I owe some very serious bloggage to last weekend. It was just so very crammed full of blogable stuff. But after such a busy weekend, alas, a very busy week.
So I will blog about these events in three parts. Consider the posts "in development", as details will continue to be added as I continue to remember them. It will likely start out more as a stream of thought, rather than any organized type of writing.
So, you may remember I noted I was going to have the "gayest weekend ever", and I did, for the most part. However, Provincetown was slightly toned down by the World Cup Third Place Game, and the France/Italy game definitely affected the Madonna Day (as did the 19 inning Red Sox/White Sox "Event").
Provincetown
Jen, Keri and I met at Long Wharf for the 9 AM high speed ferry from Boston to Provincetown. "Bear Week" was just starting in Provincetown and the ferry passengers reflected this. In fact, some had t-shirts proclaiming it. In my 20+ years of gayness, I did not know such a thing happened. For those not in the know, "Bears" are usually large, hairy men who are darned proud to be that way. The guys who admire them are referred to as "Cubs"? I might be wrong about this, someone please clarify.
As we pulled away from the dock in Boston, the purser announced a welcome to the "Provincetown Bears" and referred to "Bear Week" as "an important cultural event".
The ride down was uneventful. The weather was a bit hazy but not too hot, great for a boat trip. The high speed ferry earns its name though. Go up on deck and you can forget your best hair efforts. Later, Keri would ask me if the guy sitting next to her was gay, and I told her I would not know - I had to shut off my Gaydar because of signal overload on the boat. Of course, this would also be true of Provincetown and the Madonna concert.
I did notice a group of young (high school age) kids who appeared to be on the boat as part of a field trip - they had several chaperones and I realized they were from Europe, but was too far away to know for certain what language they were speaking (more on them later - they feature prominently in Part Two).
I have never taken the boat to P-Town, I have always driven there. P-Town will always be a place that is special to me and David - we have gone down together many times over 17 years and have had some very memorable (and some might say "interesting") experiences there. This was the first time I had ever been to P-Town without him. And given his current health situation, he was on my mind almost the entire time. Coming around the point and entering the harbor was wonderful - what a view! I will definitely take the boat again.
Jeff and his friends from LA were supposed to meet us at the dock when we arrived, but they got into town a little late, so they were running late. We decided that we would go somewhere and sit and get coffee (read "cocktail") while we waited. Basically, P-Town never changes, but one thing did - Cafe Blase is now "the Patio". God Dammit - some things are an institution. Nice Southwestern Chicken Wrap though. Here we meet Jeff and his friends. His friends are all great - totally cool people.
So we basically walked around, got ice cream at Spiritus, I bought a sweatshirt for David and we "took in the sights". Many of these sights had just arrived for Bear Week. Interestingly, there is a registration area for Bear Week. This made me wonder (and discuss with the group) whether there was an organized program, perhaps with seminars and key note speakers? Did they get a welcome bag? What was in the welcome bag? Is there a partners' agenda for the spouses?
I took the afternoon boat back, leaving Jen and Keri to experience T-Dance at the Boat Slip with Jeff and his friends. I really did not want to go to T-Dance without David. I did not tell these guys that specifically, but I think they got it.
But before getting on the boat, we sat on the wharf and had some beers. We watched the Bears arrive and the tweaked out circuit guys leaving. Jeff's friend Chris courteously called out warm welcomes and friendly good-byes to everyone who went by. Then it was my turn to go good bye.....
Waiting in line at the Pirate Museum (yep) to board the return boat, I got stuck among the same group of European kids I mention earlier. This time I can clearly tell where they were from - Italy. And once we boarded and got underway, the TVs came on, and so did the Third Place World Cup Game (Germany vs. Portugal). And that was when a whole new level of fun began.......
... To Be Continued
Next: The World Cup and I collide (and I had been doing so well avoiding it, mostly)
No comments:
Post a Comment