LoAnn Loves... New York Getaways

Story by LoAnn Halden  Photo (top) by Dougles Lyle Thompson

Given that South Florida is the top stop on the migratory route for snowbirds escaping northern winters, it's equally easy to take flight from here to New York. Whenever I can find a place to roost in Manhattan, I'm outta here -- which means my friends often ask me where to stay in NYC that won't break the bank. It's not an easy wish to fulfill, but these are a few of my favorite gay solutions:

1. The gay-founded Ace Hotel brand arrived at 29th and Broadway in May, mingling vintage touches with the musician-hangout vibe that originated in its Portland and Seattle properties. Higher-end rooms come with turntables, and some even have guitars for impromptu jam sessions. On a budget? Go for the "Cheap" model; current rates run about $229 a night. (OK, so it's the New York definition of cheap…) Check the website for the latest special packages, offering everything from a free room night with a multi-night booking to complimentary breakfast for two. 

2. If you actually plan trips more than a month in advance, try and squeeze into the Chelsea Pines Inn, a five-story row house where movie memorabilia from Hollywood's Golden Age has a starring role. This affordable, friendly gay-owned guesthouse rocks a convenient Chelsea location steps from a subway stop, but with only 26 rooms, it's sometimes hard to find space at the inn. Standard rooms dip under the $200 mark, especially if you're willing to hoof it up to the fourth or fifth floor (there's no elevator). A light, self-serve breakfast is included.

3. Cut down on the Manhattan hotel bill by creating an urban/"country" combo. Late summer/early fall is the ideal time to road trip a few hours outside the city into the Catskills, where you'll find a retro-fabulous oasis at The Roxbury. The gay-owned motor lodge in tiny Roxbury, N.Y. infuses its rooms with the eye-popping palettes of the '60s and '70s, and the suites take cues from TV shows, films, and cartoons of the period. It's not only a fantasyland, but also the ideal launch pad for hiking and biking the surrounding wooded hills. Rates through November range from $99 for a mod studio to $335 for Genie's Bottle, an I Dream of Jeannie homage with a fuchsia bottle-shaped bathroom and Japanese soaking tub. (Stay any three nights through the second week of September and get the fourth night free.) Fingers crossed that a proposed expansion into the property across the street goes through, which would mean more groovy themed escapes in 2010. Morticia's Boudoir or Miss Kitty's Saloon might even make Jeannie jealous.

What's your favorite New York getaway? Post it here, and keep watching GPS for more global faves from contributing editor LoAnn Halden.

LoAnn Loves... A shift from strip-mall style

Story by LoAnn Halden

Who doesn't have a love-hate relationship with their city of residence? Spend enough years in one spot and you're bound to start getting nitpicky -- hence, my complicated relationship with Fort Lauderdale, home for the past (shocking!) 17 years. 

I love the beach, palm trees, and year-round warmth, the easy parking and convenient shopping. But architecturally, well, it's a seaside homage to the strip mall. When Fort Lauderdale Beach started its big transition from spring break hangout to land of the luxury high-rise, I held my breath. Could it herald the arrival of style to these laid-back, sandy shores?

The answer has been a mixed bag. We now have the Ritz-Carlton and Starwood's Atlantic but from a design standpoint they're more chill than white-hot. And then the W Hotel, after months of delays, finally opened on Fort Lauderdale Beach just a few blocks north of Sebastian Street, our gay sunbathing hotspot. I felt a burst of optimism: it added a little something extra to the plush parade -- a sexy, sassy energy that was lacking. Could this be Fort Lauderdale Beach's gay fabulous moment?

From the June opening party with Cindy Crawford, the ubiquitous Kardashian sisters, and athletic girls contorting inside oversized beach balls to the sleek, see-through stairwell that passes from the Living Room lobby bar to the oceanview deck through the swimming pool, it definitely generated buzz. On weekends, the bars are packed and its signature restaurant, Steak 954 (from the creator of Buddakan), is earning raves.

I just wish the W's evening bar crowd weren't so hetero-cruisy, like an older, dressed-up version of yesteryear's spring breakers. Fort Lauderdale is slowly shedding its old-school image, but will it ever truly become a cosmopolitan urban playground?

My fingers are crossed, because I want to love Lauderdale. I really do.

Contributing editor LoAnn Halden divides her time between South Florida and the rest of the world.

