Touring the Napa-Sonoma Wine Country

Andrew Collins
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Touring the Napa-Sonoma Wine Country

Appeals to lesbians and gays, both as a destination and as a place to live

The Russian River Valley may be best known as Northern California’s premier gay resort town, but this same lush woodland in western Sonoma County is also part of North America’s most famous wine-producing region. Wine-touring is a favorite hobby of visitors to Sonoma and neighboring Napa counties, two areas that have also long appealed to lesbians and gays, both as destinations and as places to live.

There are a few different ways to approach a wine-tasting adventure in the Napa-Sonoma Wine Country. If you’re primarily interested in the Russian River queer scene, and perhaps incidentally the nearby wineries, base yourself in Guerneville, where gay accommodations and bars abound. From here it’s at least an hour’s drive east to Sonoma’s and Napa’s wine-making hubs. But in Guerneville itself you can tour Korbel Champagne Cellars, which is headquartered in a century-old, creeper-covered brick building. An adjoining deli and microbrewery serves excellent salads and sandwiches (try the one with salami, Brie, tapenade, roasted peppers, and greens) on a tree-shaded deck.

There are several more fine wineries nearby, including the first-rate Mark West Estate, which like so many Russian River wineries, produces an outstanding pinot noir – the tasting room is at the Blackstone Winery, in the quaint village of Graton; Blackstone also produces its own excellent wines. Also try the intimate and delightful Joseph Swan Vineyard in nearby Forestville.

Related: Exploring Russian River

Among greater Guerneville’s many gay-popular resorts and inns, Applewood Inn has 16 luxurious rooms split between a 1922 Mission Revival house and a newer building modeled after it. There’s a superb restaurant attached that’s open to nonguests on a space-available basis.

If you’re looking to balance extensive wine-touring with plenty of gay club- and restaurant-hopping, stay in the small but lovely city of Santa Rosa – an easy 60-mile shot up U.S. 101 from San Francisco. It’s midway between Guerneville and the Napa and Sonoma valleys. Although low-keyed, Santa Rosa does have a bit to see and do, and it also claims a visible queer community.

Shoppers should investigate the city’s Historic Railroad Square, and garden gurus can head to the verdant Luther Burbank Home and Gardens, the fascinating estate of the renowned horticulturist. A bit west of town, Zazu is worth the trip for outstanding California cuisine, such as orzo tossed with morel mushrooms, ricotta, and radicchio.

If you’re a die-hard wine-tasting aficionado, and especially if you and a significant other are seeking a quiet, romantic vacation together, skip the Russian River and even Santa Rosa and stay in the heart of either Napa County or eastern Sonoma County. There are several gay-friendly accommodations out this way, as well as some of the most acclaimed eateries in North America.

Sonoma’s main wine-growing region runs parallel to and west of Napa’s for about 30 miles, from the town of Sonoma north through charming Healdsburg – whose courtly Spanish-influenced green is shaded by palm and redwood trees – and on through Geyserville and Cloverdale. Sonoma itself is especially picturesque, also anchored by a historic plaza, in this case fringed by Spanish Mission-style buildings. You can eat at any of two dozen restaurants near the plaza, or drop by the Sonoma Cheese Factory to pick up a little of wine’s favorite companion.

Giving a definitive list of recommended wineries in the heart of the Napa-Sonoma Wine Country is nearly impossible – there are simply too many exceptional facilities to name. But here’s a sampling of stellar ones.

Many oenophiles focus on the 17-mile-long Valley of the Moon, from Sonoma north through Glen Ellen and Kenwood. Glen Ellen’s Benziger stands out among the many competitors by offering interactive tram tours, during which you’re regaled with the ins and outs of modern-day wine making. Count Agoston Haraszthy’s Buena Vista Carneros is steeped in history; the art-filled, ivy-covered visitors center is impressive. Kunde, where the genial staff explains the entire wine-making process, is ideal for first-timers. Noted for its rich and full-bodied zinfandels, Ravenswood serves wines in a rustic, airy space that’s warmed by a fireplace in cooler weather.

A star in the county’s northern reaches, Geyserville’s Clos du Bois can become crowded, but it makes a pleasant excuse to wander through this charming little town, and the views of the Alexander Valley are stunning. Famous for its award-winning fume blanc, Dry Creek has magnolia- and redwood-studded grounds.

Broad and flat, the Napa Valley has scenery that is pleasant if not quite as lush as Sonoma’s. The valley runs from the rather prosaic town of Napa north toward hippie-dippy Calistoga, which is famous for its several hot springs and spas, all of them quite gay-popular. Commercial wineries line traffic-clogged Highway 29; running parallel and just east, the delightful and less-crowded Silverado Trail skirts the eastern foothills.

