Trippin’?

A change of scenery will do me good

by j. brotherlove

A good way for shaking a rut is to take a trip, right? I have a free airline ticket that will expire at the end of May (I think it’s still free; need to check on that). I’d originally planned to visit New York City to soak in the place meet and greet some folk (having missed the last meetup). NYC hotel prices have pretty much canned that idea, for now. I can’t justify (or afford, quite frankly) those kinds of prices. And there are certain basics I need in a hotel room that apparently equate to “luxury items” in The Big Apple.

So far, I’ve eschewed the popular Black Gay “circuit/pride” destinations (Houston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Miami, San Juan, etc.) I’ve evaluated the necessary expense with my probable experience and haven’t felt compelled to go that route. Those aren’t bad events. But, they are pretty much “same folk, different city” from my experience. I desire something different.

If I was really jazzy, I’d pack up my passport (after uh, acquiring a passport) and hop a plane to London, Rome, or one of the beautiful cities in Spain my orkut “friends” keep mentioning (must delete that profile). Alas, I am not that jazzy.

The new, tentative plan is to visit my hometown, Chicago. BQM has been championing that idea. I’m long overdue and can’t wait to see how the city and my old friends have changed. I just learned that Marshall Field’s is no more. WTF? Marshall Field’s was at the heart of the city. Next thing I know, Al’s Italian Beef, Giordano’s Pizza and Garrett Popcorn will be gone.

To visit NYC, have you looked at hotels in Jersey City, NJ? If you can find a decent room at a hotel close to a PATH station(it’s like a subway), a round trip to NY will only cost $3.00. The best one would probably be the Ramada Inn near the Journal Square station.

Thanks, Tawanna. A buddy of mine just did that very same thing after running into NYC hotel prices. She said it was very easy to get back and forth. I’ll look into it.

Travel? What is that? Is that where you actually leave home and visit some other locale? LOL My travel experiences have been non-existent since I hit Vegas for my birthday last year. Hitting some of the prides would be cool, but I’m content to just get out of dodge for a few days. Somewhere close (and cheap) like Chicago is looking mighty good.