Florida Agenda

By ROBERT ELIAS DEATON

Following up on last week’s introduction to Chicago, Illinois, we return to President Obama’s onetime hometown to scour the gayborhoods best bars, clubs, and cafés.

Chicago’s largest gay village is nicknamed Boystown, though it’s legally known as Lakeview. The first officially recognized gay neighborhood in the United States, it is also the cultural center of one of the largest LGBT communities in the nation. For those who keep track of such statistics, Boystown also has more resident drag queens per square inch than any other place in America.

Our hands-down favorite club in the area is Sidetrack (3349 N Halsted St., between Roscoe and Buckingham). Currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, Sidetrack is a labyrinth of seven bars, lounges and a celebrated balcony from which all things wicked can be observed. It’s the largest video bar in Chicago, and swears it sells more vodka per night than any other bar in the entire U.S.A. Just down the block and across the street is Roscoe’s (3356 N Halsted St.), where the kids go to dance, and the Daddies go to spoil them. Roscoe’s, now in its 25th year, is a great place for eats in spring, summer and the beginning of fall, with its sidewalk café. The big draw is the wet boxers contest the first Sunday of each month— boxers as in underwear, not pugilists.

Continue walking up Halsted Street and visit Cocktail (3359 N Halsted St.), where the drinks are fun concoctions like strawberry mojitos, legendary DJ’s spin sizzling hot music, and some surprisingly good Chicago pizza and salads are served at The Garden. Very hot go-go dancers perform on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights.

Hydrate (3458 N Halsted St.) gets points for its College Night on Tuesday. Drinks are $1 each and you don’t have to be matriculating to attend. Those that are, however, get inside for no cover charge with appropriate college I.D. The rest of the week are drag events at Hydrate, with all the drama and hair such a schedule suggests.

For those into leather and bear packs, there is always the tried-and-true CellBlock (3702 N Halsted St.). While the front bar is rather tame, the back bar is serious leather, with porn videos to prove the point.

For something a lot sleazier, pump it up and head to Manhandler Saloon (1948 N. Halsted St.). This place is Chicago’s bar-equivalent to a bathhouse, so don’t give us those Betty Boop eyes when your pants are pulled down around your knees and a wet mouth enters your sightline. This does not happen in plain view, of course.

Mosey right through the front bar with its surly bartenders, and right through the back patio. The action takes place beyond the stockade fencing where crowds as large as three dozen will be doing the nasty nightly. Chicago’s alternative gayborhood to Boystown is Andersonville. This one-time Swedish settlement has given way to upscale LGBT residents who flock to @mosphere (5355 N Clark St. at Balmoral Ave.). The attractions here are drink specials, a large dance floor, and go-go dancers from Wednesday through Saturday. Go a little further north and discover Touché (6412 N Clark St. at W Devon Ave.), a fancy name for a leather bar that’s been around for 35 years. The place is sweet with just the right stench, and men’s men playing in the backroom. Our kinda town.

CHICAGO PART 1 HERE

By PAUL RUBIO

One of the world’s hottest LGBT destinations just got a bit hotter. In early 2011, the Riviera Palm Springs Resort & Spa (psriviera.com, 760-327-8311) removed the bandages from a 75 million dollar facelift to the iconic Palm Springs Hotel; and the city hasn’t been the same since!

Just like Timberlake brought sexy back, the Riviera is bringing Palm Springs glamour back. The eccentric and eclectic hotel pays homage to the hotel’s former glory years with a vintage luxe edge that keeps history in style. This forward thinking throwback bursts with energy, originality, and pimped out personality.

Spread over vast acreage in the shadow of the towering mountains of the Coachella Valley, the Riviera Palm Springs is a retro design fantasy come to life. The chocolate and mint “face off” in the hallways honors a color palette of a decade when the Palm Springs Hotel was synonymous with the term “swingers” while the tufted headboards and the Neapolitan striped throw pillows are another example of fabulous sixties redux.

The conservation piece furnishings and art in the common lounge will have you tweeting a zillion characters per second. The mirror-partitioned lobby lounge is adorned with larger than life facial portraits of Hollywood vixens, constructed from old Central American coins (think “Half Breed” Cher in silver) and then complimented with British country-style Chesterfield couches and maroon shag carpets. Throw some tufted gold lounges in the mix with a glittery pool table and some wild glass chandeliers, and the gentleman’s club-inside-a-disco-ball theme gets over-the-top fabulous.

Head to the lobby proper and the white patent leather seats have been sewn together to form an innovative high-rise couch seat platform, topped with Victorian lanterns that reflect off the roof’s twinkling skylights. Go even further and land in the hotel’s signature restaurant, Circa 59, decked out in red leather upholstered booths and chairs, backlit lattice cutouts, and jumbo crystal chandeliers that spill onto the hotel’s renowned center of attention, the historic pool area.

Yes … this is the pool featured in the 1963 film “Palm Springs Weekend” with Connie Stevens and Robert Conrad, the pool where the Hollywood elite partied hard in the 1960s, where the Rat Pack, Elvis, Sonny & Cher would unwind and help develop a global ideology of “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous.”