Tasting highlights include the century-old Beaulieu Vineyard, set on Rutherford’s glorious town square. Beringer has been around for more than 120 years, having survived Prohibition by producing communion wines. Be sure to tour the 1883 Rhine-style mansion in which the winery is housed. Come to Clos Pegase as much to admire Michael Graves’ innovative postmodern architecture, the extensive sculpture garden, and the provocative modern-art collection as to sample the wines.

Despite its growing reputation, St. Supery remains a surprisingly friendly and low-keyed facility that puts on a very nice tour. Stag’s Leap produced the wine that put the Napa Valley on the enological map two decades ago, and it remains a star vintner. Its dashing grounds are set away from the hustle and bustle of Highway 29. An aerial tram sweeps visitors up to the main buildings of the area’s winery in the sky, Sterling Vineyards, which has one of the largest gift shops in the region.

Napa has several world-class restaurants. The distinguished fare of Terra spans several regions: Northern California, East Asia, and the South of France to name a few – it’s not every day that you find a menu with duck-liver wontons. The definitive Wine Country restaurant, Mustards Grill can be experienced without breaking the bank – sample the spicy grilled-pepper appetizer filled with tamales and topped with tomatillo stuffing, or an entree of roasted rabbit.

As for where to stay in the heart of the Wine Country, there are countless gay-friendly options. The choice of foreign dignitaries, San Fran yupsters, and other money’s-no-object sorts, Auberge du Soleil is a discreet 48-room retreat with a Tuscany-meets-the-Southwest sensibility – it’s in the Napa foothills, overlooking miles of vineyards and orchards below. Even if you don’t stay here, consider a meal at its heavenly restaurant. Sonoma’s posh MacArthur Place Inn & Spa, a few blocks from the historic plaza, has 64 spacious, high-ceilinged rooms and striking grounds comprising rose gardens, an inviting pool, and a sumptuous spa.

Finally, keep in mind a few general tips before setting out to visit wineries. The Sonoma and Napa valleys are no longer the land of free wine; count on paying a nominal fee to sample most vintages. Only a limited number of smaller wineries offer free tastings. Also, wineries sell their stock at retail, often for 10 to 20 percent more than what you’ll pay at some liquor stores back home. Wine-touring is for the fun of trying different vintages and seeing where and how they’re produced – it’s generally not a way to pick up wines at a discount. Finally, it’s always a good idea to call a winery ahead to learn of upcoming special events – from jazz concerts to food festivals – and to confirm tour times and whether reservations are necessary.

Related: Great Places to Stay in San Francisco

Exploring Beijing and Shanghai

Andrew Collins
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Exploring Beijing and Shanghai

There’s never been a more exciting time to visit China

As China’s stature as a major player in the global business and political arena continues to increase, so does the visibility of the nation’s gay community. To be sure, China is still a place where homosexuality is rarely discussed out in the open, and in all but a few very large cities, you’ll find no organized gay scene. But the times are changing – China decriminalized homosexuality in the late ’90s, and prior to its communist revolution in 1949, the country had been relatively tolerant of gay people, at least from a cultural and religious perspective, for centuries.

Although the Chinese government is still a long way from passing any laws that actually protect LGBT citizens and visitors from discrimination, life for gay people in the nation’s leading tourist destinations – Beijing and Shanghai – continues to improve. And with both cities enjoying white-hot economic success and having rapidly upgraded their tourism infrastructures after the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, there’s never been a more exciting time to visit.

China’s ancient capital city of Beijing is in the northern part of the country, and the relatively modern and considerably more Westernized metropolis of Shanghai is in eastern China, near the East China Sea, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. There’s regular service between the two by plane (a two-hour flight), and it’s also quite easy to combine a visit to these cities with Hong Kong, off the coast of southern China (flying time is a little over three hours from Beijing, and two-and-a-half hours from Shanghai). If you have just 7 to 10 days, it’s prudent to focus on Beijing and Shanghai, as you need at least three days in each city to see the major attractions and get a feel for the place. If you’re planning a trip of around two weeks or more, you might consider tacking on a few days in Hong Kong, which has one of the most vibrant gay scenes in Asia.

A few practicalities to keep in mind: As long as you stay at an international hotel, you’ll always have access to cabs, and the generally multilingual hotel staff can tell drivers where to take you. Cabs are an incredibly inexpensive and practical way to get around; however, the vast majority of cab drivers in Shanghai and Beijing can neither speak nor read English, so it’s critical that you have somebody fluent in Chinese write down the names of any establishments you’re planning to visit.

