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The Paper's Travel News
San Diego
Gay life centers around Hillcrest, San Diego's version of the Castro. Like its counterpart to the north, there are a number of shops, clubs, and restaurants to wile away a perfect Southern California summer day. The weather in July is temperate with warm, breezy days and cool nights.
San Diego's 24th Annual Pride Festival "Unity Through Diversity" was held July 2426, although San Diego isn't known as a particularly liberal city. In Hillcrest, however, you are among friends. Several gay B&Bs dot the neighborhood, along with larger hotels. For a more varied selection of accommodations, try Hotel Circle located approximately 10 minutes south by car.
Clubs
Alibi-(University Ave.) Not a gay bar per se but by far the coolest place to go to shoot pool. The quintessential dive bar. Smoke with abandon amidst collegians and Gen-X bar dwellers.
Flicks-(1017 University Ave., 297-2056) San Diego's version of the Midnight Sun. Friendly bartenders and crowd for happy hour. Cheap drinks on Thursday nights and a cliquey but pretty 20-something crowd. No smoking.
The Eagle-(3040 North Park Way, 298-8072) Small leather/neighborhood bar around the corner from Shooterz. We can't really rate the place since I stopped in very late, but the bartender is a fountain of power lifting advice. No smoking.
Kickers/Hamburger Mary's-(308 University Ave., 491-0400) Formerly the Arena, now the only country-western bar. Large dancefloor and crowded on the weekends. Line dancing lessons weeknights. Usual Hamburger Mary's fare in the adjacent dining room.
Pecs-(2046 University Ave., 296-0889) Friendly neighborhood levi/bear bar down the hill from Hillcrest. Crowd is diverse. and welcoming. Pool tables. Strong drinks. No smoking.
Shooterz-(3815 30th Ave., 574-0744) Large pool hall. Dance floor on the weekends. Mixed crowd the night I visited. No smoking.
Wolf's-(3404 30th St., 291-3730) The busiest leather bar I visited and one that could easily double as a set for a Colt video. Smoking (among other things) allowed in backroom. Pool table.
Restaurants
Prince of Wales (Hotel Del Coronado, 522-8818) Interesting menu. Creamy post-modern decor is a little too serious, but service is first-rate, food is interesting, and the martinis come with their own ice bucket (big points for that nicety).
Beaches
Blacks Beach. San Diego's famous predominantly gay nude beach, Blacks Beach is remarkable not only for the shiny, black sand lining the cliff bottom but the sheer number of men who visit (the crowd is 90% men). On the Thursday afternoon that I visited, the parking lot looked like Macy's on White Flower Day.
The beach is located north of San Diego in La Jolla Shores near UC San Diego (it is not marked on roadmaps so look for the Salk Institute). The cliffs above the southern end of the beach serve as the city-run launchpad for handgliders and parasails. Be forewarned that the 150' cliff trail down to the beach is steep and should only be attempted in hiking boots. To the north is Torrey Pines City Beach, which also offers an easier path down to the water. The north end of the beach and the small valley to the south are both well-known cruising areas. And the boys are indeed beautiful.
Silver Lake
Silver Lake is typically L.A. The first time I drove through the area, I locked my doors and swore I would never return. A year later, I was there almost every day: hidden in the hills are lovely valleys dotted with mansions; hidden at street level are funky cafes and art stores. Silver Lake's namesake reservoir is wrapped in barbed wire, but is still quite pretty at sunset.
Silver Lake was the in spot for bands and the art crowd a few years ago. It is still home to the Sunset Junction Festival, named after the intersection of Santa Monica and Sunset where most of the gay bars are located. Take the Folsom St. and Castro St. fairs and mix in a Cinco de Mayo parade and you have Sunset Junction: young Latino couples pushing strollers pass leathermen parading in riot gear and leashes while slumming West Hollywood muscles snack on roast corn-they all converge in late August for the festivities, which typically features the city's soon-to-be hottest underground bands.
Hotels in Silver lake are better left to the imagination. The large hotels off of Wilshire west of MacArthur Park, such as the Radisson Wilshire (within walking distance of the ever-hip Wiltern Theater at 3515 Wilshire Blvd.) are affordable-$120/night-and try extremely hard to appear cosmopolitan. As I stomped through the lobby in my leather, not an eyebrow was raised.
The Bars
The Gauntlet II-(4219 Santa Monica Blvd., 669-9472) The leather/uniform bar in Silver lake. Crowd can be fashion conscious. Pool table, bootshine boys on weekends. Stupid but cute bartenders, one of whom is my ex so tip well. No smoking (sort of).
