Seeing what's there...

[jackhammer91406]

A friend called me Friday morning and said he was coming into town and asked me to join him for dinner. I was delighted to do so, since this guy is someone I met during my travels and whenever he comes to town, I always enjoy his company.

 

He was planning on staying a bit down the road from me, but it was no problem, since he was at the end of the drive. We met at his hotel, and he decided to drive. He has got one these souped up SUV's that has navigation and the whole nine yards.

 

He wanted to check out old town Pasadena and look for a place for dinner. We jumped on the freeway and drove to old town. The sidewalks were packed with college age kids. Have they moved Westwood? Anyway, we passed several promising restaurants and finally decided on JJ's Steakhouse. JJ's is a very upscale place perched three floors over Colorado Blvd. It is filled with breeder couples and single women. The wait staff in no way resembles the hot guys who had taken care of me on Fire Island and in NYC. The entrées run in the $30-40 range and it's the kind of place that has one dressing for the Iceberg section salad. The food was very good but the company was better. My friend treated for dinner (not expected) and said that I had paid last time. Yeah, right, and we went to the Soup Exchange near the Beverly Center.

 

Talking during and after dinner, my friend bemoaned his state. He has a lover of two decades. They have everything they need in the way of material things. Like many of us though, he is afraid of becoming irrelevant in an age where...well...age is a thing. Mind you, I have these kinds of thoughts all the time, but I don't look like my friend. He is 6'2 or 3" , totally buffed out and if he would let me, I would make love to him for hours. There, I said it. Anyway, his concern is that after working all of this time on keeping healthy and working out, no one notices.

 

 

 

After dinner we strolled down the blvd, stopped in at Barnes & Noble (I was looking for the AIDA CD). Finding 1 rack of Celine Deon and nothing else, we left. As we walked along the sidewalk, a str8 guy passed us and said something to the effect "great abs, gay boy". Well, he wasn't talking to me. My friend does have great abs.

 

Walking back to the car, we saw the only other gay guys in Pasadena that night. A couple walking to the car parked right behind us, and my friend joked that we had gotten the memo and parked in the PC place for gay men.

 

My friend wanted to check out a bar he had seen advertised in Ponoma. Yes he said Ponoma (it's PAMONA). He had the address written down but it was back in his hotel room. We began to drive the freeways. I tried as best as I could to give him good advice on which turnoffs to take, but he is somewhat ..well.. stubborn and nearly an hour later we arrived in PAMONA. We needed gas, so while he pumped, I placed a call and found that we were 5 minutes from the bar we were looking for. Both of us enjoy looking at and bedding Latin men, so this bar was supposed to be filled with them.

 

When we neared the place, there was a huge parking lot, but only maybe three beat-up cars. Walking in the door, a smell hit you that was hard to overcome. There were four guys in this huge place. Two old guys playing pool (badly, I think there were 7 balls left on the table when the 8 ball sailed into the corner pocket.) We stayed long enough to finish a beer and a bottled water. The bartender Joe reminded us that Saturday nights were the best night, with a drag show upstairs and an $8 cover (which Joe said he would wave if we came back). He was kind enough to give us directions to two other places in the area and off we went.

 

These places were across the street from each other, and they both were packed. As my friend and I entered, there was a ripple in the crowd. My friend said it was because everyone assumed we were cops. We didn't stay long, the place was too crowded for me. We left and walked back to the car, laughing at the fact that we had driven all over hell and gone to find three bars, none of which had anything for us. We plugged in the handy satellite system for road directions back to his hotel. She (the computer) programmed us on side streets as the most direct route and it wasn't long before we were missing turns and just making up the route as we went along. She (the computer) would re-adjust her settings with each wrong turn and re-route us. Which reminds me, why is the computer a she (voice)? Is it because men never ask directions , but women always seem tell you where to go?

 

We finally got back to his hotel and said goodnight. I warned my friend I would post something about our adventures and he warned me what I could and couldn't say. I should point out that I have bravely said MUCH more than he would have wanted, and he can come back into town to kick (or Kiss) my ass anytime he wants, but we will be staying on the west side this time.

 

We went to see what's there, and found that what's there doesn't have as much to do with things and who is there. As long as my friend will be there, I am there.

[bigguyinpasadena]

Agree with you about JJ's Jackhammer-one visit was enough(Michaels-right around the corner on green and raymond is much better), the best places in old town are 1)Yujean Kangs 2)xiorama 3)atlantic cafe 4)sushi roku.

And there are gay guys here-mostly quiet guys who have sttled down with a partner-We even have 2 gay bars!(used to have 4)One of which gets a Muy Caliente crowd on weekends.Muchos Papis!The other has kareoke something like 8 nights a week(lol-they seem to be having kareoke every time I am there!)I do spend more time in H'wood and WEHO than in my own turf.