Beijing and Shanghai are both fairly safe cities to walk around and explore. Exercise caution and discretion as you would in any big city, but you needn’t be overly fearful about venturing into intriguing neighborhoods and enjoying yourself in these cities. Gay culture is still very much on the down-low, but you’re unlikely to encounter hostility or unfriendliness based on your sexual orientation. Still, it’s wise to avoid obvious displays of public affection with your same-gender friends or partners. And you should also be prepared to encounter occasionally aggressive panhandlers, especially in Shanghai – if you firmly tell them to leave you alone, and walk away quickly, you’ll be fine.

Finally, although it’s absolutely possible to visit Shanghai and Beijing independently and on your own, you’re likely to have a better and more enlightened time sightseeing if you hire a local tour guide to show you around, especially if you’re planning any side trips. For instance, in Beijing, visiting a section of the Great Wall of China is a must and can be accomplished in a half-day, but it’s infinitely more enjoyable if a guide takes you and tells you what you’re seeing. You can easily hire English-speaking guides and drivers through the concierge or front desk of virtually any of the major international hotels in each city. If you are interested in taking a package tour to China, consider booking through Purple Dragon, Asia’s most respected gay-owned tour operator – it’s a reputable company that goes to great lengths to work only with legit businesses. This Thailand-based company can customize tours throughout China as well as in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and India.

Where to Play and Stay in Beijing
Beijing has a less-developed gay scene than Shanghai, but there are plenty of LGBT locals, expats, and tourists – if you look around a bit. The city has one particularly appealing, stylish gay bar, called Destination, which is near the West Gate of Worker’s Stadium, a popular and increasingly trendy area that’s within walking distance of many restaurants and mainstream but gay-friendly bars and lounges. This is a darkly lit little club with a friendly staff, lively dance floor, great music, and affordable drinks.

Destination is definitely your best bet for socializing with gay locals. But in Beijing, you’re at least as likely to meet “family” in mainstream places, such as the bars and restaurants of major hotels. Just about any of the see-and-be-seen restaurants along the entertainment strips near Worker’s Stadium, such as Sanlitun Bar Street, have at least a nominal gay scene – the neighborhood is known as the Chaoyang District. Two excellent dining-social options here are the Brazilian-inspired Alameda, and the romantic Spanish tapas restaurant, Mare. Of course, Western culture – and franchises – continue to make inroads throughout Beijing, and it’s no shock that the Starbucks near Sanlitun Bar Street is also a popular social spot for upwardly mobile types, including plenty of gays and lesbians.

Beijing has no gay-specific accommodations; however, the major international chains are all quite gay-friendly, especially the Ritz-Carlton, a sleek and contemporary property in west Beijing’s newly developed Financial Street District. This isn’t the most charming of neighborhoods, as it’s mostly a haven of banks and office towers, but the staff at the Ritz is top-notch and can help you get anywhere you’re going. The facilities – including a spa and two restaurants, Qi (Chinese) and Cepe (mod-Italian) – are simply not to be missed. The Ritz is also developing a second property, in the bustling Chaoyang District, to open in late 2007.

Closer to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Chaoyang District, the outstanding Grand Hyatt Beijing has sumptuous and contemporary rooms as well as arguably the best restaurant (called Made in China) in the city to sample authentic Peking duck and “beggar’s chicken.” The gay-friendly Hyatt chain also has another Beijing property, the ultra-luxe Park Hyatt, which opened in the Chaoyang District in 2007. If you’re looking to save a little money but still enjoy a comfortable room and a super-central Chaoyang District location, try the Comfort Inn & Suites Beijing, a reliable and well-run option with extremely low rates.

Where to Play and Stay in Shanghai
Shanghai’s gay nightlife scene has begun to take shape dramatically just in the past couple of years, and it’s easy to foresee a time when LGBT jet-setters will be flying here to attend circuit parties. For the time being, however, there are about a half-dozen gay clubs of note, the most popular being PinkHome, a swanky gay compound comprising a fabulous disco, sleek lounge, restaurant, and small hotel with pleasant, reasonably priced, and modern rooms. This is Shanghai’s first all-purpose gay getaway, where you can stay, eat, and play all under one room, and the owners have done a terrific job with it. PinkHome is centrally located, a bit west of Fuxing Park.

