This Month's Newsletter
Welcome to the Purple Roofs June, 2009 newsletter - check out our Gay Marriage Watch blog - all the news we can find about gay marriage, now published daily, on:
You can also join our weekly email mailing for Gay Marriage Watch by sending a subscription request to info@purpleunions.com. This month, we also have six great travel articles - one from our visit to Amador County's Wine Country in California with Scott's Dad, and five others from guest columnists - thanks to our contributors:
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Best Kept Secrets: The Amador Wine Country in N. CA
By Scott & Mark, Purple Roofs
Everyone has heard of the Napa Valley and the Sonoma Valley, with their established vineyards. Unfortunately, everyone goes there too - this premier wine region in Northern Califronia overflows with tourists in the summertime, and wine tastings are often $5, $10, or $15 a glass. But there are a number of other lesser-known wine regions in California that offer spectacular local varietals, beautiful vine-covered hills, and far less busy environs for the wine enthusiast. One of these is the Shenandoah Valley in Amador County.
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Traveling in Our Fabulous World: Philadelphia
By Donald Pile & Ray Williams, Gay Travelers
Visiting Philadelphia for the first time was certainly a very exciting and interesting time for us. We knew ahead of time all about the historical things to see and do but had no idea what else to expect. We first checked into The Gables Bed and Breakfast which has been owned for the past 16 years by Warren Cederholm and Don Caskey.
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History of Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
By Matt & Pia Bysher, Akama Resort, Hervey Bay, QLD, Australia
Hervey Bay (pronounced 'Harvey bay') was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770 whilst travelling the east coast of Australia. He wrongly assumed that Fraser Island was joined to the Australian mainland and the sheltered waters behind it were a bay. The waters of the Great Sandy Strait are very shallow and he did not proceed far enough south to find the passage between Fraser Island and the coast. He named the bay "Hervey's Bay" after Lord Augustus Hervey an admiral of the Blue, the Earl of Bristol and Captain Cook's boss.
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Traveling in Spain
By Dolly "Bella" Goolsby, Bella European Adventures
I don't know whether to say buon giorno or buenos dias or bonne notte... I am so confused. But we are having a great time in Spain. Although I don't speak the language, even Frank's Spanish is either not understood or purposely misinterpreted, as he has not gotten what he has ordered in a restaurant, several times. We think his success ration is 3 out of 5. I, on the other hand, am batting .500.
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Mysterious Argyll, Scotland
By Jon and Cherry Freeman, Braeside Guesthouse, Kilmore by Oban, Argyll, Scotland
To some, the name of Argyll in Scotland conjours up a misty mountainous terrain, fringed with mysterious islands. To others, it's the Auld Country where generations ago crofting farmers were exiled by wicked landlords and sent across dangerous oceans to unknown worlds to settle. Argyll is all of these and more, its adventure its romance its fine dining its exploring its history and natural wonder all in a compact area.
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San Luis Obispo County: Jewel of the Central California Coast
By Steve & Dana, Casa de los Quercus, Atascadero, California
The California Central Coast is a wonderful area, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, a four hour drive either direction. San Luis Obispo County is a newer destination for “wine country” with over two hundred wineries offering samples (sometimes for free). We have some larger wineries (bottling 1,000s annually), along with many “boutique” wineries (with just a couple hundred bottles produced each year). There is also growing olive industry, and even some lavender farms in the area.
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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.
Special Offer Accommodation Notices
As always, we also have our Late Availability & Special Offer notices (211 offers in 23 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 $75 for 5 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.
We've redesigned our mainstream accommodations directory - Altraverse.com
Now with over 4,000 accommodations listed worldwide - see it at:
http://www.altraverse.com
Visit our new site, Gayapolis.com
Several months ago, we took over the management of a new site, Gayapolis.com. We've been reworking the site, and still have a lot to do, but already, you'll find personals, daily news, and a great reworked gay and lesbian directory, all at:
http://www.gayapolis.com
That's it for this issue - see you next time! :)
Mark & Scott, PURPLE ROOFS
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