That's the part I play

Glitter and be gay, that's the part I play

Glitter

We circled Las Vegas for nearly an hour waiting to land and from looking out of the window it was clear that we weren’t the only ones circling the airport. It gave me a good chance to study the city from above. It looked so odd, all the tall buildings in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t really appreciate how isolated the place was. We finally landed. It turned out that we had been waiting for a plane carrying President Obama to take off and for them to reopen the airport. The delay meant that several planes all landed and unloaded their passengers in quick succession making for a very long taxi queue. By the time I got to the hotel I was staying in I was feeling pretty tired so I grabbed some dinner from the nearest store and had an early night.

As I helped myself to breakfast the following morning I thought I saw a familiar face. I was still pre-coffee so it took a little while to register. It turned out to be a friend of Stephen, my Boston gay, who I had met back in July when I was at Stephen’s birthday BBQ. I got my coffee and we headed out to one of the tables by the pool to catch up. I added it to the list of random meetings since starting my trip. That took me to four in five months (the others being the ex in NYC, Bruno in P’Town & my old colleague in DC). After breakfast I read a book for a while lounging by the pool, something I hadn’t done in a while (the reading that is, I had done plenty of lounging). By late morning I was starting to get a bit warm in the sun so I had a swim in the pool then went to get showered and changed before heading to the Strip to check out some of the casinos.

Be gay

One of the guys I met a couple of days before in Portland had put me in touch with someone he knew in Las Vegas, a guy called KC. He sounded like the perfect tour guide for someone on a gay travel adventure. KC was the current Mr Gay Las Vegas Pride. I am not sure but I think that this meant there was nobody gayer than KC in Las Vegas. I had swapped messages with him and we arranged to meet up. He said that he would be able to give me a bit of a tour round and keep me company over a drink or two at the local gay drinking establishments should I fancy a drink (I assured him I would). Once he had finished work we sorted a place to meet up for a spot of food. We headed for sushi at a place called Ra Sushi. It was “happy hour” on the sushi and we ordered a couple of dishes to share.

The people I have met on my travels have been so much more interesting than I could possibly have imagined. They have the sort of stories that would be unbelievable if you read about them in fiction. KC was originally from close to the Utah border and had been brought up a Mormon. He had done his mission in Italy and have lived and worked in Vegas for a little while, doing a lot of charity work which was how he had got the Mr Gay Las Vegas 2011 title. His surname is Golightly (I kid you not). I listened with fascination as he told me his story. As we ate and chatted we had both clocked one of the waiters who was very smiley every time he went by our table. Gaydar is such a great thing to have but difficult to explain to (straight) people how exactly it works. You can just tell, most of the time. As we headed out of the restaurant KC left his number with our waitress and asked her to pass it on to the waiter who had been smiling at us. KC had the philosophy that if you don’t ask you will never hear an answer you want. The worst that would happen is the guy would never call, which he would never do anyway if he didn’t leave his number. A good philosophy that I decided I would try to be better at once I was home and dating again.

After dinner we headed off to look at some of the old neon signs from the casinos and walk down Fremont Street – home to casinos like Glitter Gulch and the 4 Queens (we were a couple of queens short). Over the street was a massive TV screen. We stood and watched the show for a while. As it was approaching Halloween there was a rendition of the Time Warp being blared out, with some great animations. After there we headed to a new gay bar called The Garage for a quick drink and so KC could drop off a costume he had been making for one of the guys who works there. The place was fairly quiet as it was still quite early evening but it looked like a nice place.

KC asked if I had seen the Strip at night yet. I explained that I had only arrived the previous evening and had done very little. He took me to see the lobby of the Bellagio which is always decorated according to the season. They had all of their autumn (fall) decorations out – lots of pumpkins and the like. It was pretty spectacular and pretty crowded. We headed outside after to take in the fountain show. We found a good spot at the front where I would be able to get some photos. The music started and I recognised the song instantly – My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. 

From there we made our way to another bar called Charlies. KC explained that it was drag queen bingo night. The place was pretty busy when we arrived, a game of bingo was in full swing and there was a hush over most of the bar. We did a quick fruit loop during which KC introduced me to a few people before we settled in at the bar. I am used to bingo where the numbers go up to 90 and you look for a line then full house. I didn’t get the version we were playing where you had to make the shape that they were displaying at the front. It was amazing how many rude shapes they could make out of colouring in certain squares on a 5 by 5 grid though. There were a whole host of drag queens to do the bingo, which seemed a little excessive. During the breaks in the bingo there was a spot of line dancing. I didn’t join in the dancing. KC dropped me back at the hotel and said he would probably be free the following evening too.

The next morning I was up and had breakfast by the pool and eased myself into the day slowly with a couple of cups of coffee. Having not made it all the way down the Strip the previous day I set off walking again. I walked the entire length from the Sahara at the top end all the way down to the famous Las Vegas sign just past the Mandalay Bay at the bottom end. The place seemed so strange, seeing replica versions of famous buildings I had seen for real.

That's the part I play

KC gave me a call once he had finished work. He told me that he had got my name on the guest list for Krave if I wanted to go there later. He said he wouldn’t be going as it was a school night but that he was around for a drink beforehand if I wanted to meet up. He picked me up and we headed back to The Garage. It was a little busier than the previous night. As we sat chatting and drinking KC asked what sort of man I tended to go for. I answered and KC picked up his phone, flicked through a few photos and then showed me a photo & asked for my opinion on the man on the screen. I responded saying that the guy was cute. KC told me he was 6 foot 4. Even better. KC went back to his phone. I thought he was checking for other photos but apparently not because a couple of minutes later he told me that the guy in the photo was on his way over to join us for a drink.

He duly arrived and was as good looking in real life as he was in the photo I had been shown. The three of us chatted for a while and KC’s friend & I seemed to hit it off. KC said it was time for him to head home (possibly a tactical retreat which was nice of him). I headed on to another bar with my new friend as one of his friends was doing a drag show and he felt like he should go show his support. The drag show was good although we missed one of the acts completely because we were busy snogging. He was a good kisser. I felt like I needed to be on tiptoes to reach. The old Yellow Pages advert flashed through my head. It was my final night in Sin City so I sinned a little.

“Glitter and be gay, that's the part I play” 
Lyrics from Glitter and be gay from the musical Candide