Relatively near the swank Bund District as well as PinkHome, Frangipani is a cool gay video bar and lounge that pulls in a mix of local and visiting women and men. Two other popular Shanghai gay bars are in a section of the elegant French Concession neighborhood along Hauihai Zhong Road: the long-time neighborhood bar Eddy’s, and the offbeat and artsy basement lounge Shanghai Studio, which comprises a long hallway filled with local art, a fun underwear boutique called Manifesto, and a cozy and convivial cocktail area. Near the fancy shops and international hotels along Nanjing Xi Lu, you’ll find another of Shanghai’s top gay dancing options, Club Deep, a late-night spot that jumps into the wee hours on weekends. It’s inside Jingan Park. A few blocks away, Bo Bo is Shanghai’s quite successful “bear bar,” a mellow little place with an avid following.

Shanghai has plenty of first-rate hotels, with the Nanjing Xi Lu/Jingan area being an excellent base. As with Beijing, two chains that really stand out in Shanghai when it comes to service as well as gay-friendliness are Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt. Along Nanjing Xi Lu, the Portman Ritz-Carlton occupies a small office and retail plaza with several fine eateries, and it’s just steps from some of the most glamorous shopping centers in Asia. For location and swanky furnishings, you can’t beat this property, which also has a top-notch spa. Hyatt has two Shanghai hotels, with the Hyatt on the Bund offering the best location – it’s close to the many fine shops and fashionable restaurants of the Bund neighborhood, and it overlooks the Huang Pu River as well as the futuristic business district, Pudong, which is home to the 88-story Grand Hyatt Shanghai. In 2008, the 101-story Park Hyatt Shanghai opened in Pudong, becoming at the time the highest hotel in the world, with rooms on the 79th through 93rd floors. It’s the perfect address if you’re looking to gain a truly awe-inspiring perspective on one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic cities.

Related: Exploring Hong Kong

Queer Historic Sites of the East

Andrew Collins
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Queer Historic Sites of the East

Places where you can get both your history and your nightlife gay

There are dozens of historic sites and museums in the United States that have direct relevance to lesbians and gays, although you’d never realize it simply from taking a casual tour of them. Did you know, for example, that Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde once socialized together in a small house in Camden, New Jersey? Or that that one of America’s most famous presidential first ladies shared her estate with a prominent lesbian couple? Here’s a queer perspective on five notable historic sites and museums in the eastern United States, from literary salons to rock-and-roll shrines.

Pittsfield, Mass.
Between the small industrial city of Pittsfield and the fancy summer resort village of Lenox, the famous 19th-century author Herman Melville lived in a sturdy 1780s farmhouse with stunning views of Massachusetts’ highest point, 3,500-foot Mt. Greylock. Today the house, Arrowhead, contains a museum dedicated to this brilliant and complex writer, whose epic novel Moby-Dick remains one of the English language’s most widely recognized works.

Though married, Melville appears to have been ambivalent about his sexuality throughout his life, having developed intense friendships with several men. He expressed a deep and apparently unrequited affection for his Berkshires contemporary Nathaniel Hawthorne, who considered him a good friend but nothing more. And several of Melville’s novels include often obvious queer subtexts, especially Billy Budd, which was later adapted by Benjamin Britten and E.M. Forster into a decidedly homoerotic opera.

Related: Weekend in Boston’s South End

Arrowhead contains no references to Melville’s possible homosexuality, but it does give a strong sense of the author’s life and some of his inspirations, from his work study that faced Mt. Greylock to the porch Melville appended to the north side of the house – it later became the inspiration for the short story “The Piazza.” Melville’s accounts of his life and marriage are rather melancholy – he wrote with far greater fondness of his early years spent among men during long journeys at sea; there he earned a living as a merchant sailor. Despite later achieving considerable literary prowess, Melville never earned quite enough from writing to support his family. In 1862 he sold Arrowhead to his brother and moved to New York City, where for the next two decades he led a Bartleby-like existence as a customs inspector.

Nearby in downtown Pittsfield, you can further explore the author’s life at the Herman Melville Memorial Room of the Berkshire Athenaeum. The collection contains early photos, manuscripts and letters, books, and personal belongings of the author.

Cleveland
Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of FameDesigned by I.M. Pei and opened in 1986, the pyramidal Rock and Roll Hall of Fame strikes quite the pose over Cleveland’s Lake Erie shorefront. This well-attended museum offers an invigorating study of the music that has defined American pop culture over the past half-century. On display you can examine such colorful memorabilia as Janis Joplin’s psychedelically painted Porsche and Little Richard’s black jacket, complete with colorful appliqués.

In fact, plenty of bisexual, gay, or ambiguous musicians are enshrined here, among them Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Elton John, David Bowie, Dusty Springfield, Lou Reed, and Freddie Mercury. Another exhibit lists the 500 songs “that shaped rock and roll.” Queer faves on this roster include Culture Club’s “Time,” Husker Du’s “Turn On The News,” Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Queen Latifah’s “Ladies First,” and R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.” With apologies to the Polka Hall of Fame in suburban Euclid, this is Cleveland’s only certifiable must-see attraction.

