Peaches-n-Cream

I have been incredibly absent lately, but I figured what better way to come back than with a city adventure. I recently traveled to Atlanta, GA, my likely future home.

Atlanta is the largest city in the Southeastern United States (excluding Miami, but like I said before, I don’t consider FL a Southern state), a title once held by New Orleans, LA, and the gay capital of the South. Atlanta has to be one of the most welcoming and diverse cities in America. And it has everything you’d want in a large metropolis: great public transport, a diverse population, great restaurants, wonderful nightlife, and, best of all, Southern culture.

While there, I experienced a couple different restaurants. The first was The Flying Biscuit at 1001 Piedmont Ave. Technically a chain, but it has all the charm Midtown Atlanta has to offer. And great food. I definitely recommend the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus appetizer and the Georgia Peaches-n-Cream for dessert. And what better to eat Georgia?

The other restaurant we tried was Canton Cooks at 5984 Roswell Road Northeast. We were actually looking for another Chinese restaurant that the Urban Spoon app on my phone gave us, but we couldn’t find it. We stumbled upon Canton Cooks and were pleasantly surprised by the hours. While they’re closed on Wednesdays, they’re open until 2 am every other night of the week. And the food is amazing. They have a lot of the usual things you would expect at a Chinese restaurant, but in a less Americanized fashion. And there are tons of authentic choices. I would most definitely recommend it. And you can’t beat the prices. Very reasonable. Not to mention, it’s fun to relive the 1980’s in the decor.

Expect many more updates on Atlanta dining and attractions as it’s one of my favorite cities and not but a couple hours from my current location.

Lesbians & Softball

I haven’t kept up with this lately, but I’m gonna start back up. I’m gonna start back with a case of…well, I’m not quite sure what to call it.

I first heard about this yesterday through twitter, via the Commercial Appeal’s (our local paper here in Memphis) Twitter account. Then Nashville’s paper, The Tennessean picked it up, ans I saw it on their Twitter account. Then The Knoxville New Sentinel got it. Next thing I know, The Advocate’s Twitter has a story about the article. It hit the national level.

Bellevue Baptist Church (aka Fort God or Six Flags over Jesus), the church that I attended from the age of 5 until the age of 18, was in the news. Bellevue, for those of you not in the area, is a megachurch with about 30.000 members. Actually, I bet that number has dropped because of recent internal scandal, my generation’s disillusionment with the place having gone through all the things that happened there. From teen pregnancies that lead to suicide due to the staff’s inability to show compassion to sex scandals with church staff. But that’s beside the point. Big church, got it.

Being the size that it is, Bellevue has traditional had giant leagues that play nothing but other Bellevue teams. But, they had decided to open their adult softball league to non-Bellevue teams. There was another team that typically played in Bartlett (just north of the church) that had a lesbian coach and a few lesbians players. The team captain went to the interest meeting, paid the registration fee, and was all set for the season to start last week. Then the church called the coach to set up a meeting to discuss an issue they were having. In that meeting, the recreation minister said that they weren’t going to allow the team to play because their coach lead a “deviant lifestyle.” I’m guessing that they didn’t know there were a few lesbian players too, but that wasn’t covered in the article.

I think that is absolutely ridiculous. Everyone knows that, as a general rule, Southern Baptists are pretty well anti-gay anything. Big whoop. YOU’RE PLAYING SOFTBALL. What does it matter? There had already been rules set up for all the teams that there was to be no PDA and no clothing with inappropriate language on it. Sure, I can go for that. There could be kids around. But this was supposed to have been away for Bellevue to involve the greater Memphis community. Great way to start excluding people before you even get started.

One fo the articles brought up a great point. A big part of it is likely that Bellevue couldn’t stand the idea that some of it’s members might actually see happy, well-adjusted gays and lesbians living a normal life. And a big part of their platform againt homosexuality is that it’s abhorrent and that gay people aren’t capable of living a “normal” life. That’s what was pounded into my head for 13 years. It’s also what lead to 3 suicide attempts. And as I’ve realized while getting older, it’s a big reason I had such a problem telling even my best friend that I was gay. I had been conditioned that as soon as I opened my mouth about it, everyone would drop me and run, screaming, in the other direction. And it terrified me. But, I have yet to encounter that reaction. I’ve told 99% of the people I went to high school with, 1 cousin, my close friend’s parents all know, and no one has been anything but supportive. I know my own family is likely to be a different story, but I feel I have enough support to make it through whatever comes.

But this whole situation makes me angry. The idea of children still being treated the way that I was is infuriating! And didn’t Jesus teach that we should love everyone? And that murder is the same as a lie in the eyes of Jehovah? So, what is it that makes being gay such an atrocity? It just doesn’t add up.

