nothing beats a parade

Well, technically it was a foot race. Every year the city of DC hosts a Drag Queen Race in Dupont Circle before Halloween, but it is really more a parade of costumes than a real race. Sure, a few "ladies" give it there all in high heels and vie for the trophy, but most of the contestants enjoy the four block stretch of street and strut their stuff. Actually, most of the fun is the hour before the race when the queens arrive (often with their entourages, which I will get to later) and bask in the glory that could only be found in Dupont Circle.

I went two years ago with a friend, but we arrived late, so we barely got a glimpse of the race. This year I took two friends who were intrigued by this event, and we probably arrived 20-30 minutes before the race started. As we got near the street, we realized that we wouldn't be able to see a thing, since the street was lined on both sides 15-20 people thick trying to get a view of the pre-show show.

Then, in a flash of brilliance, a queen and her entourage walked right in front of me. The crowd immediately parted to give her room to get to the street, and without a moments hesitation I walked directly behind the entourage, squishing as close as possible and just kept on walking. Within seconds, Jill, Kim and I were are the front of the crowd. It was a Halloween miracle!

I tried to catch a glimpse of the fun, but Kim's camera wasn't being very cooperative. Here are some of the best shots.

Featured here, was our ticket to the front of the line.

The costumes were overall, incredible.

This falls into the not-so-creative category, but quite common at the race.

A lot of people dressed as groups. Here are the board games, each featuring a different game on their headdress.

When this group (three nuns and a priest) came up, they grabbed the girl in front of me and pulled her out to "spank the sin out of her." It might have been the funniest thing of the night.

The interesting thing about drag queens is that although they dress like women, I wouldn't say they are particularly feminine or reflect a woman's beauty. This photo is a little blurry, but I think you get the general idea.

Kim and Jill, not looking too horrified after the whole experience. Although, I will admit, there was a vast abundance of male upper thigh, which I would prefer to not see again.

This is what I am talking about when I say male upper thigh. I'm pretty sure that women fought to wear pants because it is more comfortable. Somehow that memo got skipped at this event.

Me, after the event, quite entertained.