The hedonistic overtones of the 1960s prevail around the swimming pool, where an intoxicating mix of cocktails, sunshine, and vacation mentality catalyze days of naughty fun and relaxation. Unlike the sixties, however, there are now private cabanas, glowing fireplaces, and gays who can serve openly in the military splashing around. Still don’t expect things to get too crazy around the pool.

This hotel may have a history of “swinging times” but it’s not the clothing-optional shenanigans of All Worlds Resort
(allworldsresorts.com) or Camp Palm Springs (camp-palm-springs.com). Palm Springs’ repeat LGBT guests know that there is a difference in where to stay and where to play. You stay at the Riviera Palm Springs. You play at one of the resorts with a day pass or visit the city’s prolific offerings of gay bars by night.

Indeed the Riviera Palm Springs is wildly popular with a younger gay demographic for its style, funk, welcoming  (and easy-on-the-eyes) crowd, and pampering essentials – exceptional spa, amazing eats, excellent gym. There’s no shortage of quiet spots around the property to appreciate the gifts of Mother Nature, from towering trees and majestic canyons to the bluest of blue skies that dazzle with constellations come nightfall. Yet Palm Springs is so much more than this awesome historic hotel, cocktails around the pool and trouble in clandestine corners! It is also super stargazing, great hiking, intrepid adventure, and mind-boggling landscapes. Though it’s sometimes hard to break away from anything within stumbling distance of the hotel, shake off your hang over one morning or evening to go beyond Palm Spring’s downtown and appreciate the region’s natural magnificence.  You won’t regret it (though you may regret that last cocktail once you’re 8,516 ft high over vertical cliffs of Chino Canyon!)

For an amazing gay-friendly Palm Springs getaway, head to the Riviera Palm Springs Resort & Spa – psriviera.com,
760-327-8311.

By PAUL RUBIO

Last month I ventured to the Holy Land on the sophomore voyage of the new Celebrity Silhouette (celebritycruises.com) cruise ship. Over 3000 party-hungry men (and 17 brave women) had christened the ship two weeks prior on its maiden voyage from Italy to Israel and back, in association with Atlantis events. Though I chose to set sail on one of the regularly scheduled itineraries rather than indulging in the Atlantis hype, I found the Celebrity Silhouette exceptionally gay friendly, superbly service-oriented, and sensationally fun.

I’m no stranger to cruising but this was my first Celebrity cruise (I am a Carnival and Princess Cruiselines regular). Immediately, I was blown away by the style and sophistication of the ship. Each of the common rooms impressed me more than the next. The ship has a youthful, whimsical and super stylish feel, with sexy interiors highly reminiscent of my favorite “W” hotels.

The first days of the cruise were spent at sea. “Sea Days” tend to be my favorite days on any cruise, allowing me to relax completely without creating minute- to-minute itineraries for thoroughly exploring a new city or island in just a few hours. Sea days were a time to get to know the ship inside and out. My balcony stateroom was spacious and modern, including an extra large bathroom and a priceless view, as we sailed past Sicily and the Greek Islands. A lover of cocktails, I found the Martini Bar and Crush my favorite space on the ship (and the Raspberry Lemonade Martini arguably my favorite drink in the world!). Feeding off a 28-degree concept of deep glacial whites and blues with its Philippe Stark-style mega chairs and sleek chaise lounges, the oval-shaped bar comfortably seats a few dozen, sporting a counter made of solid ice. The Hideaway, two floors above, functions as an eclectic coffee and chill-out lounge area, where both relaxation and good conversation unfold over avante-garde seating areas resembling bird cages and nests.

The world-class Aqua spa is flanked by the most expansive, state-of-the art full-scale gymnasium I have ever seen on the high seas! Quasar, the ship’s main nightclub across from the shopping arcade (which includes Michael Kors and other retail shops) is a pimped out palladium that puts South Beach’s most popular trendsetters to shame!

Besides the constant eating orgies in the regular dining rooms and all-you-can eat buffets, the ship boasts ten – yes ten – specialty-dining restaurants on board, including the interactive Lawn Club Grill (think: upscale BBQ on the top deck where a Celebrity Chef helps grill your selections and you make your own flatbreads) and traditional fine dining at Celebrity’s most renowned restaurant, Murano.

Indeed, my sea days on the Celebrity Silhouette were long and lazy. I’d sleep in, order breakfast on my balcony and then head to the quiet Solstice deck on level 15 for some intense summer sunbathing. I caught up on my favorite  magazines in the Library lounge and participated in a workshop or two that peaked my interest – like the Riedel Wine Workshop, which demonstrates how the shape and quality of a wine glass affects taste and smell of various wines and the iMovie workshop, so I could finally learn to use this useful application on my Mac!

Lots of eye candy at the gym meant long hours of cardio and pumping iron to work off the colossal portions I had been consuming. I met some great people – both gay and straight – my first nights at the casino and at the “Friends of Dorothy” meeting, a group that proved to be tons of fun throughout the sailing. Throw some casino time in, lots of drinking, even more eating, late night dancing and some special events with the Captain – I probably would have been more than content with 12 “sea days!” But alas, Greece, Italy and Israel were calling; and our ports of call (including Rome, Santorini, and Haifa), were not to be missed.

To be continued next week with, Celebrity Silhouette Sets Sail, Part II: Ports of Call.