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Welcome to the September 2004 newsletter! This month we have a great article from Don & Ray on how to plan a gay vacation - thanks, guys! We also have an article about the upcoming Somewhere Over The Rainbow: New Hope Celebrates gay gala in Nedw Hope, Pennsylvania on October 22nd-24th. Innkeepers - write us an article about your area, and we'll include it in a future issue of this newsletter with credit and links to your website and email addresses. Contact wheretostay@purpleroofs.com for more details. Late Availability/Special Offer Accommodation Notices As always, we also have our Late Availability & Special Offer notices (113 offers in 22 countries/regions) all at http://www.purpleroofs.com/lateavailability.html, or just check your favorite destination page - these notices are also right there on the regular listings. Innkeepers - Expanded Listings On Sale in September Save 47% on a full page listing on Purple Roofs, and get it submitted to up to 25 search engines and directories. More info at: http://www.purpleroofs.com/expandedlisting.html Seen Our Real Estate and Wedding Sections Lately? We've been beefing up our realtor, mortgage lender, and wedding vendor listings over the last several months, and now have over 630 real estate professional listings in 46 US states and Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. And we have over 360 Wedding Vendor listings in 38 US states, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and Europe. Check out our real estate professional listings here: http://www.gayrealtynetwork.com That's it for this issue - see y'all next time! :) Mark & Scott, PURPLE ROOFS |
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Innkeepers and travelers, please send us your stories to share! Traveling in the Gay Friendly World: Out On Vacation Ready to take off to get out of the cold here but don't know where to go? Then you are not alone. Unless you have been to a lot of the different gay resort cities it can be quite confusing. There are so many options and selections to choose from. And even after you decide which city you want to go, there are still many options and selections to choose from. Do you want to stay in a gay resort, a gay B and B? And if so, what type? Before you go be SURE and check out your options. Looking at web sites is always a great start. The photographs they show are beautiful and the amenities that they say that they have are fabulous. However in reality things are not always as we wish that they were. You also need to decide what type of accommodation is best suited for YOU! Not all gay accommodations are equal. Some are basically for singles while others are basically for couples. Some are clothing optional while others have a very strict policy about nudity. Some are more "friskier" than others and some are nothing more than an "outdoor" bath house." Most however are run extremely professionally. If you are into leather, there are several leather B&B's in the United States. The same goes for those into western, bears or whatever. In the large gay resort cities like Palm Springs, California and Ft. Lauderdale there are dozens of gay accommodations to choose from. It really can be mind boggling. And of course prices are of importance. In both Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Springs at this time of the year, prices for a room can run as high as $250.00 a night! But you can still find some good bargains without spending an arm and a leg. Sunday thru Thursday prices are normally much less than on weekends and of course never even think of going over a major holiday. They really jump their prices for that. Besides the high prices on holidays everyplace is packed so you get very slow service in restaurants and in bars. Sometimes too much or too many people is not a good thing. You are going someplace to relax and have fun and not to fight the crowds. Basic gay resort cities in the South are: Ft. Lauderdale, Key West, St. Petersburg/Tampa all in Florida; Palm Springs in California and Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona. Key West is the most expensive since it is such a small area. It is also the most gay friendly. Whether walking down the street holding hands or in drag, no one will even look twice at you unless they want to pick you up. You certainly do not need an auto in Key West. In Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Springs they are both extremely gay friendly. Straights and gays work hand in hand to better the communities. St. Petersburg/Tampa as well as Tucson and Phoenix has it's gay areas Except for Key West, an auto is a must in these cities. Still, the best advice we can give for first time travelers to a gay resort city is to do your research BEFORE you go! Talk to others on line and see what they think of the accommodations that you are thinking about staying in. Ask anyone who you know that has been to the cities about their opinions. "Close to the beach" does not mean right on the beach. It might be 5 miles away! Email the accommodations directly. If they do not answer your email within 24 hours then GO SOMEPLACE ELSE! If they don't think enough about your business then they most likely don't care about taking care of you after you check in. Always try to find the local gay and lesbian newspaper or magazine to find out where the bars are and what specials they are running everyday and what kind of activities they have. You can also find the gay Churches, different clubs and restaurants in these newspapers. But MOST IMPORTANT, after you get to your accommodations in the gay resort city that you are going to, TALK to everybody! Whether you are single or a couple, TALK! We find it absolutely amazing how many people never talk to anyone when they travel. We have been invited to so many parties in the different cities that we travel to just because we TALKED to people!
