May 1, 2018 - Purple Roofs

Memorial Day Weekend in Provincetown

May 20, 2018 by PtownDan

Kick of the season this Memorial Day Weekend in Provincetown. A full entertainment schedule is lined up for the holiday weekend and includes the return of Miss Richfield 1981, Suzanne Westenhoefer at the Post Office Cabaret and the Indigo Girls at the Town Hall Auditorium on Sunday, May 27th. Miss Richfield moves to her new venue, the Pilgrim House. The Showroom at the Pilgrim House is coming back strong as an entertainment venue in 2018. It’s going to be a great weekend to kick off the 2018 Provincetown season.

For a full list of entertainment check out the Somerset House Inn’s guide to Provincetown entertainment.

Ptown Dan and his partner Bob own the Somerset House Inn, a great B&B in the perfect Ptown location. On Commercial Street, across the street from the water our guesthouse is walking distance to everything. We would love to have you stay with us for the Memorial Day Weekend, please visit our web site to make your reservations. We look forward to welcoming you to Provincetown!

Stonecreek Cabins – Gay Friendly Gatlinburg Vacation Rentals

May 19, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

The Creekside (just for 2), Treehouse (just for 2) and our newest addition, the Mountain Magic (sleeps up to 4) are 3 of the most requested cabins in the area.

Romantic, private and secluded, these cabins offer many amenities that you cannot find elsewhere. Located in a 30 acre Smoky Mountain Paradise, your cabin is carefully cleaned and personally prepared for your arrival. A choice of a complimentary wine or sparkling cider on ice and other treats await your arrival.

These private, secluded cabins are the perfect retreat for those looking for a romantic, peaceful and quiet getaway located just minutes from downtown Gatlinburg (6 miles), the Arts and Crafts Community (2.5 miles), Pigeon Forge (7 miles), Dollywood (5 miles), the main entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (9 miles) and loads of area attractions.

Fishing, hiking, Dollywood theme park, horseback riding, golf and outlet shopping are just some of the popular pastimes our guests enjoy.

See the Stonecreek Cabins Expanded Listing on Purple Roofs Here

Tennessee Gay Friendly Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, and Vacation Rentals

Get the Best Out of Your Business Class Flight – Nomadic Boys

May 19, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

This is a guest post by London based gay blogger, David Wides – The Travelling Mo:

After taking advantage of a great business class deal a few years ago, I have found it increasingly difficult to turn right on a long haul flight. So I now carefully craft my travelling plans based on getting good long haul business class flight deals, cos let’s face it- once you’ve put your feet up and sipped that first glass of champagne, you’re hooked! But nobody wants to pay top dollar for the privilege…

Friends and family are often envious of the deals I’ve bagged over the years, but it really isn’t that hard to do! These are my 5 top tips for getting the best business class flight deals.

This is where you have to do a little bit of reading. Many people don’t know much about the different points membership programmes available. You need to understand how these work in order to take best advantage of any deals and to secure the frequent flier status that will get you access to the best lounges, even when you’re flying economy.

Airline frequent flier programmes usually have a concept of an airline mile (earned based on the distance you travel and augmented by your class of travel or status) and status points (also earned based on where you travel augmented by class of travel). Status points determine your status with that airline (and with their alliance partners- more on that below) and that decides what benefits you get from the airline, which can include lounge access, upgrade vouchers and more. These can only be earned by flying with an airline (or their partners). Miles on the other hand can be earned by flying with an airline (or their partners) or by other ways of spending.

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys

Family Skiing in Vail – 2TravelDads

May 19, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

You may or may not know this, but we (Rob and Chris) aren’t big skiers. In fact we avoid it, but there are loads of incredible people and adventurous parents that love to ski with their family. One of our 2TravelDads writing team, Rich, is all about skiing with the fam, especially teaching his young daughter to ski. Family skiing in Vail, Colorado is one of their favorite winter activities and Rich is here to share just how to do family skiing in Vail… with a toddler.

Skiing is both a solitary and social endeavor. Alone, you negotiate down a mountain with planks bound to your feet, gliding on snow, going 50 mph. The winter wonderland scenery, the rush of adrenaline, the fear of a painful wipe-out is also best when shared with the whole family. My husband, Brian and I are very avid and dedicated skiers and we’ve chase pow from the French Alps to Chile to Japan. When we both dreamed of eventually becoming Dads we wondered “can we still ski regularly and be parents?”

While it can be logistical challenge to check skis, snowboards, boot bags, pack ‘n play, suit cases, etc., it can also be a very worthwhile experience your child will remember and cherish. As long as you keep your expectations in line, center the activities around family, and come back in one piece, you can make it work. I can’t think of better place to do this than the beautiful and surprisingly accessible town of Vail, Colorado.

Full Story at 2TravelDads

Northwest Colorado Gay Travel Resources

Lesbian Travel: Motorbiking Vietnam – Once Upon a Journey

May 18, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

After a quick stop in Thailand, we are finally in Vietnam. For some reason, we had the idea to go to Vietnam for a long time but never made it. Our friend Marieke, a Dutchie who lives in Ho Chi Minh now, invites us to Vietnamese New Year, Tet. Time to visit Vietnam!

This time we only travel the south and middle of Vietnam, we save the northern part for next time. It’s a bit too cold for us over there right now. We fly Vietnam in to, and out from, Ho Cho Minh. The last couple of weeks we travelled at a high speed so we are super happy to see Marieke and to stay at her place for a couple nights.

