That was quite the parade this evening. And we took plenty of pictures that we hope captured the essence of it.

Alex, aka, the PhinneyWood Kid, concurred, after getting handfuls of treats from the participants passing by. The only part he didn’t like was the Seafair Pirates’ cannon.

(Sorry about it being fuzzy, I jerked when it went off, even though the pirates made it clear what was coming).

The pirates’ Moby Duck had quite the crew, including this young lady with an, ahem, abundance of charm…

There’s a better caption for this one, I’m sure. Help us out with it.

A color guard led off the parade. Here they are at the review stand on 85th, where the Star Spangled Banner was sung by Debbie Featherston, who has sung the National Anthem at the parade in the past and at many Seattle sports events.. Anyone get her name?

Among the parade standards were the Seafair Clowns,

including this one, who could have given the Seafair Pirate girl a run for her money:

“Spock” had one of the better lines of the night: ”Laugh long and perspire.”

As usual, there were a bevvy of Seafair Princesses;

the Western Vigilantes;

and the $2 brats, chips and water special put on by Greenwood Market. That was a good brat (and that’s coming from a Wisconsin ex-pat).

There were art cars…

…and the Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team, which gave spectators a close-up look at their precision driving skills.

While local celeb Pat Cashman got plenty of waves, Rob Thielke got almost as much attention. He’s the star of most of those crazy “Honk for Fonk” ads for the Vern Fonk Insurance Agency. Here he is preceded by a ginormous version of his bald head. I saw a kid yelling, “Big Head! Over here!”

Here are some of the drill teams:

There were belly dancers too.

Here’s the Seattle All-City Marching Band putting on a show.

The group in the background had some of the best seats in the house. (Got space for PhinneyWood in 2010?).

The Masons had one of the most elaborate floats, with a remote-controlled Norwegian Spitting fish followed by a boat with a dragon that breathed smoke.

The Phinney Neighborhood Association crew, including staff Ann Bowden in blue and Ed Medeiros in red, tried their hand at synchronized cycling.

We saw this little nipper at the start and finish of the parade.

These impressive horses pranced their way through the parade.

And lastly, kudos to the Greenwood Christian Church for their parade entry which literally helped beautify the event.