A salute... Revolutionary color guard... and a reenactor of Lafayette himself.
"I think all of you gathered here today to commemorate my visiting of this city 200 years ago today, for having come to witness the unveiling of this marvelous monument," he said, dressed from head to toe in costume.
All were there to mark the occasion remembering a moment in time, down to the exact date and place.
Dale Henley, the former president of the Lafayette chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, said the event occurred "exactly 200 years ago this afternoon at this location."
Helping unveil the new interpretive sign was Sabine Renault-Sablonière, a direct descendant of the famed French general.
"Lafayette belongs to humanity," she said. "And I think that values he embodies —that means courage, love for freedom... and a sense of adventure — are very up-to-date today."
At the time Lafayette visited Lexington as part of his farewell tour of America, he was the last surviving major general of the Revolutionary War.
Mandy Higgins is executive director of the Lexington History Museum. She says Lafayette's appearance in Lexington was more than a historical footnote.
"He comes to Lexington proper on May 16, and he's feted all over town, goes to Transy, goes to a girls' school, and there's a grand ball for him. And it's a big day for Lexington because we're really the first western city in the United States and with all of the connections to the East Coast that's further cemented with Lafayette's visit," she says.
Hundreds of events have been and are continuing to trace Lafayette's footsteps in the exact order they occurred across the country.
Fayette County was named after Lafayette and much later Lafayette High School, which became one of the few places where the Lafayette family crest can be seen outside of France.
More information on the events in and around Lexington can be found at Lafayette200.org.