SOUTH BEND & UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

South Bend developed around heavy industry (led by Studebaker) and education (led by the University of Notre Dame). With the decline of industry in South Bend (and a lot of the rust-belt for that matter), South Bend now relies heavily on its proximity to Notre Dame. Education is now the driving force around South Bend. Although Notre Dame itself is separate from South Bend, you see traces of the university everywhere in South Bend. The interesting thing is that Notre Dame pretty much keeps to itself; and unlike a lot of other colleges, it owns all of the property surrounding the campus to give it a "buffer" from the rest of South Bend.

When I was in South Bend last week, I stayed downtown. Since I was basically just in South Bend to visit Notre Dame, I wanted to stay close to campus....and downtown South Bend is just 5 minutes from campus. Unlike downtown Ann Arbor (see prior post), downtown South Bend is not the quaint downtown you would expect near a major university. I would suspect that is because the Notre Dame campus is pretty much self-contained and there is no need for a traditional college town downtown area.

A far as gyms go, I was hoping to workout at the Notre Dame campus gym....but even as an alumni I could not get in. I was able to find a pretty nice gym to work out at in the South Bend area. Pinnacle Athletic Club is about 5 minutes from downtown South Bend in the city of Mishawaka. Although the gym is currently under renovation, it has great equipment and I am told the locker room and other facilities will be nice as well once the renovation is completed.

If you go to South Bend, you definitely need to venture over to the Notre Dame campus and walk around. Although I an somewhat biased (since I graduated from Notre Dame), I think the Notre Dame campus is one of the most beautiful of any university in the country. One thing you will also notice is how hot the guys are at Notre Dame. Since the university only admits well-rounded students, the type of guy this usually attracts is the high school student-athlete. So when you walk around campus, you will notice a lot of hot A&F-type college boys.

For those of you that do not recognize the picture at the top of this post, that is the Golden Dome. It rises above the main administration building in the center of the Notre Dame campus.

BRIAN TAYLOR SOLO

"Coming home from class early, Brian Taylor spots his good-looking neighbor cutting his grass and rewards him with a steamy afternoon exhibition…

Brian quickly sheds his preppy shirt and strokes his strong chest, his eager hands sliding below his belt and into his jeans to man-handle his throbbing cock. As he stares out the window, he grows hotter as he imagines his neighbor enjoying his private show. Slipping off his shoes and sliding out of his jeans, Brian peers out the window and envisions the working over he will give his neighbor later. Flashing his tight, youthful ass, Brian positions himself to jack his rigid prick and squeeze his engorged balls. He is so charged by his fantasy and the growing interest of his neighbor, that Brian begins to finger his tight hole, panting with pleasure. As the heat rises, Brian caresses his dick harder and harder, his beautiful body slick, until he explodes and creams his chest. Talk about a neighborly welcome."

See his scene only at http://ClubJasonSparks.com

ANN ARBOR

Ann Arbor is a quaint college town on the outskirts of Detroit. You can get from downtown Detroit to downtown Ann Arbor in about 45 min. Although they are close geographically, they are worlds apart when it comes to the setting and feel of the city. Ann Arbor is the ultimate college town. The downtown is lined with a cool mixture of restaurants, shops, and bars. It is just what you would expect a small-town college town to look and feel like.

University 0f Michigan is definitely the dominate force in Ann Arbor. Not only do you see their buildings and signs everywhere, but a large part of this city is connected in one way or another to the university.

When I am in Ann Arbor, I usually stay close to Briarwood Mall. There are a lot of hotels close to the mall and just about anything you would want to eat close by as well. If you want to head downtown to eat, one of my favorite places is BD's Mongolian Grill. If you have never had Mongolian BBQ before, you are in for a real treat!

The gym situation is not as good as I would like (at least for visitors). There used to be an amazing Gold's Gym in Ann Arbor; but this gym has apparently closed. The only other options I have found are the Bally Total Fitness (old, run-down, tired equipment) and One-On-One Athletic Club. You can get a basic workout at One-On-One, but I would not expect much. The gym needs a serious renovation and new equipment. You also will not see many students at any of these gyms. Just like any university, the students probably have an on-campus gym. Unfortunately, being a visitor to Ann Arbor, I have to use the non-campus gyms.

If you have the opportunity, drive around Ann Arbor (especially the campus areas and downtown), and you will see how quaint this college town really is.

