During my one full day to explore the gayborhood, I began my Wednesday with the Alexander Inn’s continental breakfast before a leisurely walk- through Center City Philadelphia. The goal was to visit the SGI Philadelphia Buddhist Center located at 2000 Hamilton Street #298, Philadelphia, PA 19130.

I wandered along the city streets revisiting the various sculptures that adorned the path from Philadelphia’s City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The center is located around the corner from the Philadelphia Free Library’s main branch.

Unfortunately, the SGI Philadelphia Buddhist Center was closed. Fortunately, I was so enjoying my walk and seeing the LOVE sculpture as well as the AMOR sculpture. Viewing the art pieces had me wanting to revisit an art project I have had in the back of my mind of making a large wooden chess board and create each individual piece out of clay. First, I would need to sketch each chess piece.  I followed my impulse to the Blick Art Supply store located in the Hale Building at 1330 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. I’m enjoying taking every opportunity I can especially when on vacation to follow my intuition and see where it leads me. The goal is it leads me down a path of joy.

About an hour later I left the art supply store, materials in hand, when I noticed yet another Fogo De Chao Brazilian Steakhouse cross my path. It’s almost as if the Universe is trying to get me to go to this restaurant. I keep seeing it EVERWHERE I go. I am going to have to keep this place on my to-do list.

It quickly started raining so I made my way back to the Alexander Inn. Realizing I had a lot to do before my adventure day was over, I started to improvise. I had

 to visit Giovanni’s Room, The William Way LGBT Community Center. If there was time I would swing by a Gay club before I left just to say I visited one.

I made it to Giovanni’s Room and to the William Way LGBT Center to gather information and speak to folks about gay life in Philly. I was also able to leave some business cards with my blog’s website address at the community center. I was feeling successful.

On my way back to the Inn, I stumbled upon a Japanese restaurant called Yellowtail at 1218 Pine Street, Philadelphia. Not a fan of dining out alone, I decided to order a ton of sushi as takeout for later in the evening.

In the meantime, I checked the website of a nearby gay bar that caught my eye. It was called Tabu Philly, a multi-level sports bar with a roof-top lounge. At this point, it was 5pm and Happy Hour went from 4-7pm. I checked out the Happy Hour cocktails and decided on the “Fly Eagles Fly.” The drink is made of Stoli Razberi vodka, Blue Curacao, orange and Pineapple juice. I figured I would go pay the place a visit, have two drinks and perhaps talk to someone there about gay life in Philadelphia. If you like pool, this is the place for you. For an early Weekday evening there were not many folks inside as I expected given the rain. The first floor had a few pool tables alongside a large bar in the center like from the show “Cheers.”

I went to the next floor and saw more pool tables and I think a dance floor. The third floor I saw more pool tables, a dance floor and bar then another bar which led to the rooftop lounge with a view of the open sky.

I was blessed to have meta kind and friendly bartender named. Juan, who oozed sex appeal and a genuinely sweet nature that made him easy to talk to. I ordered my “Fly Eagles Fly” and I told him about my blog and my quest to learn more about the Gayborhood.

Juan was open and honest. He gave me a rundown of all the bars in the area and about his life in Philly. Not long after my arrival, we were joined by a fellow patron named Curtis, who worked in the healthcare field. For about two hours we talked about our war stories as gay men, aka coming out to family etc.

Out of respect for the two gentlemen, I will not go into the specifics of what we discussed. I will say, talking with both of them was the highlight of my day in the gayborhood. Each of us, despite our differences in age and experience had a love for Philadelphia and the unique ability we have to strike up meaningful conversations with total strangers.

I will admit, it has been a long time since I went to a gay bar. In Los Angeles, one gets the vibe that you age out of the bar scene as it caters so much toward the young crowd. My experience at Tabu Philadelphia has me questioning thst aging out theory. 

For the two hours I spent talking with Juan and Curtis, I felt like a member of the community. The experience made me decide to return to the gayborhood and spend a few days there getting to know it a little better with each visit.

I was reminded that all of us, deep down, just want to be seen, heard and hopefully accepted regardless of our gay “origin stories.”

If you visit Philadelphia, stop by Tabu Philadelphia located at 254 S, 12^th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107  Try their “Fly Eagles Fly” it is delicious! Or go to their website at TabuPhilly.com and discover your own favorite cocktail. Who knows maybe we will see each other at their rooftop lounge the next time I give the Gayborhood a visit!