 |
||||||||||
|
July, 2007 - Volume 9, Issue 7
|
|
This Newsletter Sponsored by TAG Approved
|
|
Welcome to the Purple Roofs Travel Newsletter! This Month's Travel Articles This month we have a great article from the Gay Travel Guys, Donald and Ray, about Tulsa, Oklahoma - thanks, guys! We also have a great article on Australia's Blue Mountains from Robert at Allendale Cottages - thanks, Robert! Last month, we ran an article from Kevin Isom on the importance of traveling gay - and he was right! Scott traveled to Southern California last week with an RSVP Cruises bag, and on the plane, a woman touched his shoulder and said she'd seen the bag and had been on RSVP cruises 10 times. It was great to make a connection amid all the bustle of the airport, and all because he traveled gay. Try it next time you travel - put rainbow stickers or HRC stickers on your bag, and let the rest of us know you're there! 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. Purple Roofs Does Gay Pride San Francisco We visited SF's gay pride again this year - enjoy the pics and video below. Special Offer Accommodation Notices As always, we also have our Late Availability & Special Offer notices (15 offers in 16 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. Travelers - Try a Home Trade Membership for Just $60 for 3 Years... ...and stay for free with other gay, lesbian, and gay friendly travelers around the world. More details on our Mi Casa Su Casa site at: http://www.gayhometrade.com. 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 450 real estate professional listings in 45 US states, Spain, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. We also have over 700 Wedding Vendor listings in 42 US states, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mexico and the South Pacific. Check out our real estate professional listings here: http://www.gayrealtynetwork.com That's it for this issue - see you next time! :) Mark & Scott, PURPLE ROOFS |
|
We did San Francisco Gay Pride 2007 - Click the Picture below for our Pride Photo Gallery, and enjoy the videos we took. :)
San Francisco Pride 2007 Click Here for OurSan Francisco Pride 2007 Photo Gallery Click Here for Our First San Francisco Pride 2007 Movie Click Here for Our Second San Francisco Pride 2007 Movie Click Here for Our Third San Francisco Pride 2007 Movie Click Here for Our Fourth San Francisco Pride 2007 Movie Click Here for Our Fifth San Francisco Pride 2007 Movie
|
|
Traveling in Our Fabulous World
Club 209 located in the chic Brady Arts District at 209 North Boulder St.and is one of the nicest bars that we have been to in a long time. It has been opened a little over a year now. Very upscale and one would almost think that you were in New York City! Yes, it is that nice. It is a rather large bar and toward one end you will find lounge chairs and sofas to sit. A jazz trio plus singer was there for the entertainment the night we were there. Drink prices are extremely reasonable too. Although smoking is still permitted in bars in Tulsa (only in restaurants can you not smoke) the owner of this bar thinks enough of his clients and employees to have the entire bar Non-Smoking! Congratulations to him for taking that bold move and it has not cut into his business at all. They also feature paintings and works of art featuring local artists. Their website is: www.club209tulsa.com. The Brady Heights Historical District is the Gayest neighborhood in Tulsa located just north of downtown district close to bars, Gay Pride Center, downtown, riverparks, restaurants, Universities, and the Performing Arts. Another bar in that same area is the Club Majestic which is a high tech disco bar and close to Midnight it is jammed packed with people. Their address is 124 North Boston and their website is: www.clubmajestictulsa.com. A wonderful neighborhood bar is the Bamboo Lounge which has been a local landmark in Tulsa since 1957. There is always something happening at that bar and the new owners have free food on Sundays. It has a back patio bar. Everybody in the bar is friendly and we do mean "friendly". If you don't have fun at the Bamboo you won't have fun anywhere! Their address is 7204 East Pine and their website is www.bambooloungetulsa.com. There are several other bars in Tulsa but these three certainly are our favorites. The Gay and Lesbian Center, "The Equality Center" is located at 621 E. 4th Street and is one of the largest in the entire Midwest. Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) seeks equal rights for (LGBT) individuals and families through advocacy, education seminars. They offer community programs, meeting rooms, and spaces for community organizations, reception areas, educational, legal and wellness services. Their health testing office offers free HIV testing 3 times a week. This is one of the finest gay community centers in the entire Midwest. Their website is: www.okeq.org/