Philadelphia
During the first half of the 20th century, brothers A.S.W. and Philip Rosenbach operated Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Company, then the nation’s foremost dealership of rare books and manuscripts. Not much has been written about the brothers’ personal lives, but many historians in the City of Brotherly Love speculate that at least one of these fellows was gay. Philip died shortly after his brother in 1953, and their stunning 1860s town house around the corner from Philadelphia’s posh Rittenhouse Square is now the Rosenbach Museum and Library, a fascinating – if idiosyncratic – collection of 130,000 manuscripts (including James Joyce’s Ulysses and several Joseph Conrads), 25,000 rare books, numerous works by author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, and a dazzling collection of antiques that includes Herman Melville’s bookcase.

Related: 9 Things to Do in Philadelphia

Different items are set out at different times, but one permanent exhibit displays the re-created Greenwich Village living room of the lesbian poet and modernist icon Marianne Moore (1887-1972). The Rosenbach Museum owns nearly all of Moore’s papers and manuscripts, including her correspondences with queer poets Elizabeth Bishop and Langston Hughes. In February 2002 the Rosenbach began a comprehensive restoration and expansion – it’s a good idea to call ahead and confirm hours, as this work should continue for several months.

Camden, N.J.
Just across the river from Philadelphia, in the New Jersey city of Camden, you can visit the small Walt Whitman House, where the poet lived from the mid- 1870s until his death in 1892. Here he entertained kindred spirits, including Thomas Carpenter and Thomas Eakins, and he penned his most noteworthy poem, “Leaves of Grass.”

In January 1882, before he would be brought down by scandals concerning his gay relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde also called on Whitman at his Camden home. For about two hours the pair of them kicked back in the drawing room together, chatting about their respective literary aspirations and sipping elderberry wine. According to Wilde’s biographer Richard Ellman, things may have gotten a little frisky – Wilde later bragged about leaving his new friend’s domicile still with the “kiss of Walt Whitman” on his lips. These days the museum contains mementos and letters written by the famous scribe.

The Camden-Philadelphia connection is a notorious site of homophobic grandstanding: In the early 1950s, the Catholic Diocese of Camden and a handful of righteous New Jersey politicians led a strident letter-writing campaign against naming a new bridge across the Delaware River after the queer poet. These efforts failed, and since 1957 the Walt Whitman Bridge has carried millions of travelers driving along Interstate 76 over the Delaware River.

Hyde Park, N.Y.
About 100 miles up the Hudson River from New York City, close to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum, you can visit the only national historic site dedicated to a presidential first lady, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, which she called Val-Kill. Even during her husband’s lifetime, this passionate and articulate stateswoman retreated frequently to her small country property a few miles east of the official Roosevelt compound, Springwood. In fact, it was FDR’s idea to build a small cottage in 1924 where Eleanor could get away from it all with her very close friends, Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman, a lesbian couple famously influential in New York Democratic political circles. Letters and second-hand accounts now support the theory that Eleanor Roosevelt herself had a lengthy lesbian relationship with an Associated Press political journalist named Lorena Hickok.

The property consisted of a stone cottage, in which Cook and Dickerman ultimately resided for some 30 years, and – just a few yards away – a rather plain stucco building that had originally housed a small furniture- making factory. Following the death of FDR in 1945, Eleanor moved permanently into the stucco structure at Val-Kill, and here she resided until her death in 1962. She apparently continued to see a great deal of Lorena Hickok, who lived in her own cottage in Hyde Park until she passed away in 1968.

Val-Kill today contains a smattering of the Eleanor Roosevelt’s personal belongings – the majority of them were auctioned off during the years following her death. Nevertheless, a walk through this simple, unpretentious house brings visitors remarkably close to the spirit of this determined woman who spoke out against racism, sexism, McCarthyism, and every other unjust “ism” long before these stances were popular with even left-leaning American audiences.

Related: Three Great New York Neighborhoods

Charleston

Andrew Collins
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Charleston

This charming metropolis offers visitors plenty to see and do

The quintessentially Old South city of Charleston has begun drawing increasing numbers of gay and lesbian visitors in recent years. Readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine rank it among the top U.S. leisure destinations. Indeed, this charming metropolis offers visitors plenty to see and do. Historic house-museums, sophisticated restaurants, renowned galleries, a first-rate lineup of cultural events and festivals, and a few convivial nightlife venues have helped to turn this Colonial-era gem into the cultural anchor of the Carolina Lowcountry.

