Dore Alley 2023
Unlike last year in which some guys skipped Dore Alley because of waning pandemic and Monkeypox scare, this year’s was back to pre-pandemic levels. Also this year, my leather family from Wisconsin joined me for the first time, and it was also their first time visiting San Francisco too. They took an Amtrak California Zephyr train from Chicago all the way to Emeryville, CA from July 25-28 with a combined 6-hour delays. They ended up arriving at the BEI San Francisco hotel (which I booked again) on Friday night while I arrived by plane the following morning. Here’s how things went July 29-31.
I overslept by 20 minutes after 4am Saturday morning. I quickly got my stuff ready, said goodbye to mom, and dad drove me over to YVR. I had a chicken wrap mom made me for breakfast. I talked to my father about how the summer scrub was going up to that point. I made it to YVR before 5:30am. After saying goodbye, I dropped my luggage off with United and did screening. Shoes had to come off again. Grr. US customs was easy. I picked up a bottle of Smartwater and waited at Gate E77. I volunteered my carry-on to be picked up in SFO. We departed 7am and I sat in seat 26B. I nodded off slightly at first, and then watched an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series on my Netflix app. We arrived earlier than scheduled, sometime after 9am. I grabbed my bags and took the AirTram to the BART station. I first put funds on my Clipper card for the weekend. I bought two more Clipper cards for $3 each and put $20 on them for both Michael & Donovan. I paid with my credit card and while I paid the first card no problem, the second wouldn’t process my card and though my card was frozen. I called Visa and they said there was no decline on my card and they got the first two transactions on record (my refill and one new card). I tried a couple more times on the machine and still nothing. I then tried another machine and lo and behold, it worked! I thanked Visa and hung up. I then took a yellow line train to Civic Center/UN Plaza, I believe it was $10 per way. I departed at 10:13am and arrived at Civic 10:39am. I exited at 8th and Mission and walked one block to BEI. I got my keycard from the front desk and entered room 427, being greeted inside by Michael & Donovan. After I set my stuff down and sat for a bit, I gave them each their loaded Clipper cards. We then went out so I could take them to Castro Street. We took a Muni streetcar on Market to the Castro. We arrived about 11:30am and they saw the world’s largest original rainbow pride flag. First stop was an early lunch at The Cove. It was nice to return there after a few years. I had a turkey club sandwich and a small cup of chicken noodle soup. We enjoyed our first meal together and Donovan paid for us.
We then walked around the Castro and our first stop was the sex shop I've been to before and I picked up a Bear Pride flag sticker. We did a quick stop in a nice antique shop called Brand X Antiques, but they didn’t have what Donovan was looking for. We went into a few other shops, ones I’ve been to before, including Queer Arts Featured (where the original Castro Camera was). One I haven’t been to for awhile was Auto Erotica on 18th. Didn’t buy anything, but they had a good selection of old issues of Drummer and Bear magazines. Donovan stopped into the Starbucks across the street to go to the washroom. We soon went into Walgreens to get drinks. They had Dr. Peppers and I had a Pepsi Zero Sugar, which was tasty. Toward the end, I got a cigar from a smoke shop while Michael & Donovan each got a large cookie from Hot Cookies. They also wanted to get pictures of the Castro Theater sign, given how iconic it was.
We took a Muni streetcar back to Market and walked all the way down to Leather Etc., but with a small stop in Out of the Closet - Folsom. We spent about 15 minutes at Leather Etc. which interested Michael & Donovan. I saw a nice red leather tie that piqued my interest. Donovan and I checked their leather collars and found that their largest size of (I think) 24 inches was all that they had. It does fit Donovan’s thick neck, but on the last buckle. Since the custom collar from Wolfstryker Leather haven't arrived since IML yet, we kept it in mind as we wanted to go to Mr. S Leather and see if they had what we were looking for. We walk to it and find a long line up to get in. I dropped my camera bag off and we got in line on Harrison Street. It went pretty quickly, about a 20-minute wait. Inside, it had all the crowds and public sucking & fucking that goes around. We couldn’t find a collar big enough and was told that a custom size would take 2 weeks. Both Michael & Donovan made some purchases while I didn’t buy anything this time. We returned to Leather Etc. and Donovan bought that black leather collar (as I bought the custom collar.) I bought the red leather tie and I think Michael put in a custom order for something. Walking back up on 8th Street, we stopped into Harvest Urban Market to pick up some water, including a jug of distilled water for all our CPAP machines (they had a jug for the trip, but it was over half used so buying one now meant they could take it with them for the trip home.) We returned to the hotel at 5pm and relaxed for over an hour.
