Dore Alley 2019
My third trip to San Francisco to Dore Alley was kind of a repeat of the first year. One major difference is that Daddy Eric didn’t join me this time. I don’t know why as of this writing. But it wasn’t the end - a local Daddybear from Burnaby, David, joined me to share the weekend. It was his first time to Dore Alley so what Daddy Eric did for me to enjoy my first couple of times, I tried to do for David. This took place July 26-29.
I left work at 3:30pm on Friday afternoon to get a head start on getting home. After a quick but small gas fill up, I was home by 4:30pm. We still had some time left but most of my stuff was packed and ready to go. My mom made a couple of chicken sandwiches and I ate them when we departed from home after 5pm. On the way north to the Massey Tunnel, there was major gridlock and we were stuck for half an hour. It didn’t make sense since rush hour traffic was going south. I arrived at YVR by 6:15pm and thanked my father for the ride (later he said that going back home was easier). I checked in and dropped off my luggage with Air Canada. I took the NEXUS line for screening and customs and it was easy and quick. My flight departed on time at 7:45pm and I texted David to let him know I was on my way (he got an earlier flight and was already at the hotel). I sat in 24A and watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on my seat screen. I thought it was pretty good and entertaining. We landed before 10pm at SFO but had to wait half an hour to taxi to the gate as another plane was still occupying it! I texted David and let him know. After I got my luggage, I found my reserved BART ticket couldn’t be retrieved at the information booth as the person who handles it was off for the night. So, I had to purchase one at the machine and while I was at it, I put $20 on my Clipper card that I got 2 years ago. I ended up missing the BART train so had to wait almost 20 minutes for another one. I took the Antioch bound train to Civic Station and emerged outside on Market. I then walked south on 7th Street to the Carriage Inn, the hotel I chose for this year. While David put the deposit on his card, I confirmed my reservation and got my key card. I noticed all rooms had the signs of famous celebrities, playwrights, authors, etc. Immediately from the 3rd floor elevator was Robin Williams, near us was Oscar Wilde, somewhere on the 4th floor was Armistead Maupin (the ice machine was on that floor), and so forth. We were staying in 311 but I forgot which person it was we were ascribed to. I got in and said hi to David who was watching TV. He had bought a few bottles of water, a couple of cheesy snacks, and a jug of distilled water -as per my request- from the nearby CVS Pharmacy. I set my stuff down and played with him a bit. I noticed he had a muir cap which he told me he bought at Mr. S Leathers over a few hours ago. It looked very hot on him! I got onto the Wi-Fi and while it does work, it isn’t very fast. I went to bed after 1am.
I slept okay and managed to get some deep sleep with a little tossing and turning thrown in. I played with Daddy David a bit and then got up at 10:30am. After a shower and dressing up, we took an Uber to Market and Castro, revisiting it after 2 years. Since Daddy Eric took me to The Cove, I decided we should have brunch there. It was the same as before, but we enjoyed ourselves. I had a Turkey BLT with fries, and it was as good as I remembered it. I put the bill on my Visa and David gave me his portion with tip. We then walked down the Castro and checked some shops, including a couple of sex shops. Crossing to the other side and going back up, we walked east on 18th Street -where Daddy Eric went to Starbucks previous- and stopped into a used porn shop (I think it was near the “Moby Dick” pub). I looked at some old issues of Drummer magazine but found nothing related to bear-related porn. Nearby, I bought a cigar at a cigar shop too. We returned to Castro and I checked out that used book shop that had the huge Little Nemo comic collection book but could no longer find it. Ah well. We continued back up to Market and had a quick drink at Twin Peaks Tavern, which was on the corner. We then took an Uber to Mr. S Leathers so I could shop around. The coat and bag check were different than previous years as there was some kind of beer garden or something going on outside. A small lineup was for the check and/or buying a drink so you could go into the fenced off area. I dropped off my camera bag and included David’s jacket too. We spent about 15 minutes in the shop as not much has changed from last year. There was no sling around so no free ass-pounding show for guys to watch (maybe someone complained?). David showed me something interesting: replacement laces for Wesco boots! I told him earlier about the boots I bought at last year’s Rubbout swap meet but the laces were a little too small. I looked on the official Wesco website and found that if I want to get replacement laces that were longer than the original ones, they HAD to be shipped to my home as they won’t ship outside where your credit card’s billing address is! So even if I wanted to send them to an American bear buddy of mine to save on shipping costs, they won’t do it! The shipping costs to Canada are outrageous so I foregone it. But what Mr. S Leathers had was reasonably priced, so I bought a couple of Wesco replacement laces (in the same colour, gold/brown - tan). David bought a couple of metal cockrings. Before we retrieved our stuff at the coat check, we went across to Leather Etc. and spent about 25 minutes. I was interested in this pale blue leather shirt and while there was one in my size, it was a little pricey at $270 (about $300 with tax, it would be $400 Cdn!). David bought something but don’t recall what it was.
