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MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND 2003

Day 1: Friday

I worked all day Friday, but left at an early 3:00 to get a head start on my trip to Atlanta. The plan was to meet my friend Rik and then fly to Pensacola the next morning. On the way, doublejoe7 graciously played some tunes for me. I was really cool to finally talk to him for the first time, and to be serenaded as well.

I got into Atlanta about 6:30 and ate dinner at Hop’s with Rik’s friends Keith and DJ. Rik was off with some other people at dinner. Later that night, I just watched some TV, visited with Rik, and then hit the sack.

Day 2: Saturday

At 5:00 AM, Rik and I woke to the alarm. Actually, I woke to the alarm and had to wake Rik up. We needed to leave by 6 AM and be at the Marta station no later than 6:45 AM. After the short ride on Marta to the airport, we had to wait about 30-minutes in the security line with two of Rik’s friends, Guytin and Steven. Keep mind, I had had little sleep the night before and I was still semi-functioning without the aid of coffee. Needless to say, I slept all the way from Atlanta to Pensacola.

After we arrived at the airport, the four of us headed to the beach condo in our rented Taurus. Picture it now: four queers jamming away on the I-110 in a gray sedan. It was a sight to see. Before reaching the condo though, we had to stop at CVS to get some forgotten supplied (i.e. hair clippers, drinks, deodorant, etc). Rik and I still had to “prepare” our bodies for the beach by trimming off all the unwanted hair and tweezing the eyebrows.

Around 2 PM, we decided to head to the beach and meet with Lee, Joey, Brian 1, Brian 2, Isaac, and Chris. Unfortunately, there was only one road to the portion of the beach we needed to access , and it was wall-to-wall traffic all the way there. Besides, the local sheriff’s department was only allowing thru-traffic all the way as the beach parking areas were at capacity. So we ended up walking about a mile, and then we were able to catch a taxi-van the rest of the way. Luckily, the rest of the crew was staked out near the DJ’s booth and we were able to partake in the music early.

I relaxed in the sun and tried to take a nap, but no one would hear of it. A few of the guys drug me out for a walk along the beach. The water was perfect to walk in (and later swim in). It was clear blue and the beach was littered with beautiful gay men (and sagging ass lesbians).

The music abruptly stopped at 5:00 and the beach started to clear out. Plans were to attend a house party later that night. During my time on the beach, Lee and I hit it off and started hanging around each other and talking more. I discovered, underneath his bright yellow bandana was a pretty nice guy (sexy too I might add).

After the whole crew got back to the condos (we had two), we ended up taking showers and eating a great meal that Isaac had prepared. Lee, Isaac, Chris, and I all decided to stay in for the night instead of going to a house party. I was exhausted from the sun and the early morning, so I needed to get my beauty rest. I ended up going to sleep about 11:30 PM.

Day 3: Sunday

I must have really needed the sleep, because my lazy ass didn’t get out if bed until 11:30 AM the next morning. As an excuse though, I did wake up earlier with a terrible headache and Lee was kind enough to walk to the nearby Circle-K to get me some aspirin. We had planned on going to the beach again, but decided to lay by the condo’s pool instead. And as promised, here I am in my red shorts. This is NOT a good picture of me by the way. You can tell where I got my sunburn though. I was wearing Lee’s hat, because Rik has taken mine (and stretched it…damn him).

Later around 5:00, Lee and I went for a stroll on the beach because I wanted to take some more pictures. I only got one shot of a ship off the shore (on my 35mm) and nothing else. We weren’t at the nicest part of the beach. The funny thing is, while we were walking, a huge front-end loader barreled its way at us along the beach with someone waving at us. I thought they just wanted to get around Lee and me. Instead, the driver stopped the machine and hopped out. Standing in front of us was this big butch dike telling us the beach was closed. No shit! I’m not about to confront a huge tractor, much less a woman of her stature. So we just turned back and headed to condo and watch TV until we needed to get ready for the show. It started at an early 9:00 and we didn’t want to miss the opening number.

We ended up leaving around 9:30 for the Pensacola Civic Center. On the way, everyone warned me to steer clear of the protesters. And they were right. All along the side of the civic center were men and women yelling at the homosexuals that being gay was wrong in the eyes of God. However, the one lady that got my eye, just smile at me as we drove by and didn’t yell anything. Weird.

What can I say? The music was AWESOME! I haven’t danced that long in forever. I am glad I got enough sleep the night before. I wish I had taken a camera to show what I had seen. The stage was a regular stage, with four staggered risers above it. Dancers would dance on these, and during shows different events would happen on them. There was also a show where dancers swung out over the audience on trapeze platforms while performing delicate moves. All of this went on until about 4 AM.

Day 4: Monday
After we left the main party at 4 in the morning, we headed to another club nearby for the after-hours event. Luckily, most of the people going were already in the building, so the wait was minimal to get in. I was getting a little tired, but still wanted to have fun. When we walked into the doors though, we were greeted with a wave hot humid air. I was instantly weakened. I made a bee-line to the bathroom so I could pee. 20-minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom a relieved man.

We all ended up dancing for a bit, but Lee and I decided to seek a cooler room and rest for the duration of the evening slash morning. We found a nice quiet area and talked (and made out) and watched the boys go by. The group ended up closing the place down at 9 AM and we headed out into the bright morning light. Thank GOD there weren’t any cameras by then. We all looked like shit. And to top it off, we ended up stopping at a Waffle House to get some food. Heads turned (as I am sure some stomachs) when some of us walked in the door. Lee and I stayed in the car though. I didn’t need to be ridiculed so early in the morning.

After I ate my hash browns and chili from the Waffle House (before you get critical, I did want biscuits and gravy, but they don’t have them), we ended up staying up even more just talking about how fun the night had been. I ended up crashing about noon and woke up at 3. To be honest, I would have slept longer, but I wanted to spend time with everyone before Rik and I had to leave at 6 PM.

Rik and I made it to the airport with PLENTY of time to spare. Apparently, Pensacola does not have a busy airport. When we went through security, he and I were the only passengers in line. To top it off, the plane left 10 minutes early and landed 30 minutes ahead of schedule. After the hour ride to Rik’s house, I hit the sack and slept like a baby.

Day 4: Tuesday
I woke up later than I had anticipated (noon) and headed home to Charlotte. Rik had gone into work that morning, so I wasn’t able to chat with him before I left. On the way home, I stopped at some outlet stores and bought some cheap shirts. I even had some guy cruising me in his light blue Lincoln Continental for about 150 miles. At one point I even took a detour to loose him, but I ended up back with him. Damn my speeding.

IN THE END:

I had a great time, and I met some cool people. Lee made the weekend great, but so did everyone else. I owe Rik a TON of thanks for inviting me. Today, I felt a little depressed, but my friend Beth called it the “post-party blues.” She’s right. I’ll get over it as I get back into my routine.