Mark (aka Tea Cup) & Carrie's

"Big Gay Philadelphia Adventure!"

It's that time of the year again.... Carrie's Crazy Birthday Month! We all know what that means....a trip out of town! This year we picked Gay Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love! US Air actually had round trip non stop  tickets from Tampa  for just $94! How could we turn that down?!?!!  From the airport there is a reasonable fixed cab fair to Historic downtown for just $26. We arrived at our Very Gay Friendly hotel "Penns View Hotel" a three 1/2 star hotel, booked thru expedia.com at a great rate and were greeted by Andrew. This hotel was over the top Fab with an award winning Italian restaurant. In the wine bar there were 120 different wines by the glass on tap served by Erick. I know what your thinking but NO.... we didn't try them all but did sample our share. Then we meet Albert at the front desk. he should have been the president of Gay Tourism! He introduced himself as "Made in China & Born in Philadelphia!"  Albert sent us right off to the GLBTQ (a new saying we heard here first meaning, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans & Questioning People)district called Gayborhood for Sunday brunch. What a fun neighborhood with clubs, restaurants & boutique stores. The street signs even have the rainbow on them! Our first stop, as the locals say... "All roads lead to Woody's". The club is located at 202 S. 13th St. This two story bar/restaurant has a warm feeling like Georgie's Albi. We meet Rodney bartending on the first floor and locals Sammy & Daryl. One block away is Uncles, located at 1220 Locust St. right across from the country's oldest wood street. (Philly is full of cool history)  Things started to heat up here. Uncle's was formally called Polley's Tea Room!!!!!! Did Tea Cup find a home here or what!!! The locals were so very much fun & so friendly here! Upstairs is a Guest house. Bartenders Todd & Donnie told us we must go two blocks away, to the only Lesbian bar in town, Sisters,  for Sunday brunch. Todd was right the brunch was incredible, with Michael making omelets and TJ bartending. The Lesbian art was way cool and the whole club had upscale metro feeling. After making new friends here, we were told that we were now "Honary Lesbians" and we are always welcome back at Sister's. Off to find Bump and walked past it a second time? Behind Uncle's at 255 S. Camac is Venture Inn Bar/ Restaurant, they claim to be the oldest bar in town. It certanly was one of the funest this afternoon. New owner Bob had the party in full gear with Miss Kelli Ann Marie working the cash machine and Miss Kisse was in her own world while Danny was behind the bar. The locales told where Bump was again and again we were off to find it. The fourth time was the winner! OK, give us a break here, we were just playing tourist and walked right past it 3 times! At Bump we meet the owners good friend Qn who gave us the full VIP Tour. In the back was a romantic garden while the inside had a feeling of GAY under stated elegance. The crowd was a mixture of 20 & 30 something with a fun uptown attitude. Here we also meet Martin & Jai, Charlie & Joe, bartender Steve. We came back for their famous Tuesday Happy Hour. $2 martini's and 1/2 price samplers. Our waiter was Ty who looked like CoCo Montrses little brother, how cute! Time for some shopping, it was off to Givoanni's Room. This GLBT book store has been here since 1977!  Owner Ed Hermance is a positive fixture in Phillie and Anna was quick to offer help. Be sure and check Giovanni's Room out. Back to the hotel for a quick change and get ready for the night. Next doors to Venture Inn is Tavern on Camac. Ms Gosha was on piano belting out show tunes while the whole bar sang along. Suny has bartended here for over 21 years! His Mom was a tea cup collector definitly appreciated fine china! Around the corner is The 12th Air Command.  To our surprise who was behind the bar but Miss Sandy Beach, the famous former cast member of Atlantic City's" Evening at La Cage!" As Sandy was teaching Dan some new tricks then in walked Marty Edwards, who is the Director of the "Philadelphia Rainbow Awards." This club is 3 stories with a roof top for smoking. Later that night the owners Asian lover lead the crowd in karaoke. What a hoot with his heavy accent!  Back at 1233 Locust St is the Washington West Project. Here the GALAEI (The Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative) has various groups offer AIDS testing. This night the group was TIP (Trans-health Information Project) behind the computer working so hard was Miss Sheila Colsou'pupr and Ricky Feely.

 

Beside the fun & friendly GLBTQ scene there are many things to do, all in walking distance. Here is what Fun Maps had to say...Philadelphia is one of the most historically exciting cities in the United States. The home of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, birthplace of both our Independence and the U.S. Constitution. In or near Independence National Historical Park you will also find: Congress Hall, the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Army-Navy Museum, the National Museum of American Jewish History and numerous centuries-old houses of worship.

 

So how would we describe Gay Philadelphia?  This city has the architecture of London, the history of Washington DC, the Community spirit of Chicago , the great restaurants of Atlanta and the warm south hospitality of Florida ,all in one fine city. We are sure you will Love Philadelphia and highly recommend it for this years summer vacations!

 Check out our photos and links below

 

12th Air Command

www.12thair.com

Rainbow Street Signs & Flags	Miss Sandy Beach & Dan
Utter Cream?	Marty Edwards