I decided that we try out a Vietnamese place a few blocks away called Miss Saigon, on the corner of Mission and 6th. I wanted to go back to 7 Mission Restaurant, but it closes at 7:30pm. We arrived at Miss Saigon before 7pm. Michael & Donovan shared spring rolls as an appetizer. Thankfully, there was a prawn dish Michael could have that didn’t have onion in it (allergic), which he liked. I had Pho Tai - delicious as usual! I forgot what Donovan had. But it was a good place overall and I paid for the meal.
We walked back on Mission and soon got ready in our room to go to the SF Eagle. I wore my BLUF gear and decided to try on the red leather tie (despite my jodhpurs having light blue stripes on the sides, but I didn’t care) with my uniform shirt and it looked pretty good. With my jacket on, it looked better. We went outside and waited for a number 9 bus on Market. It was cold and windy that night and I was the only one wearing a jacket! The bus was delayed for some reason that we decided I should call a Lyft and take it to the Eagle. I had to agree so I did just that, arriving at the bar by 10:15pm. After being carded outside the entrance, we were shocked to find that the cover charge inside the entrance was $20 per person! WTF Eagle? Past years it was $10! We paid begrudgingly.
The inside of the bar was pretty warm that I was beginning to sweat a bit. In the outer area, it was nicer and not as cold due to the contained space and crowd of men around. I saw LthrPDX and a friend of his and took some pictures. Luis was there with his partner too. I’d say there were around 10 BLUF men in bar. I went around and snapped some pictures of the patrons, but not as much as previous years. I had my cigar at 11pm, having it cut and lit up by a friend of Luis. Since Donovan couldn’t stand cigar smoke, I let Donovan browse around and later chat with a guy that was interested in him. The two large back doors were open, allowing us to go to the outside front of the bar and get a little extra air. I had some pictures of me taken smoking the cigar and proceeded to take pictures of a couple more leathermen. I took pictures of LthrPDX and his friend again, finishing off my cigar in the process. It was actually a decent cigar, good size and not too bitter. It was time for us to go, so we said our goodbyes to a few guys. We ended up missing our bus back to Market that we ended up walking all the way back to the hotel. Michael & Donovan were especially exhausted. After we got naked, we all went to bed after 1am. I slept well.
We got out of bed after 9am. I had a shower and put on regular clothes since we weren’t going far for breakfast. Another place I haven’t been to in years ( since 2018) was SAMS American Eatery nearby on Market. I had Chicken and waffles. It was pretty good, but the waffle portion should have been a little better. I paid for us. We then went to a Walgreens nearby so Michael could get sunscreen. He also picked up drinks for he and Donovan too. We then took a Muni streetcar back to the Castro so they could go to a US Bank ATM and get money out. We then took the streetcar back to the hotel and geared up. I wore my black latex shirt, leather pants, gauntlets and gloves, Chippewas, and Muir cap. I collared and leashed Donovan with the collar he bought the previous day and with the leash he brought from home. I should point out that Donovan's stipulation for attending Dore Alley is that he wanted me to collar and leash him for the Fair. Well, we both got what we wanted lol! All three of us used the sunscreen Michael got. I put a small amount on the back of my neck and on my arms. I didn’t want it touching the latex just in case it could damage it. After we were done, we took a bus on 8th outside the hotel to go south a few blocks to Folsom and went into Dore Alley Fair. We gave them a donation (any amount was fine with them) which got us stickers.
We walked together and I took pictures of the various men. Next to no one took pictures of us, sadly. Michael got us drinks near where the bootblacks were, thankfully. I saw boy Zander and set up a bootblack shine with him. Until then, we continued walking around, separated from Michael for awhile. My leather pants were absorbing the sweat from my latex shirt.
Later on, boy Zander did my boots and I gave him a $10 tip. Before leaving, I bought a few pins from Geeky and Kinky. They had these rainbow Starfleet pins from Star Trek and a rainbow Tardis from Doctor Who. The Tardis pin will be a gift to Daddy Eric. We left the Fair after 4pm. Before returning to the hotel, we stopped back into Leather Etc. so Donovan could get a custom pair of leather shorts made and shipped. Back outside, I took my latex shirt off to release the sweat I had trapped. We walked back to hotel as transit was not available where we were. We relaxed back in the room and Michael showered. My pants were seeping sweat out that I tried to dry it on the room air conditioner. We dressed back in our regular clothes for dinner and left the room about 6:30pm to take the bus to Grubstake.
