Washed out and proud

On Saturday, Reebs texted me and asked whether the Pride festivities in Boston seem small compared to San Francisco. The answer, obviously, is yes, but it isn't really fair to compare one with the other. San Francisco's pride celebration is among the largest in the world, so I never went into this past weekend with the same expectations.

What I didn't expect, however, was that it would be a cold and rainy weekend! After going out on Friday night, Puppy, DJ Mother Nature and I went to an early Saturday-morning party where everyone seemed to be in much better shape than me. Fortunately, that also meant that we were among the only guests eating the muffins and quiche! There apparently were also cupcakes, brought by one of the guests, but the host was ashamed of them and hid them in the pantry. And I thought the whole point was to be proud!

We then headed to watch the parade, which featured various local politicians, high school gay-straight alliances and local businesses. Celebrity marshals included CeCe Peniston and Alexis Arquette, but I think I'd ducked into the Eagle to get a drink and avoid the downpour while they headed by. The intermittent rain made for kind of a messy early afternoon, fueled obviously by the beverages.

Our little group had grown to seven by this time and we went to grab some lunch, apparently ground zero for obnoxious lesbian pride. I have to give props to the host for managing the chaos, getting us seated and serving us with pitchers of margaritas - all while people danced on tables and screamed to Lady Gaga.

Once lunch was over, we were dunzo. Pride sort of began too early on Saturday, so by the time evening rolled around, we were down for the count. We even skipped the block party, which supposedly is the annual highlight. I guess I'll have to find out next year.

Yesterday's skies were also gray, but I didn't have to open my umbrella once while we were out and about. We did manage to get to the Sunday block party and I enjoyed some people-watching while Puppy ran into all sorts of old friends. It seemed festive and fun enough, but I still missed that special spark that Pride usually brings with it. Maybe it's because I don't yet know anyone or maybe it's because I was unable to participate in all the Saturday revelry, but whatever it was, I think the anticipation was greater than the actual event.