PHILADELPHIA
by Rich Rubin
Coming here from New York City a few years ago to do
a story, I went one step further than most people: I
picked up and moved here. So I think I’m in a good
position to comment about some of the exciting things
happening in Philadelphia and give you a little insight
into why you should visit.
Of course, one prime motivator was cost
and as a visitor you’ll appreciate this too. For
a major city (America’s fifth biggest, though Phoenix
is on the verge of overtaking us) prices are surprisingly
low. Some of the best restaurants can be enjoyed without
breaking the bank, and theater costs a fraction of what
it does in other cities. It’s also as gay-friendly
a city as you can imagine, and the Greater Philadelphia
Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) has gone out of
its way to attract GLBT visitors.
While many cities have a gay pride parade,
Philadelphia has three annual gay celebrations, plus
a yearly film festival and a theatre festival. When
planning your visit, keep in mind that the Equality
Forum takes place in April and features a series
of symposia, concerts, parties, and its own fair on
the streets of Old City; Gay Pride takes place
here in June; and October’s Outfest is a
giant street fair in the gayborhood that’s one
of this city’s best events.
Walk down the streets of Washington
Square West (the gayborhood) and you’ll see
rainbow symbols adorning the street signs. Same-sex
couples routinely hold hands on the street, and gay-owned
businesses are springing up throughout the neighborhood,
with the majority clustered on 12th and 13th Streets.
According to Charlie Potje, owner of
Charlie Salon, one of the city’s best hair
salons, “Fifteen years ago, you couldn’t even
walk in this neighborhood. Since then, the area has
been transformed from rundown, dilapidated buildings
into THIS.” Charlie, a lifelong Philadelphian,
loves the neighborhood’s mix of residents and visitors:
“a wide variety of gay people from all over the
city.”
It’s impossible NOT to notice the
gay presence here. Across from the salon you’ll
find 12th Street Gym, the most gay-popular in
town (and also gay-owned). Just steps from that is
Brew Haha, the only Philadelphia outpost of this
small, Delaware-based chain of coffeehouses and a favorite
spot for the city’s GLBT community.
Stroll over to 13th Street. Here the
gay/lesbian-owned businesses are even more prominent:
the marvelous restaurants Bindi and Lolita;
the gourmet market Grocery; home furnishings at Open
House; affordable art (mainly gyclee prints) at
Absolute Abstract and faux-antique tin signs
at its sister shop, Absolute POP!; gorgeous hand-crafted
soaps, shower gels, shampoos, and body scrubs at Duross
and Langel; and just steps around the corner on
Walnut, an array of home décor, cards, gag gifts,
and about anything else that’s fabulous at Philadelphia
Home Art Garden (that’s PHAG for short), which
celebrated its fifth anniversary this year.
Says James McManaman, who moved from
Arizona to open Absolute Abstract, “I’m proud
to be a gay man owning a small business in the heart
of Center City.” McManaman, who points to the rainbow
street signs as “welcoming icons,” has become
so enamored of “the smallest big city I know”
that he’s introduced a new Absolute Philadelphia
line, with prints of scenes from famous sights to small,
quirky details.
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We’ll start our nightlife prowl,
as does much of gay Philadelphia, at Woody’s.
This cavernous space, which stretches over two levels
to include three bars, a small café, and a dance
floor, is one of those “no one really wants to go
there, but it’s where everyone ends up” kind
of spots. It’s consistently crowded, and is becoming
more and more a place for non-gay curiosity seekers. A
block south lies Bump, Philadelphia’s trendiest,
where the crowd is definitely younger, the music louder,
and the genders mixed, though primarily male. By contrast,
the nearby Westbury draws a forty-and-up crowd
and has a laid-back, neighborhood feel. Knock,
opened by the former owner of Woody’s, is another
favorite with primarily forty-somethings for its classy
atmosphere, low-key noise level, and comfortable chatting.
There’s also a comfy feeling at
Sisters, the city’s one lesbian bar, located along
a little alleyway and offering karaoke, DJ-spun music,
and copious brunches. Bike Stop, on tiny Quince
Street (between 11th and 12th), is the city’s “leather
bar”—though I’d take that with a grain
of salt. It’s just an easygoing spot with two floors
of pool-shooting, brew-drinking, and game-watching,
plus its infamous basement.
You’ll find a hip young crowd at
12th Air Command, where the music blares, and
(is this a requirement in Philadelphia?) the action
spreads over two floors. Meanwhile, Pure is Philadelphia’s
only full-time gay dance club, and its basement space
draws a young, late-night crowd. On tiny Camac Street,
Tavern on Camac is (you guessed it) two floors,
with a piano bar on the main floor often featuring fabulous
singer/pianist John Flynn, and a small, packed dance
floor upstairs. A bit out of the main cluster (though
only by a few blocks), Stir offers everything
from Mojito Mondays to Ladies T-dances every third Sunday.
For information on weekly or one-off parties, and a
wide variety of other gay cultural events, check out
the invaluable Philly Gay Calendar, a
bastion of support for the local GLBT arts community
as well as a comprehensive guide on living it up Philadelphia
style.
The best thing about the nightlife here
is that all these places are within walking distance
of each other. In fact, that’s a prime advantage
to the entire city: stretching just thirty blocks from
the Delaware River to the Schuylkill (“skoo-kill”)
River, the Center City section, which is of most
interest to visitors, can be traversed in its entirety
in an easy day. “Philadelphia has always been a
city of neighborhoods,” says tour guide par excellence
Bob Skiba, noting that the city has “all
the diversity and fun of a big city conveniently packed
into a Center City district that’s vibrant, diverse,
walkable, and most of all livable.” For a unique
and knowledgeable perspective, book him for tours ranging
from standard historical jaunts to a custom-designed
exploration of the city’s gay history. He’s
the head archivist of the GLBT archives at the William
Way Gay Community Center, so he knows his stuff!
Before we start exploring, though, you
need to settle in, and the city is blessed with GLBT-welcoming
spots both in and out of the “gayborhood.”
If you want a short stumble home from the bars, check
into Alexander Inn. A longtime favorite with
gay visitors, it’s within a stone’s throw
of all the bars and offers rooms ranging from tiny/affordable
to more commodious. Another fine choice: Park Hyatt
Philadelphia at the Bellevue, in a classic building,
just a block from the nightlife and the big theaters,
has spacious rooms, many offering city views, and the
wonderful restaurant called XIX (a drink in its
gorgeous domed bar is a must even for non-diners). Its
support of such ventures as the Gay and Lesbian Film
Festival makes it a natural, GLBT-friendly choice. Want
real luxury? Check into the Four Seasons, Philadelphia’s
finest lodging, with lavish rooms and a location overlooking
the Parkway’s swan fountain. In fact, its restaurant—one
of my favorites in town, particularly for the lavish
brunch—is called Fountain. (P.S. Their lobby
bar has the best bar snacks in town.)
If boutique hotels are more your style,
try Penn’s View Hotel. Right in Old City,
it has a charming, European-style air. Here you’ll
find some of the nicest rooms in town, gorgeous, individually-designed,
and surprisingly affordable, many boasting great river/city
panoramas. The Latham, on 17th Street just off
Rittenhouse Square, is another spot with a European
air and long popular with GLBT visitors for its laidback
feel and lovely rooms in an early 20th-century building.
For a touch of Philadelphia history, Morris House
B&B, just off the gayborhood, is a beautifully
designed and GLBT-friendly bed and breakfast in a Society
Hill house dating to 1787. Its fifteen rooms are, of
course, thoroughly updated, while maintaining the charm
of this gracious brick residence.
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