It had been a very hectic week winding down to Memorial Day. My friend Dennis flew in from LA on Wednesday morning and except for a tiny glitch (I went to pick him up at La Guardia but he arrived in JFK), his four day stay had been a great reunion for us.
Dennis and I were friends back in Manila when I already suspected that he was gay but he did not really come out of the closet until he was in LA and since then I have always referred to him as the Will to my Grace.
He quickly adapted to my New York lifestyle (i.e. a lot of walking, short stops at the many parks in the city, hopping on and off the subway and the buses). On his first day we strolled around Soho to Chelsea’s Christopher Street where we walked to the pier that protruded to the Hudson River and provided a view of the east end of New Jersey and in the distance, Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. We sat in the grass and walked the sunset dip into the horizon and then walked some more to check out the bars in the area before heading up to midtown.
The sunset along the Hudson River
He quickly studied the subway and bus system and except for the first night when he needed to take him to his kind of places, he was pretty much on his on after.
Columbus Circle view from Time Warner
I have become a bar denizen when I came to New York. Often with my friends (deters harassment from other people who think you are there to be picked up) we would go to the bars after work to enjoy some drinks and each other’s company outside of the office. Bars are places where you can talk in loud voices and not worry that you are annoying the hell out of the people in the next table because most likely they are having a rowdy conversation as well.
I however had trepidations about stepping into a gay bar. I was expecting a lot of sexuality flowing into the room similar to the bold New York bachelorette parties I had attended. I also worried about being the only female in the room but my apprehensions were put to rest when Dennis and I found ourselves settling into the bar stools at ‘Toolbox’ on the Upper East Side and the group of men next to me quickly complimented me on my earrings. It was great to be complimented knowing they had nothing to gain by falsely flattering me. Soon we found ourselves drawn into their conversation as I introduced Dennis and explained that he had been in town only 12 hours. I couldn’t believe that I was surrounded by gorgeous, intelligent, successful New York men who were absolutely not interested in me. It was so ironic! I felt like the piece of steak sitting in the buffet for vegetarians!
On Thursday evening, we were in the Chelsea area surveying the late night party scene. The area is where the more popular clubs are located: Spirits, Crobar, Bed and the male-only Scores bring in a lot of traffic especially after 11PM. Dennis’ research would take us however to another club I had never heard of before – Eagle. I was shocked when we finally made it to the roof (females are not allowed in the private rooms, the same thing with ‘Toolbox’) because everyone were wearing leather with metal rivets and it was absolutely a scene out of an S&M website. The men who populated the club were big bulky men who towered over us and who probably arrived on board massive Harley Davidson bikes. In contrast, the guys at Toolbox were your regular everyday kind of guys who were dressed more like ‘normal’. Probably realizing that I stuck out like a sore thumb in the leather-bound scene of Eagle, he assured me that he would manage well on his own if I wanted to leave. It was a very gracious exit strategy I couldn’t refuse.
For the rest of his stay, I took him to the usual tourist haunts of the city in the daytime while he pursued the night scene on his own. And on Sunday, with barely 3 hours of sleep, we heard mass at St. Patrick’s before having brunch and then we headed to Grand Central Station where he took the bus back to the airport and to L.A.
I have always thought I already knew the city like the back of my hands. Having Dennis in the city had me becoming more familiar with another part of the city that I had not had the chance to adventure before. Suffice to say it had been a weirdly fun and wild week painting the town pink.
Blogger's note: Had to keep the site wholesome so I am sharing mostly pictures from our daytime jaunts.