Philadelphia - Purple Roofs

Queer Philadelphia – Windy City Times

December 30, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

Mention Philadelphia, and most people seem to think of two things: Philly steaks and history.

Regarding the latter, there are so many well-known places and items, including the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and many more. However, the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection has much more to offer, as this writer discovered during a recent visit—including historical spots that may not be as familiar.

Getting around—and a special tour

When traveling to a large or even mid-size city, one of the best ways to find out where to visit is to take a tour—and The Big Bus Company and Philadelphia Trolley Tours ( 5th and Market streets; PhillyTour.com ) provide the ideal, um, vehicle to do so.

By Andrew Davis – Full Story at Windy City Times

Philadelphia Gay Travel Resources

Queer Philadelphia – Passport Magazine

September 20, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

It’s all sorts of star-studded in Philly tonight. John Waters mills about the lobby of the Wilma Theater, on Center City’s Avenue of the Arts, having just witnessed the world premiere of choreographer/director/dancer Bill T. Jones’ contemporary opera, We Shall Not Be Moved. The visually dazzling production bravely revisits a shameful moment in Philadelphia’s modern history, the 1985 police bombing of a West Philly row house occupied by members of black separatist group MOVE, which resulted in six deaths, many injuries, and a neighborhood consumed by flames. The opera is a fictitious account of an interracial clique of orphaned teens including a transgender male, seeking shelter in that now haunted building.

Addressing race, queerness, class disparity, police-citizen relations, and identity, it’s a profound work, presented jointly by Opera Philadelphia’s inaugural Festival O (www.operaphila.org/festival) and the concurrent Fringe Arts (www.fringearts.com).

Following its phenomenally successful 2017 edition, the second Festival O will take place September 20-30, 2018, and it’s but one of the fresh, delightfully queer developments making this ever-evolving City of Brotherly Love a repeat destination for many travelers.

The 22nd FringeArts, which encompasses about 1,000 events over 17 days at their five-year-old home venue on Delaware River Waterfront (which includes a 240-seat performance space and La Peg, a brasserie/beer garden), as well as at spaces throughout the city, runs from September 6-22, 2018.

Dense with vibrant, edgy productions from around the world and by homegrown talent alike, keep an eye out for anything by Philadelphia choreographer-performer Gunnar Montana (www.gunnarmontana.com). His way-gay, episodic “Kink Haus” was a 2017 standout thanks to sensual, edgy, and humorous vignettes featuring agile and attractive men, women, and those who blurred the distinction, plus Cirque du Soleil–level acrobatics.

By Lawrence Ferber – Full Story at Passport

Philadelphia 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

Gay Philadelphia – The Hornet

February 23, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth

Philadelphia, founded in 1682, played a significant role in shaping America. This city was where the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. From there, Philadelphia became one of the leading industrial cities during the 19th century. Today, the City of Brotherly Love continues to thrive. There’s also quite a lot to explore in gay Philadelphia, as the city has one of the nation’s most vibrant LGBTQ neighborhoods known as the Gayborhood.

There are a total of 67 national landmarks in Philadelphia. You can spend a whole week just sightseeing! The Liberty Bell, the most iconic American symbol, is a great place to start your tour. Find it at the Liberty Bell Center (oddly enough) in Independence National Historical Park.

The Betsy Ross House, several blocks away from the Liberty Bell, is a tiny museum and a landmark where the seamstress and flagmaker Betsy Ross lived when she sewed the first American flag. Take a tour of the house and relive the days of how Ross lived.

The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is a must-visit place for fans of his work. This house, the only surviving residence of Poe, is in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia. Check out different rooms while savoring Poe’s famous works like “The Raven” during the tour.

By Charles Thompson-Wang – Full Story at The Hornet

Philadelphia Gay Travel Resources

Enchanting, Lesbian Philadelphia – Windy City

May 19, 2017 by J. Scott Coatsworth

Philadelphia, the nation’s fourth largest city, feels vibrant, its walls covered in more than 3,500 murals, its narrow streets buzzing with excitement—and traffic. Streets can be packed with nightlife at two in the morning, but it feels rather like a carnival than an annoyance.

Despite the traffic, bicycles abound in lesbian Philadelphia. The Indego system—a bike share like Chicago’s Divvy—only costs $4 per half-hour ride. As long as you accept that the streets only have numbers sometimes, the grid system is easy to follow, and in the corners of the city you’ll find charming squares with sculptures, trees and benches. Staying in a Kimpton Hotel means you get free bike rental, though, as long as you return by sundown. The Hotel Palomar, in the middle of Center City, has a funky rock ‘n’ roll groove to it and personable, helpful staff who might offer you champagne at check-in.

When thinking about lesbian Philadelphia, art is not the first thing that comes to mind. Yet within a half-mile of each other exist the Philadelphia Museum of Art, home of the picturesque rocky steps, its smaller offshoot the Rodin Museum, and the Barnes Foundation. The Rodin Museum is a beautiful small repository of the sculptor’s works, including The Gates of Hell, one of his masterpieces.

The Barnes Foundation, a treasure trove of impressionism, is notable for staying true to its collector’s vision, despite a controversial move from the outskirts of town to the city itself—and for its utter lack of signage. Instead, visitors absorb the art with sly hints Barnes installed by the work, metal objects like keys and ladles indicating fundamental shapes in the painting below. It’s an unusual and ultimately incredibly rewarding way to view these priceless works, and is a must-see experience for an art lover.

