Every Friday evening during the summer, an Evening Parade is held at the Marine Barracks Washington to celebrate its pride, professionalism, and Esprit de Corps. Having come from a military background myself (& being a fan of the movie A Few Good Men), I have been looking forward to attending this parade for a while now. It has taken me 2 years just to get tickets because they go really fast once they become available on-line - usually in late February. (Note: at the time of this writing, there are tickets left for 3 dates in late July and August.) Anyhow, I finally went this past Friday and had a great evening.
The night started off with a not-so-bad drive into DC during rush hour. Parking at Maritime Plaza was free, and walking distance to the barracks. The 8th street in front of the barracks was lined with many restaurants and bars. The Marines were also everywhere. I had never seen so many people in uniform since my days as a Cadet. I'm not sure if there are this many hanging out every week, but it must be a heaven for single girls around here. My husband wasn't so pleased with the scene though. He started joking that I just wanted to see men in uniform. I had to reassure him that I only had eyes for him :)
Visitors to the parade had to be in the gates by 8pm. Any unclaimed seats were then made available to the general public. There was quite a bit of waiting until a marine finally came around to give us a brief, but interesting history of the barracks. At 8:45 the parade began with The President's Own marching into the grounds, followed by The Commandant's Own, and the ceremonial marchers. Among other things, the two bands provided musical entertainment and the Silent Drill Platoon performed precision drill exhibition. The night ended with evening colors and Taps at 10:15.
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