As many of you know, I travel the country all the time. This time I decided to take a driving tour of the Northeastern USA. Two of the cities on my list were Hartford,CT and Albany,NY. Looking at the map I noticed that I would have to drive right thru Springfield. Since I had never been there before, I decided to try a new city and spent 2 nights there.
It was definitely an interesting city. On one hand, there are some amazing architectural elements in the city including some cool ornate bridges and some really neat buildings. The building pictured above is the symphony hall and it is stunning. There are a number of cool buildings in Springfield.
The other thing I noticed about this city is the fact that a large part of the area is depressed. According to the locals I spoke with, the city used to be a big manufacturing area; and when they factories closed the area went down and has never fully recovered.
The other thing I have learned from my travels is that you can learn a lot about a city from what the locals think of it. In large part, most of the locals here that I met say they would prefer to live elsewhere, but their job keeps them here. That is a telling sign that the city itself needs work.
There are a few cool things I found in the city. The Basketball Hall of Fame is located downtown in Springfield....and the Dr. Seuss Museum is located here as well (Dr. Seuss is from Springfield). The city sits right on the Connecticut River, and there are walking trails all along the riverfront.
I went to an amazing LA Fitness in Springfield. It is one of the largest ones I have been to and it is right on the river. All of the cardio face the river so the going to this gym can be quite relaxing. The equipment here is amazing and I was very impressed with this gym. It has a full sized pool and basketball courts as well. I was there on a weekend and it was not very busy...but amazingly it was mostly gay guys when I was there.
On Saturday night I decided to leave my hotel and head out. I had been told about a stripper bar called Club Xstatic. I thought it would be fun to check it out for myself. The general manager of the bar recognized me from my porn work and proceeded to give me shots. Although I am not much of a drinker, I took them anyway. By the end of the night, I had a number of the strippers giving me lap dances. It was a LOT of fun to say the least! Oh...and in this strip bar, the dancers get totally naked....so that was a plus as well!
All in all, I had a great time in Springfield.