LoAnn Loves… A North American Icon

Story and Photos by LoAnn Halden

I have heard rumors of Grand Canyon visitors who dismiss it as nothing more than a big hole in the ground. This, quite frankly, horrifies me. After more than two decades of road trips, I'm still gleefully working my way through the natural beauties of my continent of residence. Last month, at long last, I made it to Niagara Falls, where 50,000 annual honeymoons come with a whopping side of cheese, nutty adrenaline junkies occasionally take the plunge in a barrel, and tacky souvenir shops are as prevalent as the mist over the roaring waters. And I loved every minute of it.

It's worth it to pay respects from both the U.S. side, a protected stretch of state parkland enveloping the American Falls (180 feet tall and 1,100 feet long), and the Canadian side, where hotels and casinos crowd the bank and the more impressive Horseshoe Falls arch along 2,500 feet of the Niagara River. (The Canadian side provides easily accessible viewing of the top of Horseshoe Falls, precariously close to where the water races over a 170-foot drop.) Admittedly, it's hard to imagine spending days there, so make Niagara a day trip during a Toronto vacation (it's less than two hours from the city) or part of a tour through upstate New York.

Time a visit between mid-May and late October in order to don a blue plastic parka and climb aboard North America's oldest tourist attraction: the Maid of the Mist boat ride, which launched in 1846. Departing from both the U.S. and Canadian sides, the 30-minute tour makes the soggy trek right up to the base of Horseshoe Falls. You will get wet; Splash Mountain has nothing on this!

Cynics need not try to tell me otherwise. To me, Niagara could never be just a lot of water.

LoAnn Halden is a contributing editor to OutTraveler.com who has spent time in 46 of the 50 states so far.

LoAnn Loves….Staycations

Story and photos by LoAnn Halden

Why is it that when houseguests show up, you suddenly think up a long list of interesting things to explore in your hometown, but when you're flying solo, there's never anything to do? Admittedly I've had to retrain my brain, but I'm trying to embrace the Staycation concept in the interest of bank account preservation. Plus, it reminds me that there's a reason so many travelers pick Florida as a destination.

Recently, I've pedaled the 15-mile bike loop at Shark Valley in Everglades National Park, where my alligator head count collapsed after the two-dozen mark; snacked on guava pastries and heart-jolting Cuban coffee on Calle Ocho in Miami's Little Havana; and sampled wine made from passion fruit, starfruit  and mango at the southernmost winery in the United States (in Miami's Redlands, near Homestead). None of the spots took more than 90 minutes to reach from my house in Fort Lauderdale, yet somehow I managed to go to gay bar Georgie's Alibi 4,732 times before noticing that I was in a rut.

Still on the to-do list: An overnight canoe trip in the 10,000 Islands of southwestern Florida and snorkeling with manatees in Crystal River, north of Tampa. Oh, and a visit to the Coral Castle, a wacky Miami tourist stop dedicated to a pyramids-style building mystery: a 100-pound man, without any outside help or machinery, constructed this homage to his lost love out of more than 1,100 tons of coral rock. Sounds weirdly awesome to me.

What's worth checking out in your backyard? Post your own Staycation stories here or send them to loann@outtraveler.com. And if you've discovered something great in the Sunshine State, be sure to let me know!

LoAnn Halden is a contributing editor to OutTraveler.com. Check back often for more dispatches on her travel "loves."

LoAnn Loves…The Gardens in Key West

Photo and story by LoAnn Halden

I admit it. I still love Key West. If anything, all the queer media whining in recent years about it not being so gay any longer has made me more willing to tout its appeal. A few less gay bodies to ogle allows more time to notice that the town is as hopelessly relaxing, welcoming, and charming as ever -- an island hideaway that's not on a well-worn flight path, yet doesn't require a passport. For every tacky T-shirt shop on the main Duval Street drag, there's a fantastic restaurant tucked into the Conch-style architecture of the quiet side streets. And what can I say? I am a sucker for a great sunset.

My recent stay at The Gardens Hotel (526 Angela St.; 800-526-2664) reaffirmed my affection. A dozen visits to the southernmost U.S. city and I'd never noticed this hidden gem. More than an acre of lush, rambling gardens engulf the four-building property, which was once Key West's largest private estate. Although it appears on Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List of the World's Best Places to Stay, there's no pretension on these grounds. The staff is friendly, not fussy; the rooms are tastefully tropical; breakfast served on the poolside patio is a languorous affair. (And I think every resort in a seaside town should include sunscreen among its amenities -- so hats off!)

All-LGBT guesthouses may now commence with the stone throwing, but sometimes a girl just wants to ditch the 24-hours-a-day gay. The Gardens' clientele skews straight (and coupled), but the property is undeniably gay-friendly and a half-block from the stretch of Duval where most of the gay bars are clustered. For me, that's the best of both travel worlds.