JAKE WOODS AND BRANDON LEWIS

Jake Woods and Brandon Lewis are two amazingly hot guys and have great chemistry on film. This scene is definitely one to watch!

See his scene only at http://ClubJasonSparks.com

DETROIT

Detroit is a very unique city. With rare exception, in most cities the gay population lives close to the city center. The "gay ghetto" effect where the gays move into a run-down area...fix it up...and then the straight population moves in. This is not at all what has happened in Detroit. With the exception of a very small area downtown, the city of Detroit is mostly run-down. Not even the gays want to try to fix up areas within the city limits. So...the gays moved to the suburbs. There are 2 heavily gay suburbs of Detroit. These are Royal Oak and Ferndale. They are both just outside of the road called 8-Mile (8-Mile Road is the boundary of the city limits of Detroit). Both Royal Oak and Ferndale are very quiet and quaint areas....and that is also where you will find a majority of the gay bars as well.

When in Detroit, I prefer to stay in the City of Troy. I usually stay close to Big Beaver Road (I think lesbians must have named this road!). A good location is the intersection of Big Beaver and I-75. This gives you easy interstate access to most of the suburbs of Detroit. There are a good number of nice hotels and great restaurants in the area.....and a TON of healthy eats up and down Big Beaver Road.

If you like shopping, there is one of the largest (and nicest malls) in all of Michigan. Summerset Mall is right on Big Beaver (just a few blocks west of I-75). This mall is so big that it spans both sides of Big Beaver (connected by a huge moving sidewalk above the street). You can find pretty much anything you want in this mall.

There are a number of gyms in the area as well. One of the busiest is the Bally Total Fitness on Big Beaver Road. It is one of the nicer Ballys and it gets very packed at peak hours. A few miles away is a huge Lifetime Fitness. I tried this out and did not like the vibe in the gym. Too many families and not enough hotties. Now I usually just go to the LA Fitness on Big Beaver. It is a very nice gym with a lot of hot guys....but not very busy (even during peak hours). I have been told there is a huge LA Fitness under construction in Royal Oak and everyone seems to think that will be THE gym to go to once it opens. We will see......

If you are lucky, you may run into Raging Stallion Exclusive RJ Danvers. The hot, young, hairy porn star lives in the Detroit area and you may just see him around town. He is one of many porn stars that make Detroit their home.

Now for the picture at the top of this post. This is the Ambassador Bridge. It connects Detroit with Windsor, Canada. It is an easy hop-skip-and jump from Detroit into Canada.

ETHAN STORM SOLO

"Flashing back to his best friend in the locker room after practice, Ethan caresses his body as the heat between his legs builds. Sucking and licking his feet and toes gets Ethan even more worked up and before long, he has slipped down his shorts and is fingering his engorged hole. He finds an even better use for his buddy’s bat than hitting pitches. He really gets worked up into a hard stroking frenzy, swinging for the fences with a ball-busting explosion that gives him a mouth-watering taste of his own sweet jizz on shoe leather. Ethan really knows how to hit a solo homer."

See his scene only at http://ClubJasonSparks.com

PHOENIX

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BRANDON LEWIS AND JUSTIN RYDER

"Surprising Justin in the kitchen whipping up some tasty treats, Brandon has a better idea for his delicious roommate. The lusty duo kisses passionately and body worships as all thoughts of food are quickly forgotten. Justin gets a mouthful of Brandon’s “nice tasty cock” and feasts on that mouth-watering meat. Brandon repays his bud for his efforts by positioning him on the counter and devouring Justin’s cock, swallowing it to the balls as Justin pounds his hot, wet mouth. Brandon gets so overheated from the sucking that he is soon fingering Justin’s furry, welcoming hole. Hanging over the edge of the counter, Justin gives Brandon an ideal entry for some strenuous ass-pounding. The hot pair switches positions again and after hammering Justin to the point of eruption, Brandon relishes a shuddering orgasm. Justin follows suit with a frenzied climax of his own, then cleans up his buddy’s cum-covered feet. If home-cooking was always this spicy, Brandon and Justin would never leave the kitchen."