If you’ve spent time on Caribbean islands like Barbados or St. Thomas, Charleston’s pastel-hued Colonial buildings, with their trademark broad piazzas, may look familiar. The city’s sunny palm-lined streets, water views, and nonstop bustle also recall a festive island village. Meeting Street runs the length of the Historic District and contains many of the city’s top attractions.

Related: Queer Historic Sites of the East

The Historic Charleston Foundation is ground zero for information on local architecture and house tours. Specifically, the foundation sponsors a month-long Annual Festival of Houses and Gardens in mid-March through mid-April, during which gaggles of Garden Club ladies and Southern queens descend upon the city’s most beautiful homes. The other major event is the Spoleto Festival, which offers two weeks worth of first-rate opera, dance, theater, music, poetry readings, visual arts exhibitions, and other cultural festivities at venues throughout the area. It runs from late May through early June.

Year-round you can tour either of two foundation-operated museums, the 1817 Aiken-Rhett House and the 1808 Nathaniel Russell House. From the latter you can walk a few blocks south to Waterfront Park, a grassy tree-filled plot of land with gardens and an adjacent promenade overlooking the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Be sure to walk back up toward town by way of East Bay Street, which is lined with mansions of every 18th- and 19th-century ilk.

Other leading attractions on Meeting Street include the Gibbes Museum of Art, which opened in 1905 and stages excellent exhibitions as well as showcasing a 7,000-piece permanent collection, and the Charleston Museum, which opened in 1773, making it the oldest museum in America. Meeting, King, and Bay streets all have their share of both high-quality and borderline-tacky gift and antiques shops, but the best shopping is had at the dozens of crafts stalls found inside the covered Old City Market, opposite which are several restaurants.

The city played an important role in the American Revolution but is probably best remembered for its early role in the Civil War. Today Fort Sumter Tours offers boat excursions out to Fort Sumter National Monument, the 19th-century fort on which the first shot of the war was fired on April 12, 1861.

No visit to Charleston is complete without a side trip to one of the imposing plantations. Consider the 1740s Drayton Hall, the only extant antebellum mansion along the Ashley River (it’s unfurnished, however); and Middleton Place, a 1741 spread whose colorful gardens are the oldest in the country.

Charleston specializes in Lowcountry cuisine, which blends soul, Creole, and traditional Southern recipes and takes advantage of the region’s bounty of local seafood. One of the best restaurants in the region, Peninsula Grill recalls the vibe of an elegant, vintage supper club and serves such innovative fare as skillet-seared Carolina mountain trout with mango brown butter sauce and sundried tomato-grits. The same owners operate nearby Hank’s, a similarly esteemed restaurant that specializes in delicious retro fare, such as shrimp and grits, plus broiled and fried seafood platters. Head to Slightly North of Broad (aka “S.N.O.B.”) for delicious yet relatively affordable New Southern cooking with flawless service and several seats facing directly into the high-tech kitchen.

Another of the city’s purveyors of reinvented Southern fare is Anson, which is housed within a handsome former warehouse and serves such revelatory creations as cornmeal-dusted okra with chili oil and goat cheese, and fried double-cut pork chop with potato puree, collard greens, and creamy onion gravy. Set in an intimate 1837 house in the Upper King Street neighborhood, the aptly named Fish serves first-rate seafood at reasonable prices. Try roasted-corn-and-crawfish chowder, followed by mahimahi with butternut squash puree, shiitake-mushroom-and-sherry reduction.

Just down the street, grab dessert at Cupcake, a diminutive storefront that bakes unbelievably rich and moist cupcakes in about 25 tantalizing flavors, including red velvet and banana-butterscotch. A favorite restaurant with the gay community is Vickery’s, the Charleston outpost of a popular Atlanta restaurant that serves such tasty and affordable Caribbean, Cuban, and Lowcountry cooking as grilled jerk chicken, black bean cakes, and fried-green-tomato turnovers.

Charleston’s gay nightlife is limited, but the few options are friendly and fun. The two main gay nightspots, operated by the same owner, sit a couple of doors from each other, just off the increasingly gentrified upper end of King Street – about a 15-minute walk north of the heart of the historic Market Street area. Of the two, convivial Dudley’s Pub is the best spot to mingle with friends or meet new ones. It consists of an attractive little bar up front and a pool room in back. The larger venue is Pantheon, a hopping dance club with go-go dancers, a DJ spinning pulsing music, and drag shows some evenings. The remaining gay option is Patrick’s Pub & Grill, a friendly neighborhood spot that’s a 15-minute drive from downtown. You’ll find all kinds of fun theme nights here, from Disco Inferno Wednesdays to female-impersonation cabarets on Saturdays.