Do you crave all-gay hotel stays or do you prefer to mix it up? Post here or share at loann@outtraveler.com.

LoAnn Halden is a contributing editor to OutTraveler.com. Check back often for more dispatches on her travel "loves."

LoAnn Loves…Innovative Bar Food

Story by LoAnn Halden

You can take the girl out of Missouri, but you can't take the Midwest out of the girl. Where I come from, fried is a food group; as much as I love champagne and caviar, there's also something to be said for a heapin' helping of comfort food. So, when I find a place that allows Highbrow and Lowbrow to collide on a plate, well that's my idea of heaven.

At Karu & Y (71 N.W. 14th St.; 305-403-7850), the recently re-opened Miami megaclub, Chihuly's Blue Icicle chandelier greets guests of the on-site restaurant, a Murano glass wall provides a photographer's dream backdrop in the private dining room, a waterfall spills over the bar in the Y Garden, and the back courtyard would be at home in any upscale South Pacific resort.

All told, it's 55,000-square-feet of nightlife bacchanalia that draws a well-heeled, age-spanning group -- including LGBT types who prefer scene to strength in numbers. And when those late-leaning downtown denizens get the munchies, divine intervention comes via the lounge menu: smoked mac & cheese "lollipops," lobster corn dogs with Creole remoulade, buffalo chicken with Maytag blue cheese, Kobe beef sliders.

Let's pause and reflect a moment on those first two items: macaroni and cheese, quite possibly the perfect comfort food, served fried on a stick, and lobster, tucked into a cozy battered coat. High meets low, opposites attract, and the result -- though eyebrow raising in description -- is sublime.

When after-cocktail cravings strike, what restaurants best satisfy your urges? Post here or share at loann@outtraveler.com.

LoAnn Halden is a contributing editor to OutTraveler.com. Check back often for more dispatches on her travel "loves."

LoAnn Loves...Voodoo

Above: Daisy D. at "Life's a Drag" with Dennis Rodman; Courtesy Daisy D. (2)
Story by LoAnn Halden

What is the typical shelf life of a gay club? And more importantly, how much of that time does it still carry the patina of cool? I'm not talking bars here, which can cruise along with a comfortable neighborhood vibe for decades; I'm talking booty-shaking, cover-charging dance halls.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally made it to Voodoo Lounge in downtown Fort Lauderdale for Sunday night's nine-years-in-the-running "Life's a Drag" party. (Damn that having to work on Monday thing!) They have obviously found the secret recipe, because the club not only stays crowded into the wee hours, it attracts the most interesting mix I've seen out in Lauderdale, oh, ever.

Maybe that's the answer. Voodoo isn't a gay club. The Sunday party is best described as eclectic with a heavy dose of gay: on this particular night there were cage-dancing drag kings, MTF pole dancers, a former (straight) gay porn star, chiseled gay Miami boys, and a gaggle of pretty people of undetermined sexual orientation.

There are three bars, each with different music, and a pair of drag shows hosted by Daisy Deadpetals, which are more likely to hit space-age, hip hop or performance art notes than traditional female impersonator shtick. I will admit to grumbling about the drink prices, which match the big-city feel, but there are drink specials and reduced cover if you go before 11 p.m.

Does your city have a dance club that's still crazy/sexy/cool after all these years? Post it here or tell me about it at loann@outtraveler.com.

LoAnn Halden is a contributing editor to OutTraveler.com. Check back often for more dispatches on her travel "loves."

LoAnn Loves...Good Gay Travel Writing

By LoAnn Halden

When was the last time you read a travel piece and were transported so vividly that you could detect the aroma of local cuisine in the air and envision romance unfolding with a sultry resident? At OutTraveler.com, we're as guilty as every other travel writing source of getting bogged down in just the facts, ma'am: Here's great trip-planning information/inspiration, good luck and godspeed. But to really get to the essence of a place, you need ample space for language to breathe -- something University of Wisconsin Press editor and former Out Traveler contributor Raphael Kadushin not only understands but also, thankfully, nurtures.

The recently released Big Trips: More Good Gay Travel Writing follows in the successful, globetrotting path of the Press's Wonderlands queer travel anthology. In these Trips, a stunning lineup of authors, from Edmund White and Andrew Holleran to Aaron Hamburger and Trebor Healey, pore over the global landscape in memoirs and fiction to find the shared humanity that slices across cultures.