See his scene only at http://ClubJasonSparks.com

MY INTERVIEW WITH GAY STAR INTERVIEWS

I was interviewed by Matt of Gay Star Interviews last week. He asked me about my website, shooting locations, model selection, and direction of my website. We discuss my background and travel as well. You can see the entire interview at the following link: http://GayStarInterviews.com

CLEVELAND

Cleveland is a city of contrasts. Although it has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, there are some very good things about the city. Cleveland has some beautiful suburbs and some great shopping - especially on the east side of the city. When I am in Cleveland, I stay in Westlake. Westlake is on the west side of the city and close to the airport. From what I have been able to gather, most of the gay population lives on the west side of downtown. Westlake is right on Lake Erie, there are some beautiful areas close by including Rocky River.

When in Cleveland, I usually stay close to the intersection of I-90 and Columbia Road. Although this is about 10-15 min west of downtown, the area is quiet and there is a reasonably good gym nearby. I usually workout at the Bally's on Columbia Road. Although the gym itself is somewhat run-down, the equipment is new and you can get a good workout. There is some eye-candy at the gym (but not much)...especially around 4pm-7pm. The weekends are pretty dead; and the lunch time crowd is not the best to look at.

Although I have never been there, I have been told that Cleveland has 2 of the largest bathhouses in the country. Flex and Club Cleveland have the reputation of being huge. I can not independently verify that (since I have never been).....but that is what everyone tells me. I guess there is not much to do when it is freezing cold in Cleveland; so the bathhouse would be a great place to hang out.

One thing Cleveland does have is the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame. For those that like to find a touristy thing to do when visiting a city, this is a must see. Since I am not much on doing tourist things when I travel, I have never been. But you hear about it a lot when in Cleveland....so it must be good.

WADE WILDER AND JUSTIN CASE

"With no cable to watch the big game, Justin comes up with better idea and quickly pops his nice fat cock out of his jeans and underwear for Wade to gulp down. It takes little encouragement for Wade to go to work on Justin who moans and tells Wade just how to take it. Justin repays his bud with a nut-tightening suck of his own. Wade climbs up on a chair to give Justin a better angle to take it all and uses his foot to keep Justin stiff. After priming Wade’s dazzling uncut cock, Justin is ready to take it all in his taut hole. Wade fucks hard while stroking Justin’s massive tool, the pair grunting in satisfaction. To prove that he’s not just some big dick bottom, Justin flips it on Wade and pounds his sweet ass until the pair reach um-soaked climaxes. No need to watch some game when there’s this kinda’ hot play going on."

See his scene only at http://ClubJasonSparks.com

BIRMINGHAM

Birmingham seems to be the business center of Alabama. As such, it attracts a fair amount of younger guys. But, considering its size, you would expect a much larger gay population. There seems to be a lot of bi/married guys here in Birmingham; but a very small gay population. This may be because it is very close to Atlanta and most gay guys want to live in a city with a much bigger gay population. You do find a number of younger gay guys here; but they are mostly in college. The one this that Birmingham does attract is a lot of hot young straight guys. These are the All-American southern guys that want to stay close to family.

When I come to Birmingham I always stay south of the city. I usually choose a hotel close to the US280/I459 intersection. This is the nicer side of Birmingham. It is also filled with great restaurants and a surprisingly nice outdoor mall called The Summit. You can pretty much get anything you want at The Summit (from food to shopping). The picture you see above is looking out over the hills surrounding Birmingham from The Summit.

My gym of choice in Birmingham is also in the area. Sitting right at the US280/I459 intersection is a very nice Gold's Gym with great equipment and hot guys to boot. I do not think there is one gay guy that works out at that gym...but....it is filled with some amazing looking straight guys with amazing bodies! The locker room is like a Sean Cody porn set! Since the guys in the locker room think everyone is straight, they just get naked without even thinking. It is hard to get ready to workout without looking. If you want a great workout and want eye candy to boot, the Gold's Gym at US280/I459 is the place to be!

JASON SPARKS & BRANDON LEWIS

"While Brandon thought he was spending the day reading, his bud Jason has better ideas as the hot dudes strip down and Jason fills Brandon’s mouth with his rigid cock and cream-filled balls. Brandon lovingly licks Jason’s dick and is repaid with a horny blowjob of his own. Jason positions himself on the couch to take in Brandon’s huge meat and gets a hard pumping. Jason then flips onto his back to give Brandon a better position to ride his hot ass and Brandon doesn’t disappoint. Both dudes work up a sweat with Jason working Brandon’s sultry hole until the friends cum one after the other. Why read about something when you can actually do it?"

