I live in Northern VA and have pretty much my whole life. The event attracts a whole lot of wanna be's and new riders. While it started out as a noble cause, HD has commandeered it as a huge advertisement campaign (like they've done with many things), and it has lost its meaning a while back. The rememberance of veterans is just a small part of this now, almost like it's a necessary evil. Its fun to see and do if you like that sort of thing, kind of like going to Sturgis - once is enough. If you do go, take plenty of sun block, bottled water, and snacks, you will get trapped in the Pentagon lot for a few hours and these items are scarce.
However, I do go visit mom in Myrtle Beach over the Memorial Day weekend each year for the past 5 years. This coincides with black bike week. We do go up to North Myrtle and watch the bikes for a few hours on Friday and Saturday night just to see the craziness, custom bikes and paint. The most popular thing on HDs now is the 28" wheel conversions with lowered rear ends. Of course GSXs must have extended swing arms if your going to cruise.