My first Pride Experience
Cut because... well... not everyone cares lol
What a great time! Much to my surprise (and relief) the fangirly moments were kept to a minimum. Harmless stuff like ‘I got this at the set sale’, ‘Sharon is at Zelda’s’, ‘that guy looks like Gale Harold’ (hey, it was first thing in the morning and I was in need of both caffeine AND nicotine lol), and the moment we were walking by one of the beer gardens and the emcee announced ‘let’s here it for our next performer, Justin!’ Yeah, we all turned around at that lol.
Sasha had been staying with us for a few days so she, Kat and I took the train down to Toronto Friday night. We got to our hotel and Els was already there. From there we headed to a Thai place on Yonge for dinner. Just as we were finishing, Muskokagirl (Jen) and Mindy joined us. I’d never met Jen so that was cool. We went to Woody’s for a while, then headed down to one of the beer gardens. Had a good time in there and the Polar Ice guys were a lot of fun lol. Ok, 6.50 is a little much for a drink, but it was worth it to get the dance that came with it. ;) We left the beer garden and met up with Tone, Gypsy, Sunshine&Rage and MissBK. I’d been looking forward to meeting Tone and Gyps so that was cool. From there, we walked down Church and just took in the sights and talked to people. Then it was time to call it a night and we all split up and headed for our various destinations for the night.
Saturday, Kat, Sasha, Els and I went shopping at the Eaton’s Centre. Bought a few things. Nothing exciting. After that, we went back to Church St. and met up with Mindy, Jen, Dwayne (Jen’s brother) and Craig. Went to Woody’s, had a few drinks. We ended up meeting up at Zelda’s earlier than planned, but it turned out OK since no one showed up at 5 anyway lol. I think Tone and Gypsy were heading there later, but we’d already eaten by that point and they needed the table so some of us left. We were there for a couple of hours, though, and had a great time. Back out onto Church St. into the melee lol. We stopped in at Woody’s again, then Stacey (Gurl) called and we met up with her. We went to the same beer garden we were at the night before because Carol Pope was scheduled to perform. The Polar Ice guys weren’t as impressive that night, but we met a bunch of people and had a blast. Carol came on late, but she was good. I got a tall guy in front of me to take a pic and he got a really nice one of her. While it wasn’t ‘our’ version of High School Confidential, it was still great to hear her perform it and to sing along. Some in our group had never heard the original (gasp!). Some of us went to the Café California since Stacey hadn’t eaten yet. The others went across the street with Miss Pride London (aka Dwayne, Jen’s brother) to Club 501 (I think). We ate and they saw a drag show. After that, we met up and hung out for a bit before splitting up. Kat, Els, Sasha and I walked with Stacey to where she’d parked the car. Kat and I rode with her to the hotel and Els and Sasha walked. At the hotel, Stacey had to park in the joke of a parking garage and we pretty much called it a night from there.
Sunday, we started out with ‘breakfast’ at Country Style donuts. Then we walked down Yonge Street and ended up at an open-air market. The Trojan tent was giving out free condoms and lube so it was a very productive stop ;) I also found earrings to match my bracelet and necklace so that was cool. From there we wandered back down Church, stopping at some of the booths along the way and just generally people-watching. We headed back to the hotel around noon and got ready for the parade. We chose a spot just around the corner from our hotel on Yonge and Charles. Turned out to be a good spot since the gang beside us was armed with water guns and the folks on the roof above us had a sprinkler-type system in place to soak the people marching by as well as those of us standing below. It was MUCH appreciated though, since it kept us cool. It was also a lot of fun. They gave me one of their extra guns and we had a blast ‘defending’ our position lol. They told us that we’d have to leave the parade an hour early if we wanted to get in anywhere to eat, but we opted to stay for the duration. It was my first one! No way I was missing a second ;) Afterward, we stopped in at the hotel to dry off a bit and headed back to Church. We grabbed a slice of pizza from a street vendor and leisurely moved along with the crowd. We ended up taking a much needed break outside the beer garden and then we went around to Mick E. Flynn’s and went inside for a sit-down bite to eat. We were there for a while and I met some interesting people including a couple from Cuba and a girl who was overly obsessed with me and my hat lol. Stacey wanted a shower, so we walked back toward the hotel. We left her at the corner of Church and Charles and were just going to wander around a bit, but I whacked myself in the lip with my camera (don’t ask) and it turned into a quest for ice lol. I first got a cold washcloth from one of the hot pizza guys, but then a sympathetic girl a few booths down had ice and