ATLANTA

After numerous requests, I have decided to finally write about my home city, Atlanta. I moved to Atlanta after graduating from Notre Dame and loved every minute of it. I often get asked when traveling "why Atlanta" and "what is special about Atlanta"? At least for me, Atlanta seems to have a lot of the qualities that I love in a city. Do not get me wrong, there are a number of equally good cities, but few that have as many great qualities as Atlanta possesses.

First of all, Atlanta is a large city (which I prefer), so as a city it possesses all of the qualities that most big cities have (i.e. a huge gay population, a ton of business/work opportunities, the arts, shopping, and lots of great places to eat). Where Atlanta beats most cities is on the cost of living. Compared to places like DC, Chicago, Boston, LA, San Francisco, NYC --- Atlanta is CHEAP! Housing is cheap, food is cheap, and most of the services are cheap as well. So you get to live in a big city without the expense of one.

If you decide to visit Atlanta, I would recommend staying in the Midtown area. Midtown is the center of gay Atlanta. Midtown is filled with a ton of restaurants, gay owned shopping, gyms, nightlife, and most of the culture/arts for Atlanta. Although most of Midtown is walkable, it is definitely easier if you have a car.

The other option is to stay in Buckhead. Just north of Midtown, the Buckhead area is where you will find all of the best shopping in Atlanta. There are two major malls in Buckhead (across the street from each other).....Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza. Lenox Square has more of the traditional mall stores (but in larger formats) and Phipps Plaza has more of the ultra high-end shops.

If you want to workout in Atlanta, there are a number of good options for visitors. The Ansley Mall location of LA Fitness is considered the gay gym in Atlanta (although there is a gym called Gravity Fitness that is also gay....but since this gym is off the beaten path, I would not recommend trying to find it). If you are looking for more of a mixed (gay/straight) gym, then the LA Fitness/Esporta Gym at 5th/Spring or the LA Fitness in Buckhead are also good options as well.

There is a ton of nightlife in Atlanta. If you are looking for more of a cocktail bar, then Blakes (younger crowd) and Burkharts (older crowd) are your best bets. If you are the leather/levi type then there is the Heretic (more levi/leather) or the Eagle (all leather). If you are in the mood to dance, then Jungle is a great option (it is a huge dance club). There are a ton of other options in Atlanta, but that will get you started.

If you like strippers, one of the best stripper bars in the country is in Atlanta. Swinging Richards is one of the few places where the guys get totally nude on stage. And unlike the strippers I have encountered in a lot of cities, these guys are truly hot (although a large percentage of them are straight). It can be a lot of fun to get a lap dance from a hot straight guy!

Atlanta is also home to my porn studio (Jason Sparks Entertainment and ClubJasonSparks.com). When you are there, stop in Brushstrokes (the big gay porn store) and ask to see the Jason Sparks Entertainment section....and say hi to the owners Mark and Tom for me. :)

The one thing you will notice about Atlanta is a ton of hot young guys. Being the center of the southeast, Atlanta attracts all of the young southern boys trying to escape small town southeastern cities. There is continual "fresh meat" moving to the city...and that makes it fun!

SPRINGFIELD, MASS

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.

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........