I think a quote from Gandhi is the perfect way to end this: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Laissez Les Bon Temp Roulez!!!

I’ve been gone for a few days and apparently the queue decided not to work while I was gone, so I’ll fit in those posts in over the next few days.  I went down to the Big Easy…New Orleans, Louisiana.  New Orleans will be the topic for this post, but the trip in general will inspire a few days worth of material, I’m sure.
I guess I’ll start with some history.  New Orleans was founded May 7, 1718 and named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of France at the time.  After some swapping between the French and Spanish, it landed in French hands.  These cultures meeting on the banks of the Mississippi River are what resulted in the distinct style of architecture that make New Orleans so unique today.  At one point, New Orleans was actually the largest city in the South, but has since been eclipsed by Houston, Dallas (I consider Texas part of the New South, not the traditional), Atlanta, and Miami (though I don’t consider Florida a Southern state in any sense of the word, minus geography).
Today, New Orleans is a welcoming, progressive city, all while holding on to the distinctive Southern Charm.  The people of New Orleans are bright and smiling, a patchwork of various cultures, like the architecture of the city itself. New Orleans is an incredibly gay friendly city, especially it’s downtown and French Quarter districts.  You can’t throw a stone and not hit some kind of Gay Pride symbol of some sort in the latter.  Also the home of Jazz, you can’t go anywhere downtown and not hear a random brass band.  While I was there, I stayed in a converted French rowhouse near the corner of Rue Saint-Philippe and Bourbon.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  Here are a few photos.  The first few are from my phone, so I apologize for the quality, but they get better!
Our Rowhouse

Our Front Door

The Bungalow

The Bungalow Ceiling

The Courtyard





The Courtyard Kitty

And like I said, Gay Pride is everywhere!  It was actually a bit odd to be the majority at times.  But I liked it, lol.  And got used to it quickly.  After getting home, I felt a bit out of place for a while.
We only went to one club while in New Orleans, but we had a blast.  “Oz” is a gay club on the corner of Rue Dumaine and Bourbon, just a block from where we were staying.  It was a lot of fun!  It was pretty much a top 40 dance club with a tiny bit of off the charts music.  There were go-go boys as well, if you’re into that.  I’m not so much, but they were nice to look at.



My good friend (on the right) and I (on the left).


I would definitely recommend this club for a good time.  I’m not a huge club person, but I had a blast!  As always, the people were great and it’s open until the wee hours of the morning.
As far as other eateries, for a nice meal I recommend the French Market Restaurant at the corner of Rue Saint-Philippe and Rue Decatur.  The wait staff couldn’t have been a whole lot more professional or helpful.  The food was amazing and the chef has nightly specials.  They can be a bit pricey, but well worth it.  I had the most amazing seafood pasta dish I’ve ever had.

For a good diner meal or quick breakfast (with a wonderfully flamboyant staff) I The Clover Grill at the corner of Rue Bourbon and Rue Dumaine.  The jukebox was playing constantly, as if the banter of the staff wasn’t entertaining enough.  And the food was great.  It’s a small place, so there may be a little weight outside, but they get people in and out as quickly as possible.  I don’t think we ever waited more than 5 minutes or so and we ate there a couple different times.  And it’s  open 24 hours, you can get a little something to soak up the booze whatever time you may get done drinking…for the day.

A good Irish pub what you want?  Go to Flanagan’s Pub on Rue Saint-Philippe, between Rue Royale and Rue Chartres.  It’s open 24 hours, the staff was very friendly, and the drinks reasonable.
And of course, it’s not a trip to New Orleans without beignets at Cafe du Monde on Rue Decatur near Rue Sainte-Anne. Those little French pastries get me every time!

One place I’d stay away from would be The Corner Oyster Bar & Grill on the corner of Decatur and Rue Saint-Peter just southwest of St. Louis Cathedral.  I had an fried oyster poboy there and it wasn’t good.  I don’t think the oysters were cleaned properly and the tomatoes on it were spoiled, they tried to tell a friend of mine that they couldn’t make a frozen margarita with tequila in it, and our waitress was absentee.  When she wasn’t, she was pretty much a bitch.
One of the interesting things about New Orleans is that, at least in The French Quarter, there is no anti-open container law.  You can walk around and drink to your heart’s content.  That being said, there are open air bars where you can grab a giant daiquiri and keep on going.  Or do a few shots.



And last, but not least, here a few photos from our daily excursions.



St. Louis Cathedral

Joan d’Arc