When it comes to choosing a place to stay in Charleston, keep in mind that rates are among the highest in the Southeast, typically averaging $200 to $350 a night, but accommodations here are among the most sumptuous and romantic in the country. Take comfort, however, if you’re looking to save a little money – the city is represented by virtually every chain hotel you can think of. The Hampton Inn Charleston Historic District is one of the nicest moderately priced options, and it’s a short walk from gay nightlife.

Among the top-of-the-line lodgings, the very gay-friendly Market Pavilion Hotel has become a clear favorite since it opened in 2002, just a stone’s throw from the historic City Market. This stately 70-room boutique hotel offers plenty of stylish touches, from Hermes bath amenities to museum-quality paintings and artwork. There’s also a rooftop bar and pool affording panoramic views of Charleston’s historic skyline. On the ground floor, be sure to plan a meal at the hotel’s Grill 225 restaurant, where tender steaks and decadent desserts (such as banana bread pudding with hot caramel sauce and homemade caramel ice cream) dazzle gourmands.

Another exceptional choice is the painstakingly restored Planters Inn, many of whose luxurious rooms have whirlpool tubs. This dashing hotel sits close to City Market as well as a number of tiny boutiques and antiques shops. One of the city’s most historic options is the John Rutledge House Inn, which has rooms in the main 1763 mansion as well as in two adjacent carriage houses. The romantic, Italianate-style main building was built by a signer of the U.S. Constitution – its rooms, with 13-foot ceilings and elaborate plaster moldings, are supremely opulent, but those in the adjoining carriage houses offer a bit more privacy.

Operated by the owners of the John Rutledge House Inn and another similarly outstanding property (the Fulton Lane inn), the Kings Courtyard is a historic Charleston inn just an 11 minutes walk from the beach and 3 minutes from the City Market. Guests can enjoy complimentary wine or sherry on arrival and a morning newspaper delivered to the room.

The city’s one gay-owned B&B, 4 Unity Alley, is a gem hidden down a tiny alley off historic Bay Street. This 18th-century former colonial warehouse, in which George Washington is said to have housed his horse for a night, contains airy, light-filled rooms with fine antiques. Keep in mind that the four guest rooms here often book up quickly – it’s wise to make your reservations well in advance. Guests can relax in a sunny garden, and off-street parking and a full breakfast are included in the rates.

Related: Eat and Play in Orlando

A Guide to Northampton

Andrew Collins
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A Guide to Northampton

This once-quiet college town has been dubbed “Lesbianville, USA”

One wonders what Calvin Coolidge, were he alive today, would think of Northampton, Massachusetts. Long before his unremarkable ascent to the nation’s presidency, Coolidge practiced law and local politics in this once-quiet college town on the fringes of Western Massachusetts’ picturesque Berkshire hills. Northampton’s not so quiet these days. Some years back the community was dubbed “Lesbianville, USA” in a typically subtle headline run by America’s popular tabloid, the National Enquirer. The article’s subtitle, “10,000 cuddling, kissing lesbians” suggested, with near apocalyptic urgency, a town overwhelmed by sapphic swarms of these affectionate face-sucking creatures.

Of course, a good many of the lesbians in town got a kick out of the momentary stir created both by the tabloid article and a feature on TV’s 20/20, which also investigated this mind-boggling phenomenon: Many, many lesbians living more or less harmoniously together in a seemingly ordinary New England town. In fact, a walk through downtown Northampton reveals a pleasant enclave of trendy restaurants, urbane shops, and worldly denizens. Same-sex couples and rainbow bumper stickers are commonplace, but lesbians are not quite the formidable army dreamt up in the pages of the Enquirer.

Northampton continues to evolve from merely a great place to live to one of New England’s top gay and lesbian vacation destinations. It’s in the heart of central Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley, a region rich with history, outdoors activities, culture, and fine shopping and dining. And it’s just 30 miles east of the Berkshires, a region famous for its art galleries, music festivals, and chichi restaurants and country inns. The town and the surrounding area are also home to a sizable population of gay men – the area truly defies pigeonholing, with one of the most eclectic social scenes you’ll ever find: lesbians and gays, students and professors, empty nesters, artists and musicians, self-employed professionals and telecommuters, and young families.

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The charming campus of Smith College, one of five institutions of higher learning in the immediate area, is poised on a hill above the Northampton’s historic commercial district. Smith, and nearby Mt. Holyoke, admit only women; the college’s presence in Northampton has clearly helped foster a climate where feminism, enlightened politics, and tolerance prevail (Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan are among Smith’s most distinguished alums).

