Chicago Pride 2010...

Sunday, as you may know, was Pride.  At least...in my neck of the woods it was.  Robb and I got up at the crack of 7 AM to get ready to leave, since we drove to Midway and took the Orange Line in.  It's proven to be the most reliable, and we swore off the Blue Line after being stuck two years in a row for almost an hour, which made us late to the parade.  But I digress.

You probably came to see photos.  I've got photos. 

(This is the part where I upload and hope they finish and give me enough time to do it before 9:30 when I have to start getting ready for work...*crosses fingers*)

Okay...I've got only a few minutes to do this, so...PRIDE MARATHON!




We got there, and it was POURING!  So, Robb bought an umbrella.  Immediately thereafter, it stopped.  So, yes, we are single-handedly responsible for stopping the rain, in case you were wondering.

We waited for an hour and a half for the parade to start.  Yeah...we got there early and there was already a big crowd.  Shortly thereafter, Dan (danlang) and Tyler showed up.  And shortly THEREafter, Jeremy (upandoutward) and Nick showed up.



The parade started, and the grand marshal was Chely Wright!  How's that for cultural relevance!



That was kind of fun.



The boys of ROTC.  Always a favorite.



We actually ended up dancing next to this angel guy later in the night at Roscoe's.  I had no idea I'd seen him before until I looked at my pictures.



Is that Marc Giangreco?  I think it might be...



Chipotle was back this year!  We got a BOGO coupon from them and a tiny little stuffed burrito.  How cute!



This was the saddest thing I saw all day, and that includes the fifty year old drag queens.  Her sign said "Two sons in love.  Only one can marry." 



The Windy City Cowboys?  Yes please!!!

We watched this apartment nearby with a keen interest.  They were having breakfast and getting ready to go out, getting dressed, wearing towels, etc.



You can see why.



Yum.



Floats and floats...



The Miller Lite float always has some nice men.



There's my favorite bar's float.  Why's it my favorite?  It's the only bar in town I go to.  If you know me, that's a big statement.  I don't do bars, mostly.



I loved this guy's tattoo.  It's the Hyrulian Crest from Zelda. 



The Red Queen was there.  Down with the bloody big head!



Dan and I decided that the Corona guy was gorgeous.



And these boys?  They were...just...yum.  They were across from us in Minibar the whole time.  So...we watched them a lot.  I think I might have even gotten a video of that.  They switched out boys every half hour or so...it was like a buffet!

The parade was three hours long, and I have 450 pictures.  So...you know...I left out a few things.  Jeremy and Nick split about 45 minutes from the end, and Tyler got us a table at Nookies right behind us just before the parade ended.  What a sweetie!



They're adorable.

We ate a meal that wasn't Nookie's best, which was kind of disappointing, but understandable, since they were SWWWWAAAAMMMMPPPEEEDDDD!!!  So...meh.  We wandered around and shopped.  We showed Dan and Tyler some of our favorite shops and just some stuff around...it was laid back and fun.  Then they split and Jeremy came back to town.  We wandered around a little and ended up at The Center on Halsted.  There's a beautiful view of the skyline.



Gorgeous!

And then?  After a hassle involving a bag and a Papa Bear and Roscoe's staff, we were inside, people watching and having a good time! 



It was...pretty much friggin' amazing, as you can tell from Jeremy's face. 

All in all?  Good pride.  It was a different feeling form other years...a little less rowdy and a little more fun, honestly.  I think the rain scared some of the crazies away.  Either way, it was a blast, and I'm happy to have been able to finally meet Jeremy and Dan and their respective boyfriends.  How fun!

Out