See his scene only at http://ClubJasonSparks.com

PITTSBURGH

I visited Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. The weather the entire time was rainy and overcast. If you have never been to Pittsburgh, you will be amazed at the level of civic participation there is in the city. I usually stay on Penn Avenue in the downtown area of Pittsburgh. This is considered the Cultural District of Pittsburgh. There are a bunch of huge ornate theaters lining this street. Most of them carry the name of one of the corporate benefactors in this city. Heinz is a big contributor here (their name is on Symphony Hall...and also on one of the stadiums).

The downtown itself has a someone gritty feel about it. It definitely had a industrial steel-town influence. One of my favorite parts of Pittsburgh is the drive from the airport to downtown. Right before you hit downtown, you enter a long underground tunnel. When you exit the tunnel on the other side of the mountain, you are on a steel bridge over the river that faces downtown. The view of downtown when you exit the tunnel is amazing!

One of the other things I like about downtown Pittsburgh is that it is a very walkable city. Being from Atlanta, I almost always get a rental car when I travel. Not in Pittsburgh. You can pretty much walk anywhere in downtown (and it feels relatively safe).

In past trips, I stayed at the Westin Hotel on 10th/Penn Avenue. This time I decided to save some money and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott on 9th/Penn. Both hotels are within walking distance of the gyms in Pittsburgh.

Last time I was in Pittsburgh (a few years ago), I went to the Ballys on 6th Street. Since my last trip, that gym has closed (probably because the gym needed a renovation bad!). In the past year, a Gold's Gym has opened downtown in Pittsbugh. I decided to try it out. All I can say is WOW! What an improvement over the Ballys!!! This gym is not only nice (with great equipment).....but if you go during the 5pm after-work rush....it is FILLED with some of the HOTTEST straight guys you have ever seen. And....unlike most gyms....the hot straight guys all shower after they workout! So, as you are changing to head to the gym, there are hot straight guys walking around in towels everywhere. It is a HOT scene!!

The only negative I found with staying downtown (without a car) is the food options at night. I found that most of the places to grab a quick bite to eat closed around 6pm....so I ate Wendy's every night (that was just about the only place I could find open). I have a feeling there are probably some nice sit-down restaurants downtown that are open later....but when I am traveling alone I like to eat quick (but healthy). Thank goodness Wendy's has some healthy things on the menu (as long as you know what to order).

Now for the picture at the top of this posting. There is a cute park right in the middle of Penn Avenue in the Cultural District. It was filled with funky sculptures. It looked like someone on crack might have designed it. But it was fun....so I decided to take a picture of it.

JASON PITT SOLO

Watch as Jason Pitt bears it all while jacking off for you. You can see this hot scene only at http://ClubJasonSparks.com

JACKSONVILLE

My trip to Jacksonville brief....but here is what I learned from my short stay there.

Jacksonville is very spread out. From what I could see, there was no area that would be considered the best area to stay. I decided to stay close to the gym that I workout at when I am in Jacksonville. Since I workout every day when I travel, it is important for me to be close to the gym and multiple food options. I always stay around the I-95/J.T.Butler Blvd. area of Jacksonville. That seems to be fairly central and everything I need when traveling is close by.

I have been to Jacksonville a number of times....and every time I always workout at the Gold's Gym. I usually go to the one on Phillips Highway since it is closer to my hotel....but I have also ventured over to the location on Beach Blvd. Both locations have good equipment and both are filled with hotties during the 5pm-7pm rush....but from what I could tell, everyone at both locations were straight. That being said, in my opinion there is nothing better than a gym full of hot straight guys!! If you are looking for a "gay" gym...then you need to look elsewhere (although I am not sure there is really a "gay" gym in Jacksonville).

Now for the picture you see at the top of this post. That picture was taken last night on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It features porn star hotties Chad Manning and Tom Wolfe. Since they were both wearing matching locks around their necks, I think it is safe to assume they are the latest porn couple.

ISAAC CONN SOLO

As I mentioned in the original posting, this blog will be a combination of my travel experiences and porn. Here is the first porn posting.

"The adorable Isaac may have an angel face but he’s up to something a lot more devilish this afternoon. Lubing up his sizeable meat, Isaac strokes himself into a lather for the camera. He is one sexy guy and he drives his online viewers crazy with his rock-hard gym body and colossal cock. As the heat rises and the stroking picks up steam, Isaac lets go with gusto and sprays his man juice across his stomach in a ball-busting finale. Talk about the marvels of modern technology."