gladly gave me a piece. I’m walking down the street trying to keep my lip from swelling and we ended up in front of Woody’s and in the front of the line, no less lol. I told the bouncer-guy that I had an injury and he laughed and said ‘go on in and put a cold beer on that’. So we did ;) We hung out there for a while waiting for Stacey to call, but when she didn’t, we headed back to the hotel. Sasha, Els and Kat were ready to call it a night, but I was still going strong, so I twisted Stacey’s arm (yeah, right) and she got dressed and we headed back to Woody’s. We had to wait in line nearly an hour this time, but we got in around midnight. Even waiting in line was a lot of fun. We met up with ‘Aubrey the cowboy’ and a few other guys and had a hoot while we gradually made our way toward the door. Jon bought us a drink once we got inside and he and I danced a few songs while Stacey and Aubrey guy-watched lol. I went into the smoking room (Stacey refused to join me ) and I was in there enjoying the cooler air and the company for a bit. The next time I went in, she actually DID join me and realized that the smoking room is the cool place to be in more ways than one!! We actually met a guy with glasses even more bizarre than Stacey’s! (And I didn’t think it could be done ;) ) We partied in there for a while, then went out and sat in the front part of the bar and enjoyed the scenery for a bit. I think we left around two and made our way back to the room. Everyone was asleep when we got there, but I found out the next morning that they all overheard us looking at the pictures we’d taken and giggling like a couple of kids lol. Good times!
Alas, the next morning it was time to pack, say goodbye to Sasha and Stacey and head for the train station. Els came back with Kat and me and is staying with us until Thursday.
I know I left out a LOT of detail, but that’s it in a nutshell. It was a great time and I’m glad I got to meet some of the girls from the board that I hadn’t had a chance to meet previously. Thank goodness I got lots of pics!! :)
What a great time! Much to my surprise (and relief) the fangirly moments were kept to a minimum. Harmless stuff like ‘I got this at the set sale’, ‘Sharon is at Zelda’s’, ‘that guy looks like Gale Harold’ (hey, it was first thing in the morning and I was in need of both caffeine AND nicotine lol), and the moment we were walking by one of the beer gardens and the emcee announced ‘let’s here it for our next performer, Justin!’ Yeah, we all turned around at that lol.
Sasha had been staying with us for a few days so she, Kat and I took the train down to Toronto Friday night. We got to our hotel and Els was already there. From there we headed to a Thai place on Yonge for dinner. Just as we were finishing, Muskokagirl (Jen) and Mindy joined us. I’d never met Jen so that was cool. We went to Woody’s for a while, then headed down to one of the beer gardens. Had a good time in there and the Polar Ice guys were a lot of fun lol. Ok, 6.50 is a little much for a drink, but it was worth it to get the dance that came with it. ;) We left the beer garden and met up with Tone, Gypsy, Sunshine&Rage and MissBK. I’d been looking forward to meeting Tone and Gyps so that was cool. From there, we walked down Church and just took in the sights and talked to people. Then it was time to call it a night and we all split up and headed for our various destinations for the night.
Saturday, Kat, Sasha, Els and I went shopping at the Eaton’s Centre. Bought a few things. Nothing exciting. After that, we went back to Church St. and met up with Mindy, Jen, Dwayne (Jen’s brother) and Craig. Went to Woody’s, had a few drinks. We ended up meeting up at Zelda’s earlier than planned, but it turned out OK since no one showed up at 5 anyway lol. I think Tone and Gypsy were heading there later, but we’d already eaten by that point and they needed the table so some of us left. We were there for a couple of hours, though, and had a great time. Back out onto Church St. into the melee lol. We stopped in at Woody’s again, then Stacey (Gurl) called and we met up with her. We went to the same beer garden we were at the night before because Carol Pope was scheduled to perform. The Polar Ice guys weren’t as impressive that night, but we met a bunch of people and had a blast. Carol came on late, but she was good. I got a tall guy in front of me to take a pic and he got a really nice one of her. While it wasn’t ‘our’ version of High School Confidential, it was still great to hear her perform it and to sing along. Some in our group had never heard the original (gasp!). Some of us went to the Café California since Stacey hadn’t eaten yet. The others went across the street with Miss Pride London (aka Dwayne, Jen’s brother) to Club 501 (I think). We ate and they saw a drag show. After that, we met up and hung out for a bit before splitting up. Kat, Els, Sasha and I walked with Stacey to where she’d parked the car. Kat and I rode with her to the hotel and Els and Sasha walked. At the hotel, Stacey had to park in the joke of a parking garage and we pretty much called it a night from there.