We don’t see a lot of Ho Chi Minh but really enjoy doing the ‘normal’ things. We go to the cinema, sleep in, work a bit, enjoy Vietnamese food and go to our first Tet party. Marieke and her friend invite us over and we get to know the Vietnamese culture and it’s Tet traditions a bit more. We get lucky money (which we can’t use until next year) and eat and drink a lot, which also part of the Vietnamese traditions haha.

When Marieke finishes work we travel to Dalat with the three of us. It’s my second time in Vietnam but the first time I didn’t visit Da Lat. So I’m super excited to go this time! We rent motorbikes and go to one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen. Go to the Pongour Falls when you are in Dalat.

By Roxanne Weijer – Full Story at Once Upon a Journey

Vietnam Gay Travel Resources

Ten Things to Do in Bahrain – Keep Calm and Wander

May 18, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

Riches are the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind when most people think of the Arab world. However, I’d like to add here that besides all of its oil reserves, luxury hotels, glittering gold, and everything expensive, I found Bahrain rich in culture, too. Wandering through the following 8 locations like the intrepid tourist that I am, I could sense the wisps of Arabian culture and the evolution of Bahrain to be just as fresh as anyone would think.

Let’s get down to the list of my top 10 things to do in Bahrain, shall we?

1. Say hi to the history at the Bahrain National Museum

Hitting on its cultural fabric, I first managed to visit a museum. Not just any museum, but the most popular and diverse museum of all the museums in Bahrain. Its postmodern building had much in store for me and I was literally dazzled by the type of landscaping that’s been done here. My favorite sights from the museum are the archeological relics from Dilmun Civilization and the temporary exhibits on tales.

By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander

Queer Granada: Best Restaurants – The Globetrotter Guys

May 17, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary this year in Granada. This was a great excuse to visit lots of incredible restaurants during the week and enjoy being wined and dined.

We are self-admitted food snobs. We rarely go to a restaurant unless we have scoured TripAdvisor first and it has highly rated feedback. Both of us love food, and if we are going to blow our travelling budget eating somewhere ‘fancy’, it better be worth it!

Luckily, Granada has a lot to offer, both in terms of budget and type of cuisine. If you visit Granada, be sure to visit the following restaurants that have made our list, you won’t be disappointed!

Ciudad Lounge

We ate here on our anniversary and had high expectations based on their TripAdvisor reviews. They took our expectations and went above and beyond!

Ciudad Lounge is run by a couple: Noemi, who runs front of house, and William, who is the chef. Located 5 minutes out of the centre of Granada, they class themselves as a ‘destination’ restaurant, somewhere people are recommended to visit, where you make the effort to go, rather than a restaurant you stumble across by chance. Here is a place where the focus is really on the ‘experience’ of dining, as well as the food and drink.

We did not quite understand what they meant by this until we tried it for ourselves, and we loved the concept.

Initially, you are taken to sit comfortably in the lounge area where you can enjoy some of the best cocktails we have had in a while, (see below what we tried). This is where you can also enjoy your appetisers, before being taken to your table in the main part of the restaurant just as your mains are ready. This felt seamless and we enjoyed breaking up the meal into different parts of the restaurant.

Full Story at The Globetrotter Guys

Nicaragua Gay Travel Resources

Exploring Yosemite Valley – Free Wheel Drive

May 17, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

A few hours East of San Francisco is beautiful Yosemite National Park. This legendary park, once home to John Muir, has inspired the masses since 1890, including us. During our stay, we narrowly missed a winter storm, camped with rock climbers, and went on some amazing hikes. Coming this late into the season we had to put up with some chilly nights, but we practically had the park to ourselves.

We barely scratched the surface of this park. Like Yellowstone, this park is huge! We stuck to the Valley area since there was plenty to do there and with the shuttle service we were able to leave our car parked for the duration of our stay. Since we paid for camping we figured we should save on gas.

More Pics at Free Wheel Drive

California Central Valley and Sierras Gay Travel Resources

Pennsbury Inn – Wilmington Area Gay Friendly Bed & Breakfast

May 13, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

Located just five minutes from Longwood Gardens and 10 minutes from Wilmington, DE, The Pennsbury Inn Bed & Breakfast is a lovely and comfortable country B&B in the Brandywine Valley, with seven sumptuous bedrooms and private baths, large living room with huge open fireplace, library, music room and private conference room on 8 acres of landscaped grounds.

Built mostly in 1714 and 1749 on land purchased from William Penn’s commissioners in 1681, the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

An historically prominent Bed & Breakfast in the heart of the Brandywine Valley offering exceptional accommodations.

The Pennsbury Inn is situated on eight acres of sculptured grounds bordered by woodland trails, offering privacy for special events such as wedding receptions, anniversary dinners, bridal showers, corporate meetings and catered parties. We are located in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, only minutes from Delaware and the city of Philadelphia.

See the Pennsbury Inn Expanded Listing on Purple Roofs Here

Philadelphia region Gay Friendly Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, and Vacation Rentals

Orlando Celebrates “Big Boy Pride”

May 13, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

One of the world’s smaller but more specific Pride celebrations came to Orlando, Florida, over the weekend. Big Boy Pride is the premier hangout for big guys of color each year.

Big Boy Pride is a party weekend organized by the Big Brothas Network – a social and networking not-for-profit organization aimed at ‘Urban debonair big men of color in the LGBT community and those who admire them.’

Co-organizers Tony Brown and Jay Torrence arranged the first Big Boy Pride in spring 2011. The men have continued to welcome big guys from around the US (and beyond). This year’s event ran 12-15 April at the Parliament House resort.

The theme? ‘A Deeper Love.’

By David Hudson – Full Story at Gay Star News

Orlando Gay Travel Resources