He then took me to the Lone Star Saloon, which I’ve never been to before (Shame! Shame!). I needed a washroom break and while on the toilet, I got a phone call from Kevin of Fresno. After I was done my messy business, I joined David in the back door outside area - an area I know some bear porn was shot in the past LOL! He got me a coke and we spent about half an hour before leaving. There weren’t many guys around for some reason. We then picked up my camera and his jacket back at the coat check. On the way back to the hotel, we walked to a convenience store for David to pick up a bottle of vodka and an orange drink to do a mix (I think I've been to this same small shop before). We returned to the hotel and after he mixed and drank his drink, we napped for a couple of hours. It was very refreshing after all that walking and warm temperatures. After we got up, I had David wear my uniform shirt and breeches so I could do some leather furnishing. After that, I showed David my red flogger, the one I bought two years ago at the Fair. He wanted me to flog his ass and I obliged. It certainly got him hard! When I was done, I geared up in my latex uniform and David geared up in his tank shirt, kilt, and boots. He suggested we go to a pub across the street to eat but once I saw the menu outside, there wasn’t much for me. We went back on the hotel side of the street to a Chinese restaurant next door called 7-Mission. I had Kung Pao chicken while David had some seafood hotpot dish. It was pretty good and spicy. He paid the bill.
I got us a Lyft to go to the SF Eagle and paid $20 to get us in. It wasn’t too crowded at the time, but it did build up. I met a few guys I knew, including AirUrso, Luis, etc. The incredibly sexy Latexdad was there too. A guy in a French uniform named Morris stroked a conversation with me as he liked my uniform. As I was talking to him about something, he suddenly collapsed on the floor and lost consciousness! Security was nearby and while he was alive and breathing, he was hardly responding. They carried him to a room near us so he could be sat down. Latexdad was nearby and asked what happened and I replied that we were talking and just out of nowhere, blacked out onto the floor. After some time, Morris was taken outside the bar. I would get a text message from him the next morning that he was alright and that his black out was attributed to medication he took before coming to the bar. He found out that once he had alcohol, it would eventually cause him to lose consciousness. But the rest of the night went by okay. I had the cigar I got earlier in the day after borrowing a butane lighter from Luis to light up. I think it may be the first time I smoked a cigar in my latex uniform (though I could be mistaken). I went around and took some pictures before David and I left around midnight. I got us a Lyft to get back to the hotel. I’ll pause here to mention that on the following Tuesday morning, I got an email from the driver of this Lyft who ended up charging me $50US! Turns out I left sweat stains I sustained from my latex uniform on the upholstery of his passenger seat. The email from Lyft contained the picture of it. I don’t know if the stains are permanent or the guy was being an ass. Whatever… I’ll note this for future consideration. Anyways, back in the hotel room, David wanted another flogging session, but I was reluctant as it was late at night. I gave him a short one and we went to bed after 1am.
