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........
