I arrived in Atlanta by car from Lake Lanier. Not having a place to stay in Atlanta, I called up my buddy Keith (see 30K Miles and on to Dallas) who, thru a gay connection, hooked me up with a friend of his. Corey had ample room for me to stay for the 2 nights I’d be in town.
In addition, Keith’s best friend Jennifer just moved here about 6 months ago. Jennifer Reed is a Rock Station DJ, and a hot one at that. Keith was Jennifer’s Program Manager in Dallas at a top-10 market station where they both worked. Jennifer moved to Atlanta to join another top market rock station. Basically...she’s taking over the world.I should mention that the day before I arrived a lot of phone calls were made between Corey, Jen, and Keith as to my itinerary during my short stay. Corey had a date my first night so Jen would be taking me out. Corey would play hooky from work my first full day here and be my tour guide. Jennifer -- between her gym, agents, talent scouts, and millionaire friends -- would spend the rest of her time with me.
Do I need to say she got me into a lot of trouble while here? Just read the subtitle of this blog one more time…
Before I go further I should mention that Jen was brought to Atlanta to add a little female energy to an otherwise male dominated bed-Rock station here, 96 Rock the “Home of the Braves”. A mere six months after being at the station, and after 25 years of serving their listenership, the station switched formats -- leaving Jen, and the loyal fan base, on the curb. This came as a surprise to Jen especially since she was let go and two days later she hit the cover of Atlanta City Mag introducing her as the latest siren of Atlanta’s airwaves, at, of course 96 Rock.
Well, since Jen had some time on her hands she proved to be an excellent tour guide (as if her rock diva personality alone wouldn’t have turned out a good time) but she and the excitement of the full-tilt nightlife in Atlanta made it a great couple of days.
The first night (since Corey had a date) Jen and I went to her friend’s Sean’s 27 day old restaurant. Sean, who originates from South Africa (JoBerg and Capetown), with this opening now made his tenth restaurant in Dallas (at a mere age of 31). He lavished attention on us, introduced us to his (young) talented chef, and sat with us during dinner. The food was fantastic. As I can’t ever resist, I gave him a few marketing ideas (and my business card…). Definitely a recommendation here (ask me for the name which I’ve forgotten!) if you’re in town or planning to be. Interestingly, the chef, went to U Mass Amherst for Hotel Restaurant Management, and lived in MA for half a dozen years or so before transplanting to Ga....
So, we had fun the first night at dinner and I thought we’d head home afterwards, but at 10:30 Jen had to make a ‘quick’ stop at her former station to work on an Air Check. An air check for those of you not in the know is like her radio ‘reel’ that would accompany her resume. And she’d planned it hitting the desks of Radio CEOs, VPs and Program Mangers in the weeks to come. So we headed to the station. The ‘quick’ trip turned out to be about 2 hours (we were there until 1:00 am on Thursday morning) but now I know everything there is to know about making an Air Check.
With the evening over, I focused my attention on sleep and Thursday’s itinerary. In the morning I walked a mile or so to a WiFi spot, checked in on some biz, and made my way to the Carter Center and Presidential Library. My favorite bits were the replica of the Oval Office, and the grounds complete with Zen rock garden, waterfalls, and Coy Fish (gifted by Japan).But the afternoon quickly overshadowed my early morning presidential curiosity.
You see since Jennifer has been out of work, she has been blanketed with offers. She taped a cable travel pilot. She’s been offered a mid-west Rock spot. She’s fielding offers from past contacts, CEOs of major national radio groups, and a few TV Networks. She’s a hot commodity right now -- and that doesn’t go unnoticed by many, let alone yours truly. Especially when I get dragged to a titty-bar at three o’clock in the afternoon so she can “Say Hi” to three of her out of town investors.Have you ever been to a titty bar? I haven’t. Why should I? I’m gay. But nonetheless, I suppose it’s a right of passage -- even for a gay guy.
We were waived in by the doorperson at “Cheetah’s” in downtown Atlanta. Walking down a corridor of fabric walls, we entered a large, mostly unpopulated room with two runways (about six girls dancing) lined by two bars. Between the runways, in the center of the room, was “front row seating”, where the tables were sunken and stools could be pulled right up -- for oogling, flirting, and tipping no doubt. If it’s designed for more than that I don’t want to know!
As Jennifer had, while on the phone in the car, let it be known to the guys “We’re about to get lunch, and I’m with a gay guy” suggesting that we may not want to come. The three men we were about to meet were very kind and went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. Jen of course noted that the three of them were so wealthy that this is what they did in the middle of the day -- at 3:00 pm on a weekday -- hang out in a titty bar.It was an experience to say the least. The girls ranged from beautiful to seedy. As did the patrons. Jen joked that the patrons were either millionaires or losers. But we, the five of us, were joking around about all being “out of work” (as you know of Jen’s plight, and I let them in on my sabbatical and travel plans -- and this blog as well) and they of course joke that they don’t work (or hardly ever). Nice life!
In any case the "stopping by for 10 minutes" at 3:30 wound up being three hours. But we had a blast. These guys, Mark, Derrick, and Steve, were very kind and funny (if not a little a-typical straight, but hey I’m a pretty a-typical gay so we’re even). Derrick gave me a few bucks to go tip one of his favorite girls, which I did for him. But I think his motive was more because he wanted to see her all over me as entertainment for himself. Steve said “I bet you’ve never done that before” after which I remarked that “I have, but with MEN that look like that” and I promptly encouraged them to go to Club One in Savannah.
As a final note, I wasn’t kidding about the “Olympians” in the headline. One of the posse, and Jen’s TV investors, is none other than Steve Lundquist, two-time gold medalist swimmer from the 1984 summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He of the three paid me a lot of attention and made me feel right at home (at a titty bar? I should rethink that last statement…). He went out of his way to talk to me, to make me feel comfortable, very comfortable in fact. As a laugh I turned to Mark and told him that of the three of them, Steve is my type…they all got a hoot out of that (and I should mention that Steve is now quite bearish with a shaved head and hunky build...see pic of us at right). Of course he was quite the hottie back in his swimming days as well as you can see below…
Needless to say the remainder of the evening in Atlanta was hard to compare to the afternoon of booty and moguls. Corey and I did go to Thursday night at Woofs, the only local gay bear/sports bar and later visited the Atlanta Eagle (which is the first Eagle I’ve ever known to have a dance floor -- bad idea). At Woofs I met a couple (David and John) that I’m sure to stay in touch with. They’ve invited DJ and I to their cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains.DJ and I have already discussed coming to Atlanta together -- I still want to see the Aquarium, spend time in Peidmont Park, and get to know more of the Gayborhood. In today’s Southern Voice, Atlanta was named as the third largest gay population in the US (behind SF and Seattle).. Boston ranked 5th behind Minneapolis’ 4th, with 12.5 and 12.3 respectively. The poll was a census of households polling as gay. (Source: The Williams Institute)
All in all Atlanta was a great success. I'll look forward to coming back again sometime soon. It’s a bit of a party town, but for the third gayest cities in the U.S. -- I give it two thumbs up!
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