Sunday morning, I got up on time but David took a little too long getting up and ready. I wore my BLUF uniform while David wore mostly what he had on last night. While I wanted to keep tradition and go to Mel’s Drive-In, it was too out of the way. I thought about going to some nearby Italian eatery, but I found it wasn’t where I thought it was. We stopped off at some eatery called Vive La Tarte. It was mostly under 35-year-olds and it screamed “millennial”. There wasn’t much seating and the lineup was kind of long. As we got closer, David suggested I find us a seat while he would get what I wanted to order with his and pay for it. I only had a cheesecake and shared a ginger/lemongrass drink. The cheesecake was quite good. We got to the Fair at about noon and I paid the $20 donation for our entrance. We separated immediately and ended up not seeing each other for the rest of our visit at the Fair. Not long after, fellow BLUF man StiefelKopp from Vancouver noticed me and we hung around a bit. I got to meet a couple of other BLUF men: one from Denmark who looks like actor Chris Pine, and another from Italy who looks like Luis! Both of them were in full uniform, including their biker jackets (whew!). Also, there was Morris from last night and he was doing okay. I managed to catch BootbearSF just before he left the Fair and it was the first time we got to see each other. I snapped a few pictures of him and then afterwards, ran into Ken & Nathan, the bear couple from Reno that I was introduced to by Dean at BiggerVegas. Soon after, I saw Daddy John Patrick Kenny. I sat down with Ken for about half an hour while Nathan was walking about. During the Fair, I found that pup Jerame of the Fresno Knights had been in earlier and long since left and was going to go back to the Valley later in the day. Bummer! After a refreshing sit-down with Ken, I continued to walk around and take some more pics. I got to meet the President of BLUF Montreal too. I was getting tired and it was getting much too crowded that I started to walk back to the entrance. David texted me back and was going to stay a little longer at the Fair. After getting some self pictures done by one of the photographers, I exited the Fair and walked back to the hotel. I wiped down the sweat from my shirt but I had to wait until David came back so I could take my boots and breeches off. I puttered around on my laptop for a few hours later until David arrived by 5pm. I put on some regular clothes and to keep tradition, decided we would go to Grubstake. I got us a Lyft there and the restaurant wasn’t busy. David had a Philly Cheesesteak while I had my usual favourite, the French Dip. We shared a plate of onion rings too. I wanted to treat David here, but he paid and let me pay for the Lyft again. As it was a shared ride, it was a lot longer and further away from where we needed to go but we got a nice tour of the city. Back at the hotel, we stayed in for the rest of the night. I gave David his final flogging session and then cleaned my latex uniform. I did most of my packing while watching a couple episodes of Family Guy on Adult Swim. David fell asleep as he was already in bed and then I joined him at 12:30am.
I slept on and off through the night and didn’t sleep quite as well as the previous two nights. Monday, I got up at 9:30am even though the maid knocked on our door before 9 (*facepalm*). I showered and did the last little bit of packing. We checked out of the hotel at 10:30am though David left his luggage behind the front desk as his flight would leave about a couple hours after me. He took one of my bags and helped escort me back to Civic Station. At the elevator, we said goodbye and I thanked him for joining me this weekend. He said he had a great time and would text me after he gets home. I took the “SFO Airport” train to -you guessed it- SFO Airport. I went to the information booth and asked about the ticket I was supposed to get on Friday night. The lady told me I have to talk to Expedia about it since I did it through them. What made no sense was she needed a sheet with a barcode to be scanned… why not search my name if I’m on the list? Oh well… I checked in with Air Canada and did PreTSA, saving probably 15 minutes. My gate was soon changed from 91 to 99. Since I haven’t eaten, I bought a bag of Chex Mix and a bottle of water to tide me over before the flight. While salty, it did hit the spot. I volunteered to give up my carry-on to be put down in the luggage compartment. On the plane, I sat in 19D and we departed on time after 1pm. During the flight, I watched the first Men in Black film, which I haven’t fully seen in years. It still holds up and is still funny. We landed on time at YVR. My father had just arrived at the cellphone waiting area. I did NEXUS (there were reports of problems with customs and other systems going glitchy around the country, but we weren’t affected, thankfully), which was super quick. I picked up my carry-on luggage first and then… had to wait 10 minutes for my large one. WTF? Anyways, my father picked me up and took me home. The rush-hour traffic around 4pm wasn’t too bad.
While I wished I had Daddy Eric with me again, I still had a great time this Dore Alley with Daddy David. It seemed a little lighter this year, but we made the most of it. The Carriage Inn was okay, and I saved some money compared to the Holiday Inn Civic Center. I’d argue the Holiday Inn is a better hotel and has better Wi-Fi but for some reason, I couldn’t book it this year. Regardless, I always shop around for hotels when it comes time to make plans for Dore Alley weekend. I haven’t determined if I will go to Dore or Folsom next year… cost may be a factor in my decision come winter.