Holleran's drive into the gated-community heart of Florida, Bruce Benderson's return to his hippie stomping grounds in San Francisco, Martin Sherman's Greek isle sojourn, where beauty and loneliness intersect, Hamburger muddling through his Czech-boy fantasy in Prague -- they all peel back the layers of their setting to reveal the veins feeding its beating heart. There is, after all, more to a journey than a hotel room with Frette sheets. Whether you're hopping a flight or curling up in an armchair, Big Trips will carry you across continents with poignancy, intellect, and a healthy dose of the unexpected.

Big Trips editor Raphael Kadushin will be reading and signing the book at A Different Light Bookstore (489 Castro St.; 415-431-0891) in San Francisco at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 16. Watch for a Big Trips reading in your area at www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/events.html

Have you read a great gay travel book lately? Send your must-pack-for-the-plane reading list to loann@outtraveler.com and we'll talk travel books in a future "LoAnn Loves…" column.

LoAnn Halden is a contributing editor to OutTraveler.com. Check back often for more dispatches on her travel "loves."

LoAnn Loves...Kansas City Eats

Photos in order: Courtesy Kansas City CVA; Getty
Story by LoAnn Halden

Kudos to fellow gay travel writer Andrew Collins for turning me on to blue bird bistro (1700 Summit St.; 816-221-7559) during my last visit to Kansas City, Mo. When I make it back to my hometown, all my travel journalist instincts shut down and I end up spending way too much time on my aunt's couch, snacking on comfort food; it doesn't occur to me to dig for hidden culinary gems. But this tucked-away, west-side-of-downtown eatery specializes in sustainable, local, and organic fare that's worth seeking out on your next trip through the Heartland.

Gourmet magazine named it one of the country's best farm-to-table restaurants in fall 2007 -- but there's no pretension in this casual spot, cozily nestled into an 1890s brick building with pressed-tin ceiling and a drugstore-tile floor. Each mouthful of the pizzas, salads, and mouth-watering house-made desserts is a blissful reminder of what food is meant to taste like when it's not addled with additives. And we didn't even get to the seasonal risotto, organic green curry, or roast bison. Next trip!

I wouldn't have found blue bird bistro without my friend's tip. Why not share yours with other readers: What's the best restaurant you've stumbled upon in recent travels? Send a description to loann@outtraveler.com and I'll include some in an upcoming "LoAnn Loves…" column.

LoAnn Halden is a contributing editor to OutTraveler.com. Check back often for more dispatches on her travel "loves."

LoAnn Loves...

Story and Photo: LoAnn Halden

When I moved to Florida, South Beach's Lincoln Road pedestrian mall was still under construction and you had to walk on plywood planks to cross from side to side. I was here for the heady days in the '90s when Madonna had a mansion on Biscayne Bay and celebrity sightings barely caused a blink on the beach. And I've been part of the chorus of moans in recent years that the gay scene is over, swept away with the gentrification that brought Pottery Barn to Lincoln Road.

Which is why it gave me such a jolt of hometown pride to bask in the buzz that accompanied the re-launch of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach last month. It's been ages since Miami felt so on the map. They spent $1 billion to expand and remodel the 1954 Morris Lapidus-designed icon into a Vegas-worthy convention-size showcase for 21st-century hotel bling: The Bleau Bar, with its illuminated floor; the 20-inch iMac on the desk in each of the 1,504 rooms; and the gorgeous oceanfront pool, an abstract take on the bow-tie pattern seen in the lobby's black-and-white marble floors, are a few of my favorite things. (A Fontainebleau debuts in Sin City in 2009.)

The star-studded unveiling attracted Robert Duvall, Russell Simmons, the Estefans, Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, Debbie Harry, Mario Lopez, Kyle MacLachlan, a couple of Kardashians (who can keep up?), Sean "Diddy" Combs, Chloe Sevigny, Seal -- and those are just the famous faces I spotted at the Veuve Clicquot-soaked opening party and the following night's taping of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. I was behind Martha Stewart in the shellfish buffet line, for god's sake! Oh, and Mariah Carey performed (photo above) in the Sparkle Ballroom, which actually brought the gay man across from me to tears as he sang along with every word.

Whether the hotel recaptures the cachet it had in its Rat Pack heyday remains to be seen, but it was one heck of a party. And for that weekend at least, sexy was definitely back in Miami.

What was the most memorable hotel stay that you had in 2008? Send your stories to loann@outtraveler.com and I'll incorporate some of the best ones into a future "LoAnn Loves…" column.