The experience was a little better than last year: there was a waiter and we can request regular menus instead of using our phones though we had to pay immediately after ordering from the menus, which I paid. I had a French Dip, Michael a nice sized burger, and Donovan a Philly Cheesesteak. We took the bus back to the hotel to decide on what we were going to do: go to the Lone Star and/or Eagle again. We decided on the Lone Star to start at least. I wore my sweaty leather pants again, though a little of it dried by then, and also my Wesco Highliners. I kept my t-shirt on, but wore my jacket, gloves, and Muir cap. We took a Lyft to the Lone Star Saloon though I accidentally had us go to the Eagle. It was a small walk anyways.
Getting to the bar, we were greeted inside with a $10 cover, which was double the price from last year. Sigh. Michael paid, thankfully. Unlike barely any patrons last year, there were more people this year but still not a lot. Michael and I saw and sat next to the woofy Mr. Delaware Bear titleholder in the outside back section whom both of us saw at the Fair earlier. He had more interest in Michael than me though he was more infatuated with this cub friend he was with. Donovan stayed in the inner bar and after being bored and celibate from the playing going around me, I joined him in the bar for a bit. Soon after I saw Daddy Scott come into the bar and after some initial greetings, he went to the back of the bar where Michael was. I followed soon after. Daddy had me pull his pierced nipples hard and soon after, Michael blew him. I soon went in and sat next to Donovan again. I was thirsty and the nice bartender gave me my diet coke for free. Later back outside in the back, I met a hot Leatherdaddy from Palm Springs who organizes cigar socials. The three of us left at 11:20pm and we took a Lyft from the Eagle back. Michael & Donovan did some packing as they had to leave in the morning to take a bus to their train (or so they thought…). We went to bed by 1am.
They got up at 7am to do final packing and showering. I thanked them for making the trip all the way to San Francisco and was glad they had a great time. We said our goodbyes and that we will see each other in just over two weeks back in Wisconsin. I went back to bed to sleep in for a few hours more. Before I got up, Donovan left a text message that he got the time wrong and that they got to Emeryville around nine hours too early (they would later be delayed too)! Not much could be done about it, but it was a major bummer. I got out of bed after 11pm and showered. I finished packing and checked out just after 12 noon. I still had six hours until my flight, so I left my bags in the hotel storage room and walked east along Market to a Carl’s Jr. I had a decent but expensive meal: bacon & Swiss chicken sandwich, diet Dr. Pepper, waffle fries, and a cheesecake. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped into a Metro T-Mobile store that I knew was around. I decided to buy a SIM card for my upcoming US trip this month, like what I did last year. I arrived back to the hotel lobby after 1pm and chilled around on my phone. I texted pupbear Kevin in Montreal for a bit (I found that he was receiving and replying to my texts via the new number) and I couldn’t get a hold of Eugene in Spokane. After 2pm, I grabbed my bags and lugged them down into Civic Center Station. I took BART back to SFO Airport. I walked to Terminal 3, dropped my bag off with United, and proceeded to PreTSA screening. It was immediate and I was done with security in 5 minutes all together. I then bought a refillable bottle of Smartwater and waited at Gate E4 for over two hours, working on my laptop. There was a small delay on my flight for about 40 minutes for some reason, even though our plane had arrived on time, and everyone was off. It was just before 7pm when I reached boarding. I was supposed to sit in 25B but when I got to the ticketing counter and my boarding pass was scanned, the agent tore it up and issued me a new one that had me in 14C, which was much better! We had a nice Boeing 737 plane with great seat screens and large overhead bins that there was plenty of room to put my carry-on and laptop bag. We departed after 7pm for the just-shy 2-hour flight north. I just watched a couple episodes of Star Trek: TOS and we landed in YVR at 9:07pm. I found that the SIM card I got at T-Mobile wouldn’t work in Canada and I would have to rely on the airport’s free Wi-Fi to get a hold of my father through my paid Skype account. Customs was easy though while waiting for my luggage, we were approached by a different customs officer to see our passports and do an interview. WTF? Didn’t we just go through this? Whatever. I got my luggage and then called my father via Skype to pick me up. I watched most of an episode of Star Trek and we got home by around 10:30pm.
As of this writing, Michael and Donovan have not arrived home yet. I think they are travelling through North Dakota or Minnesota. Around Portland, OR Michael had to be hospitalized as he consumed a dish that contained onion in it. He was dehydrating and throwing up. Thankfully he is doing much better now and was able to continue the trip home with Donovan.
From this year’s experience of Dore Alley, I believe there is a good chance that I will have Knights Gathering there next year and I want to invite as many bear and leatherbuds as possible. I had a great time with Michael and Donovan. It was fun playing host and guide for their first visit to the city. It was an expensive weekend though and I will have to save up for next year to prepare better.