Sunday, we started out with ‘breakfast’ at Country Style donuts. Then we walked down Yonge Street and ended up at an open-air market. The Trojan tent was giving out free condoms and lube so it was a very productive stop ;) I also found earrings to match my bracelet and necklace so that was cool. From there we wandered back down Church, stopping at some of the booths along the way and just generally people-watching. We headed back to the hotel around noon and got ready for the parade. We chose a spot just around the corner from our hotel on Yonge and Charles. Turned out to be a good spot since the gang beside us was armed with water guns and the folks on the roof above us had a sprinkler-type system in place to soak the people marching by as well as those of us standing below. It was MUCH appreciated though, since it kept us cool. It was also a lot of fun. They gave me one of their extra guns and we had a blast ‘defending’ our position lol. They told us that we’d have to leave the parade an hour early if we wanted to get in anywhere to eat, but we opted to stay for the duration. It was my first one! No way I was missing a second ;) Afterward, we stopped in at the hotel to dry off a bit and headed back to Church. We grabbed a slice of pizza from a street vendor and leisurely moved along with the crowd. We ended up taking a much needed break outside the beer garden and then we went around to Mick E. Flynn’s and went inside for a sit-down bite to eat. We were there for a while and I met some interesting people including a couple from Cuba and a girl who was overly obsessed with me and my hat lol. Stacey wanted a shower, so we walked back toward the hotel. We left her at the corner of Church and Charles and were just going to wander around a bit, but I whacked myself in the lip with my camera (don’t ask) and it turned into a quest for ice lol. I first got a cold washcloth from one of the hot pizza guys, but then a sympathetic girl a few booths down had ice and gladly gave me a piece. I’m walking down the street trying to keep my lip from swelling and we ended up in front of Woody’s and in the front of the line, no less lol. I told the bouncer-guy that I had an injury and he laughed and said ‘go on in and put a cold beer on that’. So we did ;) We hung out there for a while waiting for Stacey to call, but when she didn’t, we headed back to the hotel. Sasha, Els and Kat were ready to call it a night, but I was still going strong, so I twisted Stacey’s arm (yeah, right) and she got dressed and we headed back to Woody’s. We had to wait in line nearly an hour this time, but we got in around midnight. Even waiting in line was a lot of fun. We met up with ‘Aubrey the cowboy’ and a few other guys and had a hoot while we gradually made our way toward the door. Jon bought us a drink once we got inside and he and I danced a few songs while Stacey and Aubrey guy-watched lol. I went into the smoking room (Stacey refused to join me ) and I was in there enjoying the cooler air and the company for a bit. The next time I went in, she actually DID join me and realized that the smoking room is the cool place to be in more ways than one!! We actually met a guy with glasses even more bizarre than Stacey’s! (And I didn’t think it could be done ;) ) We partied in there for a while, then went out and sat in the front part of the bar and enjoyed the scenery for a bit. I think we left around two and made our way back to the room. Everyone was asleep when we got there, but I found out the next morning that they all overheard us looking at the pictures we’d taken and giggling like a couple of kids lol. Good times!
Alas, the next morning it was time to pack, say goodbye to Sasha and Stacey and head for the train station. Els came back with Kat and me and is staying with us until Thursday.
I know I left out a LOT of detail, but that’s it in a nutshell. It was a great time and I’m glad I got to meet some of the girls from the board that I hadn’t had a chance to meet previously. Thank goodness I got lots of pics!! :)