, statn travel guis wh a gay perspective.
Contents:
- GAY RSIAN RIVER
- JOURNEYS; AT RSIAN RIVER, GAY CAMPERS FD THEY ARE NOT ALONE
- GAY RSIAN RIVER TRAVEL GUI
- GAY FRIENDLY EVENTS AND ATTRACTNS AROUND THE RSIAN RIVER
- A GAY GUI TO GUERNEVILLE
GAY RSIAN RIVER
Article seri An Amerin Summer, which explor way people around untry spend their summers, on some of about two dozen mpg rorts sttered around Rsian River Valley north of San Francis, Calif, that ter to gay men and lbians; photos; map (M) * russian river gay campground *
Vis WebseLotnContact Us DirectlyGuerneville CA, 95446 Get DirectnsContactEmail: [email protected]SocialGay Rsian River FacebookDcriptnThe Rsian River is the Wt Coast's favore LGBTQ+ playground.
''Fife's and the two dozen or so other rorts sttered around the valley, a verdant stretch of redwood-rich land about 15 om the Pacific Ocean, have long offered a bulic refuge for gay men and lbians, a place where a mix of eedoms -- social, personal, sexual -- transform the annual summer holiday to somethg more than jt a week's break om the grd of the 's particularly te of Mr. Bracctti's Northern California -- that clud summer mpg trips wh their parents and siblgs, an annual fay rual they found they missed as they grew olr and beme clear that their futur would not clu wiv and the two men joed the Los Angel branch of Great Outdoors, a gay and lbian recreatnal anizatn, and for the last five years they have led a group pilgrimage to Rsian River and to s mercial hub, Guerneville, a somewhat rough-around-the-edg California town of 3, 000 that is home to an eclectic mix of gay bars and Irish pubs, gay bookshops and ice cream parlors, tattoo artists and vegan chefs, and stor sellg a variety of merchandise, cludg X-rated greetg rds and cha saws.
Then, 1978, a wealthy Philalphian named Peter Penr bought the old Murphy's Ranch Rort, which the Murphy fay had opened 1905 along the river at the edge of downtown Guerneville, and reopened as Fife's, the area's first gay rorts unrwent siar transformatns, addg dis bars and clothg-optnal hot tubs, and soon the Rsian River Valley was Northern California's answer to Cherry Grove on Fire Island and Provcetown on Cape Cod. ''Gay and lbian people have always sought out ways to gather plac where they uld let their hair down and be themselv, '' said Eric Marc, the thor of ''Makg Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lbian and Gay Equal Rights'' (Harper Colls, 2002). ''Gay people vatn like everyone else, '' Mr.
JOURNEYS; AT RSIAN RIVER, GAY CAMPERS FD THEY ARE NOT ALONE
* russian river gay campground *
And they know they'll fd the thgs at a gay rort, though the early days for plac like Rsian River, was more bathhoe than bungalow lony. ''I was like 'Oh, wow, look at this, 's a whole rort jt for gay people, ' '' Mr.
' ''It was before the AIDS epimic swept San Francis, when gay liberatn was at s height, and people who had been closeted for years were revelg their newfound eedom. The cisg scene at Fife's, and the other gay rorts, disappeared.
''Most gay people we knew, their ia of mpg was no room service, '' Mr. Prev versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn F, Page 1 of the Natnal edn wh the headle: JOURNEYS; At Rsian River, Gay Campers Fd They Are Not Alone. Featured Gay Friendly Hotel Rsian River.
GAY RSIAN RIVER TRAVEL GUI
Gay Rsian River. And wh hundreds of revelers town for the weekend, ’s a perfect time to showse Sonoma County’s gay-iendly attractns, many of them wh drivg distance of Guerneville. The area’s gay populary dat back to the mid-1970s, when s first gay rort, the Rsian River Lodge, opened the Fortville lotn that now holds the upsle Farmhoe Inn.
Philalphia transplant Peter Penr followed 1977 by takg over Murphy’s rort Guerneville and remakg to Fife’s, a gay rort that lasted nearly 30 years. Guerneville still boasts the only two gay bars Sonoma County — the landmark Rabow Cattle Company and the r3 Hotel bar (formerly the Triple R). In late 2014, retired gay San Francis Police Department members Chuck Limbert and John Stephens opened the fire-hoe themed 3 Alarm Grill, featurg very tasty Midwtern fort food.
Gay Stays. Although known as a gay hotel, the hotel’s owner emphasiz that s guts are a mix of gay and straight.
GAY FRIENDLY EVENTS AND ATTRACTNS AROUND THE RSIAN RIVER
The hotel’s name is a nod to the long-closed gay Woods rort near the Armstrong Woods. A gay uple took over Guerneville’s popular Johnson’s Beach rort last year, and they are already drawg rave reviews for recent improvements.
A GAY GUI TO GUERNEVILLE
The Highlands Rort This 10-un, pl 10 mpse, property is the gayt of the rorts, although is owned by a straight and obvly very gay-iendly uple. Johnson’s Beach A gay uple took over Guerneville’s popular Johnson’s Beach rort and ncsn last year, and they already are drawg rave reviews for improvements ma to the rort’s b rooms and expansive mpse.
As wh s prev owners, the guts are mixed and gay iendly.
The biggt gay event Sonoma County is not this weekend’s Pri celebratn, but Lazy Bear Weekend, which celebrat s 20th year Aug. (Although Santa Rosa’s last gay bar closed 2001, LGBT-foced gathergs n be found on the Sonoma GayDar Facebook page.