It was all about the weather this year at Southern Decadence. The hurricane that bore down on the East Coast left the Big Easy sunny, hot and relatively free of humidity this year, thankfully. The temperature was still warm, though, prompting these boys (and a few girls) outside of Bourbon Pub to loosen up the clothing.

Aahhh, the view from Oz. Boys are waiting for the day’s Southern Decadence parade, though I’m surprised that the balcony was so crowded when down below were the masses.

TWINS!!!! Oh, and these two dancing Oz boys were friendly. Coordinated outfits, plenty of butt-smacks. These boys had a very good weekend.

Pittsburgh does not get the respect it deserves as a surprisingly gay friendly city situated on three scenic rivers. This shot was taken by GayCities member Bart Smyth, aka Trabster, who also happens to be a wonderful photographer. In his free time Bart has been photographing the Pittsburgh gay scene–hometown of the popular Showtime series Queer As Folk–for GayCities.

“This is a relatively rare view of the city in that it was necessary for me to stop on the freeway bridge – being technically against the law and dangerous as hell – to get this shot Sunday, Sept. 5,” writes Bart. “It was worth the risk, however.”

Add “harsh spotlights” to the list that includes religious fanatics as among the few downsides of New Orleans‘ Southern Decadence. They were placed at some of the key intersections of the French Quarter, this one at St. Anne near Bourbon Street. Surely it was done for “safety reasons,” but overall it felt unwelcoming for a city that’s trying to rebuild its tourism industry and reach out ever more to gay men. The lights diminished the friskiness of the crowd.

But no worries! The boys were still out in force and hit the streets, particularly at this famed intersection of Bourbon and Anne streets, where Oz, Bourbon Pub and Napolean’s Itch battle it out for the gay dollar. Lucky for all three, there was plenty of business to share. These boys are thirsty!

And this picture just about sums up Southern Decadence. Empty kegs, empty cups, soaked livers. These kegs were lined up outside of Oz on Saturday night. There will surely be dozens more by the end of the weekend.

This year’s theme for Southern Decadence in New Orleans is “Leather and Feathers” and these two boys strutted the best of their leather gear while posing on the street in front of Bourbon Pub. Many revelers strutted in similar attire, accented with many hard-earned beads, of course.

Decadence isn’t just for boys, either! This girl was having a blast with her buddies outside of Oz on Saturday night.

Southern Decadence is in full swing in New Orleans. Friday night kicked off a new Friday night parade with mini Mardi Gras floats filled with shirtless boys snaking their way through the crowds on Bourbon Street. If you’re in New Orleans and on your iPhone, checkin of the GayCities iPhone app and see where members are going everywhere.

Photos by Dan DeBerardinis

Post by GayCities New York Editor JJ Keyes

Looking to have the ultimate gay wedding? Take your lover to the skies this winter with SAS Scandinavian Airlines. The airline has teamed up with VisitSweden, Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network, and ICEHOTEL to host the world’s first same-sex wedding on a plane, with the the ceremonial flight taking place between Stockholm and New York on December 6^th as part of their “Love is in the air” campaign.

The grooms (or brides) getting hitched will be Swedish, but one couple from America will also win a wedding and honeymoon package, from New York to Sweden, including SAS business class seats, two nights at the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Skeppsholmen in Stockholm, a VIP Stockholm package organized by Stockholm Visitor’s Board and cooler than “Mile High Club” status. The competition is only open to US-based residents, while the European-based winners will win a trip to New York and Los Angeles.

The weddings will be valid: Sweden was one of the first countries to legalize same-sex partnerships and marriage. But if same-sex marriage is not legal in your state (yet!), Swedish law unfortunately will not prevail but you will still be married by Swedish standards. But, What the Hell, you get to be the first of your friends to say you got married at the ICEHOTEL!

If you win or if you just wan to visit an awesomely gay city, you’ve got to take your new beau to F12, Danyel Couet’s sexy restaurant, for your first dinner in Stockholm. Explore the Vasa Museum, Hallwyl Museum, and Millesgården, and hit the Absolut Ice Ba, before breaking it down with your beau at Torget and Patricia.

Love is in the Air image courtesy of Visit Sweden and SAS

Photo credits:  JJ Keyes

GayCities Top F Reviewer Ray Delgado (center) with friends Richard and Jonathan at Sonoma's J Winery

Post by GayCities member Ray Delgado, winner of the GayCities Top Food Reviewer Challenge

Village Inn

Sonoma County rolled out the red carpet for the GayCities Next Top Food Reviewer (That’s me!) and my buddies, Richard and Jonathan. What a glorious weekend touring wine country, starting with a drive along River Road and through San Francisco’s summer getaway town of Guerneville on our way to Village Inn in Monte Rio. The Inn puts a capital “R” in “Rustic” so if you’re more of the discriminating type of gay, be sure to take advantage of this property’s strengths and park yourself on one of it’s outdoor chairs that overlook the River. The place mixes a mean cocktail and there are plenty of appetizers to help soak up the booze. If you stay for dinner, you’re in luck if they’re offering the lamb chops. They’re terrific!

Flamingo Resort

Day two started with a fantastic (and cute, in a straight kinda way) chaffeur Patrick from Pure Luxury Transportation picking us up from our hotel, Flamingo Resort.