By Liz Baudler – Full Story at Windy City

Philadelphia Gay Travel Resources

Gay Philadelphia: The Rodin Museum

May 7, 2016 by J. Scott Coatsworth

Rodin Museum - Philadelphia Gay Philadelphia is home to some amazing museums. We visited one of them while we were there – the Rodin (pronounced “roh-daan”) museum. Most of us are familiar with Rodin’s “The Thinker” – a seated man with his head on his fist, deep in thought. When we found out that “The Thinker” was there at the Philadelphia Rodin Museum, we were excited. How often do you get to see such an iconic piece of art first-hand? Then we learned a little more about the casting process. A sculptor like Rodin makes the original mold in his studio, and then creates or licenses a certain number of copies, or “casts”, that can be made with it. The Philadelphia museum opened in 1929, and many of the sculptures were cast around that date. But Auguste Rodin died in 1917. So most of the works we saw were actually made by others, using the molds Rodin created. It’s strange, thinking that the actual art in front of you was not created by the man whose name is on it. It’s also strange knowing it’s not the only copy. “The Thinker”, for instance, comes in several sizes. The largest of these has 28 copies scattered around the world. And there are more of the smaller version. When you go to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, you are seeing the one and only copy of DaVinci’s masterpiece. It’s a singular experience, by nature. Still, seeing so many of Rodin’s casts in one place is an amazing thing – it’s the second largest collection of his work, outside of Paris.

Philadelphia Gay Travel Resources

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Gay Philadelphia: The Views!

May 6, 2016 by J. Scott Coatsworth

Gay Philadelphia - views Whenever we visit a new city, we like to find a great place to see the views. In Philadelphia, surprisingly, this is the gorgeous, recently restored City Hall. Tickets to the Observation Deck were cheap – just $6 when we were there. You have to get a ticket in advance – they go up every 15 minutes – and you can either call the visitor center at City Hall at (215) 686-2840, or you can stop by. It’s a bit tricky to find. City Hall is massive. We started at the entrance at the southeastern corner of the building, where you go through a security check – but that was the wrong place. To find the visitor center, start on the south side, where Broad Street runs into the building. Enter through the main walkway. The visitor center will be on your right in the tunnel just before you reach the courtyard. We were waylaid a bit by a last-minute VIP who wanted to see the view (eliciting grumbles from the staff) but we did eventually make it to the top. It was well worth the cost.

Philadelphia Gay Travel Resources

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Gay Philadelphia: Public Art

May 4, 2016 by J. Scott Coatsworth

One of the things we absolutely loved about our visit to gay Philadelphia in October was the amazing amount of public art – murals and statues and the like. Of course, we had to get a photo of the famous “Love” sculpture – and did you know there’s one in Spanish too? But there is so much more to see scattered throughout the downtown core. One plaza is covered in giant pieces from various board games we loved as children. And walls all over the city are plastered with gorgeous murals, including the LGBT one on the side of the Center. Here are some of our favorites! <

Philadelphia Gay Travel Resources

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Gay Philadelphia: Elfreth's Alley

May 2, 2016 by J. Scott Coatsworth

Elfreth's Alley Late last year, we visited gay Philadelphia. It was our first time in this amazing, diverse city, and we’re just finally getting around to sharing it with y’all. One of our favorite things in the city was Elfreth’s Alley. It’s a tiny, one-block section of the city, tucked away om the east side close to the Delaware River. The whole city sits between the Delaware and the Schuylkill Rivers, one to the East and the other to the West. Elfreth’s Alley is fascinating. It’s called the “nation’s oldest residential street.” The street was created in 1702, and the houses there date from 1728 to 1806. The houses on the south side of the street were built under British occupation, and are shorter than the others and fly British flags. The ones on the north side were built after the Revolution, and are taller, with American flags. If you look closely, you can see little metal emblems on many of the houses. At the time, you had to pay for fire protection, and the company you chose would put their emblem on your house. Just so they didn’t accidentally save a house that hadn’t been paid for. We took our tour of historic Philadelphia with an outfit called Urban Tours. The guide there was friendly and very knowledgeable, and actually lived in the neighborhood. Elfreth’s Alley is a really cool place to see and take pictures the next time you’re in Philly.]]>

Guide to Philadelphia Neighborhoods

April 23, 2016 by J. Scott Coatsworth

As someone who’s lived in Philadelphia for over a decade now, there’s one thing I can tell you with no hesitation: it’s a city of neighborhoods. While of course this applies to just about any city, it’s particularly marked in Philadelphia, where a few minutes’ stroll can bring you to a totally different atmosphere. Of course, there are things that united the city into a cohesive whole, including its combination of history and modernity, the gay-friendly quality that consistently lands it at the top of rankings by LGBT groups, and the immensely walkable nature of the “Center City” area, which is where we’ll spend most of our time. Set between two rivers, and only thirty blocks wide and about ten blocks long, with numbered streets going north/south and (mostly) tree-named streets east/west, the Philadelphia’s center city is a paradise for walkers. So let’s go on a tour of the City of Brotherly and Sisterly love, neighborhood by neighborhood. I think you’ll like the things we discover. I’m just sayin’.

The Gayborhood: At the Heart of Things

We’ll start, of course, in the Gayborhood (aka Midtown Village), which is geographically as well as thematically a great place to begin, as it’s pretty much in the heart of Center City. For our purposes, we’ll call the Gayborhood the district from 10th to Broad Streets (Broad is the equivalent of 14th), and Market down to Pine. It’s here that you’ll find almost all the LGBT nightlife, and one of the most pleasant neighborhoods in the city. Good news: you can stay right in the Gayborhood. For convenience and appeal, I love Alexander Inn, a boutique hotel at Spruce and 12th that couldn’t be more perfectly located. Add to that Alexander’s nice rooms, super-helpful staff, and great breakfast buffet in their cozy living room, and what we have here is a winner. On the edge of the neighborhood, Loews Hotel, built in America’s first skyscraper, offers the style and friendliness we’ve come to associate with Loews.

By Rich Rubin – Full Story at Passport

Philadelphia Gay Travel Resources

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