SGN March 4, 2011 - Section 2

Page 1

Seattle Gay News

Issue 09, Volume 39, March 4, 2011

Lovin’

SPRING TRAVEL SUPPLEMENT

fil e pho to

twink. I soon became one of those outof-towners who visited so frequently that locals began to think I was one of them. My friends and I would rent a room for the night at The Holloway Motel (8465 Santa Monica Blvd) and proceed to bar crawl and club hop well after last call. In 2009, I had the opportunity to revisit my old stomping ground and found it to be a shadow of its once-vibrant self. When the Great Recession hit, West Hollywood (more commonly referred to as WeHo) felt it from the top of its tiara down to its ruby red slippers. The local Gays still went out, honey, but it was the twink tourist and his closeted, married business executive sugar daddy who stopped booking flights to sunny California. Tourist dollars all but dried up. WeHo’s makeup was flaking. Still, the show must

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor West Hollywood, California is synonymous with hot tan-skinned boys sipping martinis at the Abbey on Santa Monica Blvd. It is where you can dine with a porn star and watch a drag show in the same night. Pricey? Sure. Pretentious? Maybe. Do we love it? You bet your sweet ass we do! When it comes to traveling, we single Gays rarely need an excuse to board a plane and camp it up in Gayville. My excuse came in the form of a birthday invitation. It had been two years too long since I had last walked down Santa Monica Blvd, and I was ready to revisit the Gay days of my early 20s. I had my West Hollywood cherry popped back in 2003 when I was a 23-year-old

Chateau Marmont

see west hollywood page 40


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