Memorial Day Weekend Pcola vs. Gay Days vs. DC Pride

As you can tell from my previous post I just did three consecutive prides. Memorial Day weekend in Pensacola FL, Gay Days at Disney in Orlando FL, and Capital Pride in Washington DC. I am going to rank them in order of "1" Most fun to "3" still amazing but not as amazing as "1" ;-)

1. Memorial Day Weekend in Pensacola FL. Without a doubt in all my gay travels this is the most fun event of the year. Most revelers arrive on Thursday evening and stay till Monday morning. Groups of friends either stay in rented beach houses, the Portofino Island Resort, or hotels near the mainland. Its a mixed event with just as much lesbian as gay participation. Approximately 60,000 people are estimated to populate the 5 mile stretch of beach each year for 3 consecutive days. The idea is to bring a tent...mainly for shade and to have a place to keep your drinks...set up and decorate it and let the fun begin. Our group always stays at the Portofino Island Resort. We usually are at the Beach by 11 a.m. and drink/play/flirt/cruise all day till about 6 p.m. (its utterly amazing) The beach is littered with incredible bodies and smiling faces. At around 6 p.m. we pack up head back to the resort ~2 miles away....rest for a bit and then hit the pool party at the resort. The pool party...which I like to call "boy soup" is completely full of boys, a DJ, a full bar, a hot tub, and one of the most beautiful sunsets you will every see. The pool party beats into the night and lasts until 10 p.m .each day. Then you have nightlife options which range from sit down bars like Flounder, to dance clubs such as Emerald City, to full fledged circuit parties. The best part about Pcola is the people. Maybe its something in the water maybe it's just people itching to find a trick...but its so darn friendly. No one meets stranger and every time you turn around a tent will be offering you a drink of some sort...just plain southern fun!

2. Gay Days Disney in Orlando FL. Gay Days is a social phenomenon that began some years ago. The actual Gay Day is the saturday of the event when everyone goes to the magic kingdom and wears a red shirt. Its really fun to see so many queers at the main disney theme park all in red. This year I attended and did mostly the Mark Baker events. Gay Days is very much a circuit party and is centered around music and euphoric feelings whilst dancing.
Each day starts around lunch with a DJ'ed pool party that lasts until around 7 p.m. After the pool party most head out to the nightly circuit event. These events cost around $80 and are set for the most part at Disney. Huge DJ's, sound systems, talent, and lights are brought in to set the scene for a absolutely fun time dancing till about 2 a.m. Then if you can still walk you can hit up the after hours till about 8 a.m. the next morning. The after hours sound will be more dark and tribal but the beats are still really fun to move too. I put gay days behind Pcola because its fun but not as varied. Every gay days event is a blast but its the same thing over and over where as Pcola has the beach, the pool, and the nightlife. However I will say that the men at Gay Days are much hotter.....so if its eye candy and circuit fashion you want Gay Days is the place to be.

3. Capital Pride in Washington DC. I have had many a good weekend in DC. Some of my favorites have been Mid Atlantic Leather (MAL) and Cherry weekend. DC Pride was fun. The atmosphere...the spirit....and the overall color of the painted streets of Dupont/Logan Circle made DC Pride fun. However...remembering how fun MAL and Cherry weekend were I did expect a little more from DC Pride. Its the capital of the USA....and the floats in the parade were less than lackluster. Also the clubs did not really go all out and decorate or bring in big name DJ's/performers. It it had not been for the parade/festival/ and bounty of rainbow flags it would have been just like any other weekend in DC. Albeit fun....not as amazing as I expected from Captial Pride. What did make it fun was the good friends I have there and the genuine souls that live there and call it home. For them it was there homecoming weekend, their weekend to shine, and their Pride.....and for that I give them two thumbs up.

Go and Travel!