Madonna, Less Sprawl"  All I cared about was the purple socks and wig.

Kids and puppies, the cutest things in the Parade each year.

More kids marching, some throwing beads.

Two moms in Wonder Woman tiaras, and it looks like their son has one on too! 

Now THIS is the way to 'walk' in a parade.

VERY cute, probably not gay, cops on patrol!

Hot shirtless guys!

Hot, muscley, ab-y, Asian guy!

A stuffed puppy in a Robin costume.

And The Riddler following the...bat-van perhaps?

The guy in the Spider-Man mask had an amazing body, which he unfortunately turned just as I snapped the pic.

I've no idea what the pink flamingos were from, but Travis got one of the ones they were throwing out..

An Angel, a painted on Spider-Man behind the flamingo, and the tiger guy from Thundercats.

Oh, look, another Epic Fail Shot.  But now we can see some grass, a Nellie's Bar Fan, and the sandals and feet of a cute Asian guy who, at my request, picked up some beads on the ground and handed them over the barricade to me.

A Green Lantern stripper.

There's a Robin Stripper (with Batman shorts), but he's not what I was aiming for.  I wanted to get the tall guy in blue with the hairthing and/or the cute lil black number in pink and black Superman undies, but, well, we see how this photo worked out.

Some random stippers.  Cause God knows you can never have too many random strippers.

A Punisher stripper, next to a rather large and somewhat scary, drag queen.

This chap was WORKIN' IT to the music, but since I didn't have the video on, you can't see that.  Still, that's a pretty fierce rainbow-boa he's got there, eh?

Travis doing...something, and looking all cheesey while doing it.

This guy was tall and thin and awe-inspiring walking a parade route in THOSE heels!

 

I got this pic not only because of the hot lil number carrying the flag, but because this is the group from The Lodge, the local bar around here!

And with these hottie representing them, it's clear to me I HAVE to get back up there soon!

More Pride Puppies!

A walking banana in a human-sized condom in a Gay Parade.  My life in complete now.

 

Queer Asians....I'm ready for ANY actions these cuties are up for!

PFLAG.  Everyone LOVES PFLAG.  I can only ever get one pic of them, cause the rest of the time I'm clapping, shouting, waving, and thanking them.  One lady was carrying a sign saying, "Free PFLAG Hugs" and  so I put my arms out and we hugged.  We told each other we loved each other and I thanked her for being there.  She thanked me for being who I am.  Choked me up slightly, as the PFLAG group always does!

A purple Batman T-shirt with an HRC sticker on it and a rainbow Mohawk. NOW my life is complete.

I believe this is a gay youth group, but the kid in front was quite the cutie whatever the group is!

My LORD was boyfriend working it!  All over the street! And in heels!  

Chipotle!  Now I know where I want to go instead of patronizing the homophobic Chik-fil-a!

 

The Flash, a rainbow mohawk and a Cooper mini!

Funny that The Flash was just strolling along and not, ya know, running or anything.

Speedo clad guys spraying water on the crowd.  And a huge rubber duckie.

Cutie, speedo, water gun, innertube.

 

This hot hunk of man was in the DC gay runners group.  Yowza!

 

The Wells-Fargo group.  Who knew they had so many gay members.  Oh, and they've got my mortgage.

And not only my mortgage, but they've got this hottie!  And even the girl is kinda cute!

Disappointingly, there were no 'dancing cowboys' in this year's parade, but there were these people from the dancing lessons group.  And the cuties in the blue wife beater as well.

This Asian hottie in a cowboy hat had stopped right in front of me, but right as I took the photo, he looked away.  Bad timing once again.

 

This is a marching band from New York which I love, because of the purple plumes in their hats!

The gay group from the Peace Corps!  Look at all the flags!

And amid the flags, is a little baby, a purple shirt, and a hot shirtless guy.

The DC Eagle/leather float.  And yes, the guys DOES have a dog mask and paw gloves on.

A Green Lantern holding....a green lantern.

This inflatable muscle guy was nearly the width of the entire street!

Hot guy in a cape throwing beads!

Scantily clad Hispanic Construction worker.

A second scantily clad Hispanic Construction worker.

Hot black guy in Superman Undies (and something purple in front of him).

And a second better shot. (You'll probably see this guy on some Sunday)

 

Cutie, wifebeater, throwing beads.

 

This float, to my mind, MORE than made up for the lack of the Dancing Cowboys! (Especially when the guy on the right turned around and mooned us.  I honestly thought he was going to take the speedo off entirely, but no such luck)

I could watch an entire parade of just them......

An angel.

A second hotter angel.  Oh and HI THERE!  That's Travis' arm.

The angels from behind.

 

Captain America and Wonder Woman!  A Cross Company team up! 

(and only the comic book geeks are gonna get that)

These guys were part of a marching band from some church.  They were pretty impressive in their marching and playing at the same time!

The drum section.  I love the matching non-uniforms.

A cute Captain America.

Another Epic Fail shot...but you can see the glitter and such on the ground.

Another guys working it HARD.  I wish I had gotten a photo of his ass. It was extraordinary.

Shirtlessness, wifebeater, purple, Asian...it's like the Palace brought to life!

I was worried because she usually walks in the front of the Parade, but here, near the end, she is!  Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC's non-voting member of the House Of Representatives!  Seventy Five years young and still walking the majority of the Parade Route!

No clue who these are from, but I DO love wifebeaters AND dreads as well.

Epic Fail....but Paul has a nifty shirt doesn't he?

 

Hot guy in purple wifebeater!

Dont know who they are either, but that's quite a hottie in front of those blue balloons.

After the parade, this hottie was walking down the street....nice guns.

Paul and Travis showing off their swag: Paul, his frog, Travis, his flamingo.

This is StratCat watching Josh buy a rainbow flower.  But I got them just by accident, cause I was trying to get the hottie with no shirt, the backpack and MASSIVE pecks and abs.  But of COURSE, he turned away just as I snapped the pic.

So that was Pride!  If anyone else wants to go next year, let me know! 

 POLT