The Detour-(4100 Sunset Blvd., 664-1189) My old hangout for no good reason. Similar in feel to Badlands on the Castro, but smaller and seedier. Leathermen, levis, dancing queens-they all come. Great bartenders. Pool table. No smoking, but a lot of people do with abandon. Tuesday night beer busts were legendary, but have cooled of late.
Cuffs-(1941 Hyperion Ave., 660-2649) The only bar I've been to where at least two patrons were having sex when I walked through the door. Brighter than I remember (it was once lit by a single red lightbulb over the bar), this tiny club is full of the tough and the merely tough-looking. From architects to plumbers, Cuffs draws a strange mix of men. After hours 2 til 4 with a $3 cover. If you want a grope or perhaps more, this is your bar. If you're smoking, you're probably missing out on something.
Le Barcito (Sunset Blvd.)-The only dance club near Sunset Junction. Formerly Basgo's, now the little sister of Le Bar on Hyperion Ave. Tiny dancefloor. Mostly Latino. Friendly if you make the effort. No smoking.
Faultline (4216 Melrose Ave., 660-0889)-Bears, cubs, and whales with a few twinks thrown in for comparison shopping. Smallish indoor bar gives way to a big covered outdoor patio with a firepit (perfect for smokers). Strong drinks. Crowded until 2, after hours til 4.
Restaurants
The Cobalt Cantina (4326 Sunset Blvd., 953-9991)-Nice looking post-modern decor but the food is mediocre (about on a par with TGIFridays). The bar is busy and the staff cordial.
Dubuque
Wandering the streets of Dubuque is like being caught in the gay version of The Omega Man. There simply is no gay life there. None. No rainbow flags, no pink triangles, and no socializing since 1991 when the KKK shut down the town's s one gay bar.
But, if you want to escape from the gay Zeitgeight perpetuated in the pages of OUT or The Advocate for a weekend, Dubuque offers a glimpse into the joys of midwestern living-summer concerts in tree-shaded parks, broad cliffs overlooking the cocoa-colored Mississippi, and genuine friendliness from the locals.
The Quiet Life
In Dubuque, everyone either works for John Deere, the pig processing plant, or McGraw-Hill. Like Pacific Grove, there seems to be a church on every corner; unlike Pacific Grove, there are usually two other three bars around the corner.
The owner of The Lounge (5th and Locust) told me that Dubuque residents outdrink Germans in beer consumption and that the city was once home to more than 350 bars. The Lounge is also where I saw the oddest thing: apparently, it's not unusual for drunken, middle-aged straight men to slow dance together and kiss each other on the neck. I suspect it's the corn.
Staying Put
Community-minded locals have preserved many of Victorian mansions downtown in Trolley Square, home to antique stores and B&Bs. The Redstone Inn (504 Bluff St., 319/582-1894) offers large nicely decorated rooms, although we highly recommend that you ask for one that doesn't face the post office. The Bridal Suite, which we were moved to our last night, was particularly charming. Stay for breakfast at the hotel unless you need a McDonald's fix.
The Carmel of Dubuque
Twenty minutes into Illinois across the Mississippi River is Galena, a small artsy community along its namesake river. If Dubuque is Monterey, Galena is Carmel. Local and national artists' wares are sold in a 7-block string of boutiques, interspersed with cafes, flowershops, and restaurants. The best of the local eateries according the locals is El Dorado (219 North Main St.), a small two-story brick building offering a minimalist atmosphere but exotic fare (the chef no doubt a Patina fan). We sampled grilled antelope on our visit, a four-chile, pureed bean soup, and a starter of smoked scallops on a bed of endive. Yum. Make reservations if you want a place at one of the few tables.
Galena was also the only city where we spotted a rainbow flag, one in a florist shop and the other at a coffee shop. Rumor has it that there is a tightly-knit gay community there, but as with Carmel it chooses to remain invisible.
Dog Day Afternoon
Gambling is legal in Iowa, not just on the riverboat docked in the ice harbor, but everywhere. The greyhound racetrack in Dubuque just north of downtown offers races every day and a 500-slot casino.
The aforementioned riverboat casino, Diamond Jo's, offers a smaller selection of games, but far more atmosphere. The riverboat, which sits amidst a paddlewheeler museum along the shore, is easily accessible to downtown from the 4th St. overcrossing.