On their 25th Anniversary, Elizabeth Taylor wrote, "Congratulations to the two of you on your 25th Anniversary! You have surely reached an important milestone in your lives together, and I send you my best wishes as you celebrate tonight". Candice Gingrich wrote, "Your enduring relationship is another shining example of what "family values" is and should be about... trust, security, love commitment. Continued success in your togetherness". Don and Ray write articles for pridevisiontv.com, Liberty Press (Kansas & Missouri), Gayly Oklahoman, and who do reviews for Zagat. You can email us at: gaytravelers@aol.com or visit their web page at: www.hometown.aol.com/gaytravelers. New Hope Hosts GLBT Gala October 22-24 I'm an executive in the fashion world, where bags are either Hermes or Gucci. But when I was in college 36 years ago, bagwas slang for the things that a person was into. It may have been music or modeling, bricklaying or baking, warrior or hippie, straight or gay. The latter was a really heavy bag to carry in those days. It still can be today, but I'm happy that in my enlightened community of New Hope, the word has far different connotations for gays and lesbians. This fall the borough is proudly sponsoring Somewhere Over the Rainbow: New Hope Celebrates! We hope that the gay-pride weekend, Oct. 22-24, will draw 500-2,000 people from the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities. We hope they arrive with ample baggage - and wallets and purses. My own story is like that of many who have moved New Hope over the years and now wish to share our welcoming climate with our visitors. Thirty-six years ago, I was a young man furious about a confusing war, mad at my parents' social mores and irate at the narrow-mindedness of the people in my Pennsylvania town. So I moved to New York City but never felt at home there. I yearned for a place with the cultural advantages, tolerance and acceptance of a big city but also the charm, beauty and simple hum of a Pennsylvania town. In New Hope I discovered a town rich in history, culture, talent and idealism. In colonial times, the town stood tall in the Revolutionary War. Before the Civil War, it was a key stop on the Underground Railroad. By the 1930s it brought a migration of artists, actors, sculptors, musicians, woodworkers, and a style of painting named after the town, as artists tried to captures on canvas the colorful beauty and quiet gentleness of what they saw before them. As in any artistic community, many of these new residents were homosexual. And unlike may places, New Hope treated these newcomers with acceptance, not scorn. Scholars and literary types found stimulation in the borough's borders, galleries opened and such venues as the Bucks County Playhouse and the Canal House became hubs to the entertainment world. The mainstay gay community followed: bankers, bartenders, storekeepers, stylists, and waiters. Around that time a young man came to New Hope after his military duty and turned in his boots and rifles for fabulous wigs, scarlet gowns and remarkable stilettos. Until Joe C.'s (Josie's) death in 2000, she paraded the streets, embraced by the gay folks who called her mother and welcomed by the entire community as a symbol, although unconventional, of all that is good and tolerant in a world where difference is often equated with dementia. In 2003, the New Hope Borough Council continued the tradition of leadership in tolerance by passing a sweeping antidiscrimination law that gives equal rights to all. In addition, council members have been unified in their support of same-sex marriage. They stand together all, including the mayor, as members of the Human Rights Campaign. In New Hope, being gay is just like everyone else, and for that alone the town stands to be honored, The Oct. 22-24 festivities are not just fun and games. They are a nod to the borough's past, a cheer for its future and a shout out to attract many who have not visited it for years – or at all! It is a special, unique place - not perfect, but perfection, not totally unbiased but beautifully unbalanced. The three-day event includes rides on the old rail and barge lines, live musical and comedic entertainment by national and local performers, historic tours and informational gatherings, singing, dancing - celebrating, by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered participants and non! This is truly a community project, organized by the gay caucus of the Bucks County Convention and Visitors Bureau, endorsed by the Borough Council, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, heralded by the local Independent Merchants Association, and sponsored by many establishments in the New Hope area, gay and straight alike. New Hope is the place that I happily call my home. So bring your bags, ladies and gents, and your dyed-to-match shoes as well. New Hope gives truth to the meaning of the carnival barker's slogan: Come one, come all! For more information, please go to www.GayBucksCounty.com |
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Here are the current inns we have listed for sale - wanna become an innkeeper? :) Add your inn at: http://www.purpleroofs.com/forsaleform.html
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Section 1: EDITOR'S NOTES
Gaytravelers@aol.com is written by Donald Pile and Ray Williams, a gay couple of over 31 years of "togetherness" who live in the greater Kansas City area. They are also Antique Dealers and have toured the entire United States traveling in search of antiques and for fabulous "gay meccas" of which they have found several.