The Gilcrease Museum of the Americas is another great museum in Tulsa. It is home to one of the world's largest and most comprehensive collections of fine art, artifacts and archives that tells the store of the American West. From sculptors, oil paintings and water colors the museum has some of the finest western art in the world. It has beautiful theme gardens, a full service restaurant and museum gift shop. It is located at 1400 North Gilcrease Museum Road and their website is: www.gilcrease.org The Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium is located at 3624 North 74th East Avenue near the Airport. Their website is: www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com. You can experience aviation in their 19,000 square feet space featuring historic, experimental, corporate and military aircraft. During your visit you can launch the Space Shuttle, climb into the seat of the Ranger 2000, take a trip in the Spaceplane to the moon, fly the F-16 Wind Tunnel and listen to live radio feed from Tulsa's airport tower to approaching aircraft. In their Planetarium visitors watch their 50 feet diameter dome movie screen. There is so much to see and do in Tulsa and you could easily spend an entire week there without getting bored. Great websites to check out before going are: www.tulsa.com, www.tulsaweb.com/,http://www.visittulsa.com/ and their local gay publication, The Star at: www.ozarksstar.com. The STAR is one of the best gay publications in the Midwest. Chaz, the owner has really done a tremendous job. Tulsa is the Liberal Enclave in Oklahoma! Unfortunately there are no gay owned accommodations in the Tulsa area. Anyone wanting to start a new business? Tulsa would be an ideal place! Always remember to have fun when traveling, meet new people and talk to everyone! TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS WORLD is written by Donald Pile and Ray Williams, Award-winning Celebrity travel columnists who write for gay publications from Coast to Coast. You can email them at: gaytravelers@aol.com or visit their webpage at: http://www.hometown.aol.com/gaytravelers. Australia's Blue Mountains Any visitors to Sydney should stay a while in the stunning Blue Mountains, just 1 1/2 hours west of Sydney, you can get there by car or train. Blackheath is the village to explore, with several gay/lesbian owned cafes and restaurants, lots of very interesting antique shops, galleries, and op. shops.
Plus, Blackheath has the famous views, waterfalls, hikes, and amazing scenery. It is the headquarters of the World Heritage listed Greater Blue Mountains National Park. Robert, from Allendale Cottages, works at the National Parks Heritage Information Centre, and a couple of times a month does hikes for a gay hiking/outdoors club. It is free and lots of fun, so find out when the next walk is on and join in. Hikes in the coming months will include the gorgeous Grand Canyon track in Blackheath. We start the hike at Evans Lookout, with a dramatic view into the sheer gorges of the Grose Valley (visions of this area can be seen on the Allendale Cottages website) and take the trail into the rainforest and start our explore through a 'slot canyon', which is a very narrow canyon carved by the stream. Nature has created some amazing shapes in the formation of this wonderland deep within the Blue Mountains National park, the hike is graded 'medium' and OK for people of normal fitness. There will be lots of birdlife, colouful parrots, finches, honeyeaters, whipbirds (they make a sound like a whip cracking), and the fabulous lyrebird. After some rock-hopping, walking behind waterfalls, checking out the pools for freshwater crayfish, and resting in caves for snack breaks, about 3 hours later we emerge back in the real world. Later in the year, I will be leading hikers to the 'Temples of Doom' and the 'Glow Worm Tunnel' in the Wollemi National Park, and some valley hikes in the Katoomba area. The hiking club have walks in other areas around Sydney, if you are planning a visit to the Emerald City of Oz, details can be found on the website of The Southern Cross Outdoors Group, or you can email Robert (use the link above) for an activities update. |
Right in the heart of the Bible Belt is Tulsa, Oklahoma. With all the religious crazies there, who would possibly think that there is a terrific gay life in Tulsa? Well, it is wonderful! Tulsa offers plenty of gay bars to choose from and they are FABULOUS bars! Actually they are some of the nicest in the entire Midwest.
The Philbrook Art Museum (pictured at right) has a spectacular collection of American and European art housed in a 1927 Italian Villa surrounded by 23 acres of gardens. It has a world-class restaurant and museum shop. Their website is: 