Visitors typically take advantage of the community’s outstanding, and often queer-oriented, fine- and performing-arts offerings, including myriad galleries and live-music venues, excellent regional theater, and one of the oldest opera houses in the country, the Academy of Music, which presents art films and live music and theater. In winter there’s cross-country and downhill skiing just minutes away; in fall you can view splendid foliage; and in spring and summer there’s hiking, horseback riding, and swimming throughout the region. Locals also blade, pedal, or jog along the 8-mile Norwottuck Rail trail, a paved-over railroad bed that passes through town.

Another great diversion is wandering around Smith’s campus, perhaps admiring the Lyman Plant House and the glorious botanic gardens, or rocking back and forth on the rope swing featured in the film adaptation of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – it was shot on campus in 1966 (much of The Cider House Rules was also filmed around town). Definitely check out the magnificent Smith College Museum of Art, a striking contemporary facility that was completely redesigned in 2003. This is a first-rate museum with a permanent collection that includes works by Picasso, Cezanne, Copley, Cassatt, and many other notables.

Most of the great restaurants and shops fall within the walkable downtown – be sure to stop by Pride & Joy, which offers a full range of Pride items, books, gifts, and the like. And also browse the many funky shops inside Thorne’s Marketplace, a multistory former department store that now houses about two dozen offbeat boutiques and shops. In the building’s basement level, Herrell’s has received countless praise and awards for its gooey, rich homemade ice cream that’s offered in all kinds of unusual flavors, from malted vanilla to cinnamon-nutmeg to “Elvis’s Favorite” (banana ice cream with peanut-butter swirl).

Virtually every restaurant in town is queer-friendly to some degree, and there are more standouts than can be named here. At the high end, consider Del Ray Bar and Grill, a snazzy bistro with delicious contemporary American food – try the cumin-and-coriander-dusted ahi tuna or goat-cheese topped portobello-mushroom “steak,” and note the impressive wine list. The same owners run the successful Italian eatery, Spoleto, as well as a fantastic pizza joint called Pizzeria Paradiso, where you can sample pies with such tasty toppings as fennel sausage, calamari, and artichoke hearts. The Green Street Cafe specializes in cutting-edge contemporary fare served in a warm, romantic atmosphere – it’s steps from Smith’s campus and serves a fine Sunday brunch, too.

For excellent regional southwestern and Mexican food that’s far superior to what you’ll often find in the Northeast, check out La Cazuela. Try Paul and Elizabeth’s if you’re seeking gourmet veggie and seafood cuisine, and for hearty comfort food and tasty microbrews, head to the Northampton Brewery, which is also a lively place to drink and people-watch. As with any cool college town, Northampton has a few excellent coffeehouses, with the Haymarket Cafe among the best. Here you can nosh on chocolate-cream-cheese cupcakes, butterscotch creme brulee, and goat cheese and black olive tapenade sandwiches, and sip lattes or tea while pecking away on your laptop or reading a good book.

Northampton isn’t a huge hub of gay nightlife, but the one gay club in town, Diva’s, is quite popular with students and a mostly 35-and-under crowd, and several of the mainstream nightspots in town have a strong community following. Diva’s is a large second-floor space on the outskirts of downtown – there’s a decent-size dance floor, and in good weather you can relax on the spacious patio. Queer-popular performers often play at the Iron Horse or at the larger Calvin Theatre. The popular Pearl Street Nightclub also books great entertainment and is an appealing place in town for drinks or dancing. There are few more convivial places to munch on pub fare and socialize in a totally mixed gay/straight setting than Fitzwilly’s, an old-fashioned tavern that’s been a fixture downtown for decades.

As Northampton’s cachet with tourists grows, new accommodations continue to pop up, both in town and elsewhere in the Pioneer Valley. Among larger properties, the Hotel Northampton occupies a stately 1927 building in the heart of downtown – it’s the most opulent accommodation in the area, with an excellent on-site restaurant, too. A short drive from town, the gay-friendly Clarion Hotel & Conference Center has clean, comfortable rooms, a reputable steak house, and indoor and outdoor pools.

In nearby Easthampton, you’ll find two charmingly furnished rooms at the gay-friendly McKinley House Bed and Breakfast, an attractive turn-of-the-20th-century house on a peaceful residential street. A tempting full breakfast is served in the morning. About 20 miles north of town, the gay-owned Brandt House is a luxurious white Colonial Revival estate on a bluff in historic Greenfield. It contains a mix of cushy suites and standard rooms, all with massive featherbeds and museum-quality antiques; a couple of rooms have working fireplaces and many have whirlpool tubs. Stroll the tree-shaded grounds, relax on the rear terrace, or take to the clay tennis court – this place is bliss defined.

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