See his scene only at http://ClubJasonSparks.com

NEW ORLEANS - SOUTHERN DECADANCE

I came to New Orleans this weekend not knowing what to expect. I had tried coming here for Southern Decadance before...but every time I tried a Hurricane hit (or came close).....so I never made it here for Decadance. The main reason I wanted to come here was to see my friends in porn. I always enjoy seeing Ryan Raz....and Jeremy Bilding is such a sweetheart.

The picture above is of Jeremy Bilding outside the Bourbon Pub on Friday night....

I stayed in the Central Business District (CBD) of New Orleans....right across the street from the French Quarter. The big benefit for staying in the CBD is that it is quiet (so you can get sleep at night). If you want to just party all the time, a good place to stay is the Bourbon Orleans Hotel. It is right next door to the 2 main gay clubs (OZ and Bourbon Pub).....so convenient if you want to stumble back to your place after a night of drinking (or if you want a close place to bring your trick!).

The gym situation in the CBD/French Quarter is pretty bad. The "best" gym is the New Orleans Athletic Club. I did not go there this trip...but when I was here 4 years ago, the gym was just an average gym (and they charge a LOT for day passes....not really worth it in my opinion). The only other gym in the CBD area is the Elmwood Fitness Center. I was going to workout there....but they close at 2pm on Saturdays and are closed on Sundays. I was in luck though. The JW Marriott has a good BASIC gym with dumbbells, cable equipment, basic machines, and cardio. If you are creative with your workouts, you can actually get a pretty good workout at this gym. The gym at the JW Marriott is free for guests of the hotel AND also for guest of the Courtyard by Marriott next door (of course, that is subject to change).

The bars in New Orleans were all PACKED this weekend with guys visiting for Southern Decadance. The 2 biggest bars (OZ and Bourbon Pub) are right across the street from each other. They are both located on Bourbon Street (after you pass all of the straight bars). It was interesting to see how many "straight" bars had gay flags flying outside this weekend. I guess everyone wants to make a buck these days. OZ and Bourbon Pub are mostly what I would call the younger, circuit crowd. They both have strippers (at least they did this weekend) and the music and atmosphere is great!

I met up Friday night with a friend from Austin,TX and he gave me the bar tour. We started at OZ and Bourbon Pub....and then went to the "seedier" bars in the French Quarter. We first went to Good Friends Bar. It was smaller....the crowd was older....and the strippers upstairs were fully nude (with hardons). The atmosphere was a little more laid-back.

Next we went to the Rawhide. This bar is the KING OF SLEEZE! Half of this bar is a back-room....and guys were fucking and sucking all over the place. The crowd is definitely a older crowd....but if you are looking for young hotties.....I am told by the locals that there is always one or 2 that stumble in looking to get some action. This bar is basically just a glorified sex club with a bar in the middle.

Finally, we went to Lafitte's. It is located on Bourbon Street as well (1 block from OZ/Bourbon Pub). The downstairs was like any other bar (with strippers and guys cruising).....but the upstairs had a back-room area where I saw guys getting fucked and sucked in the dark corners.

After the bar tour, we walked around Bourbon Street in front of all the gay bars. The street in front of OZ/Bourbon Pub was PACKED and there was really no need to even go inside at that point. It was almost like a street party (it reminded me of Folsom Fair in San Francisco).

I head to Birmingham next........

MY NEW BLOG

I have decided it is time to start blogging. I have been traveling around the world continuously for about 4 years now and I am often asked questions about cities I visit....and also about my porn work. So...I decided to do something a little different. I am going to blog about both my travels AND about my work in porn.

What will you get out of my blog?

Not only will you learn about my porn career and my porn company (Jason Sparks Entertainment)....but you will also get helpful travel tips. But...these will not be your ordinary travel tips. They will be focused on the gay traveler.

For example, I may post information about where I am staying (and if I think it is a good choice or not)....where I workout (and if the gym has hotties or not!)....and if there is anything of note in the city as well.

I will mix into that information about my website (http://ClubJasonSparks.com) and see what else I feel like adding to my blog.....

So.....here it is.....MY NEW BLOG......

I hope you enjoy!

Jason Sparks
http://ClubJasonSparks.com