He then drove us to J Winery for a private tour of the vineyard and production facility, which was perfectly orchestrated to highlight both the science and art of wine making. We were a bit early, so we had some time to walk among the vines and see those cute little grapes that will turn into a great pinot noir in about, um, three years or so…

Them we were treated to fantastic private tasting of J Winery’s best offerings, which included their terrific pinot noirs and sparkling wines. After the tour, they showed us the private Bubble Lounge, which offers a scrumptious food and wine pairing (reservations recommended) prepared by a notable chef. We’ll definitely be back for that.

Our next stop was the Raymond Burr Winery, where the gruff server made us feel about as welcome as Obama at a Tea Party. We high- tailed it out of there to Porter Creek, a charming stop along Westside Road in the Russian River valley. The tasting room appears to have been set up in a car port next to one of those perfect wine country houses that sits next to a vineyard. This winemaker clearly lets the wines do the talking at the expense of the usual frills you’d get at more high-end places.

Our day ended with a terrific dinner at Glen Ellen Inn, a charming restaurant with a nearly full back page of the menu dedicated to specialty martinis that pair nicely with their other specialties: oysters prepared in a variety of fashions. I’m not an oyster fan, so I opted for the calamari and was bowled over. And the steak is not to be missed.

Cheers!

Photos by Ray Delgado

Thanks to Sonoma County, our sponsor of the GayCities Next Top Food Reviewer Challenge

The Parliament House, known to Orlando travelers and locals as the spot to drink, stay and, after closing hours, play, may soon be no more. The resort has been around since the 60s, but financial troubles may force the popular venue to shut its doors for good. Have you visited the Parliament House recently? Is this a community landmark worth fighting for ? We want to hear from you!

Photo by Parliament House

San Francisco nightlife has been coming to life thanks in part to street artist Jeremy Novy. His unique stencils of epic, legendary drag queens, gay pulp and local talent alike have been spotted all over town, and even got him a showcase at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. We caught up with him and talked art, inspiration, and, of course, a bit of drag.

What drag venues inspired this project? Parties, cities, venues, etc.

Last summer I lived in a house on 18th and Sanchez were Divine and John Waters lived at one time when it was a gay comunne called “The Wind Gone Through.”

How did you get interested in queer street arts? Why did you choose graffiti?

I chose stencils (not graffiti). I moved to stencils because of their pop culture references and for the most part stencils are political in nature.

I used to do interventional things telling the city to clean up urban blight with the one thing they hate the most a can of spray paint. Life size stencils of doors and windows began to appear on boarded up houses.

So what changed?

I did Divine because of the house I lived in and I found a whole new group to rebel against. My stencils are trying to change the rules of street art and allow for anyone to put up images just like GAP, Pepsi, Absolute Vodka and many more.

Is your art enhancing the view in any cities beside San Francisco?

Yes. I just went to Milwaukee, WI and Chicago for a week. One thing I did was to get paid to graffiti the Pabst Mansion. Yes, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. They have my koi fish around their pool.

Did you go to Chances Dances or any other fun underground parties while in Chicago? How about Wisconsin?

Yes!!! I can breakdance and pull it into some erotic dance moves without losing the beat to the music. I was big into raves starting in ’96. Then moved to NYC in 99 for a year of NYC’s club scene. I’m a big house fan and made alot of chicago parties. Me and my friends would do Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis or Milwaukee. Doing Friday in one state and then Saturday in another.

You can see more of Jeremy’s Art by following him on Facebook or visiting his webiste.

San Francisco nightlife has been coming to life thanks in part to street artist Jeremy Novvy. His unique stencils of epic, legendary drag queens, gay pulp and local talent alike have been spotted all over town, and even got him a showcase at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. We caught up with him and talked art, inspiration, and of course, a bit of drag.

What drag venues inspired this project? Parties, cities, venues, etc.

Last summer I lived in a house on 18th and Sanchez were Divine and John Waters lived at one time when it was a gay comunne called “The Wind Gone Through”.

How did you get interested in queer street arts? Why did you choose graffiti?

I chose stencils (not graffiti). I moved to stencils because of their pop culture references and for the most part stencils are political in nature.

I used to do interventional things telling the city to clean up there urban blight with the one thing they hate the most a can of spray paint. Life size stencils of doors and windows began to appear on boarded up houses.

So what changed?

I did Divine because of the house I lived in and I found a whole new group to rebel against. My stencils are trying to change the rules of street art and allow for anyone to put up images just like GAP, Pepsi, Absolute Vodka and many more.

Is your art enhancing the view in any cities beside San Francisco?

Yes. I just went to Milwaukee, WI and Chicago for a week. One thing I did was to get paid to graffiti the Pabst Mansion. Yes, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. They have my koi fish around their pool.

Did you go to Chances Dances or any other fun underground parties while in Chicago? How about Wisconsin?

Yes!!! I can breakdance and pull it into some erotic dance moves without losing the beat to the music. I was big into raves starting in 96. Then moved to NYC in 99 for a year of NYC’s club scene. I’m a big house fan and made alot of chicago parties. Me and my friends would do Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis or Milwaukee. Doing Friday in one state and then Saturday in another.

You can see more of Jeremy’s Art by following him on Facebook, or visiting his webiste.