Back in The Busy Season, I talked about my first three stops in May/June after returning home from my European adventure – Santa Barbara, St. Louis, and back to Chicago for a work conference and a little home time, but since then, while it seems like a blink of an eye, I have traveled to 11 more places all the way up to where I am now, which is flying back to Chicago from Louisville.
The majority of this travel as for work purposes, but I did get a few bits of my own travel in there, namely to my two major faves: New York and New Orleans.
Since this was mostly for work, I didn’t exactly get a ton of time to sightsee or do much fun, and I think I may do the NYC and NOLA trips on their own. So, the rest of this post will be quick bits about the rest.
New York, NY & Cape Cod, MA
The first part of this trip was to New York, and I will do a separate post about that. After a fun weekend in the city, I boarded an Amtrak train to Providence, RI. The train trip out of the city, through Connecticut, and into Providence was fairly uneventful. I have never been to Providence before, and it was merely a stop on the longer trip to Cape Cod.
If I hadn’t gone to NYC before, then I likely would have flown into Providence directly, and whether it be train or flight, I needed to pick up a car to go the rest of the way to Cape Cod.
I took an Uber to the nearest Enterprise rental office, and after I picked up my car, I needed to find the FedEx Office location I had shipped my conference booth materials. I didn’t want to lug my oversized container around New York and the conference hotel was charging an exorbitant amount to receive and store anything, which is one of the main reasons why I have started taking the booth with me this year.
Since I had never been to Providence, I really didn’t know anything about the layout of the city when I decided on which FedEx to use, and what I didn’t realize is that the one I did chose was pretty much on Brown University campus, which made parking challenging, and will be the tenor of this trip, it was raining.
I eventually got the container and got on the road to Cape Cod. Providence seems like a very pretty city with the colonial vibe you would expect from being one of the original 13 colonies, but that also means that streets are narrow and convoluted, that made it pretty challenging to navigate, but once I got on the interstate, it was pretty much an easy drive to North Falmouth, MA.
Rhode Island is a pretty small state, and Providence is on the eastern border of it, which meant I got to mark a fourth state off during this journey because Cape Cod is the hook of Massachusetts. It is really a series of small towns, some nicer than others, that culminates in the gay Mecca of Provincetown. I’m not going to lie, I did consider driving to P-Town one of the nights I was there, but with it being 90 minutes of winding roads, I decided against it.
Between Provincetown and the Kennedy’s in Hyannis Port, Cape Cod certainly has the image of upper crust, and while I am sure it is an exceedingly pretty area when in full bloom, heading to a beach resort in June while it pretty much rained the entire weekend did not exactly make me want to come back. Plus, North Falmouth seemed a little backwater, and honestly, it gave me vibes of driving around places like Brown County in Indiana or the areas between Knoxville and Gatlinburg in Tennessee. This is not a slag on any of those locations, but I guess I was expecting a little more for THE Cape Cod.
The conference was being held at the Sea Crest Beach Resort, which was a pretty sprawling amalgamation of buildings. Again, the weather was not doing this hotel any favors, because the grey oppressive rain clouds were most definitely not conducive to beach anything, but I am sure in sunnier times, it would be a great place to visit (and if you liked sand…which we known I don’t).
The resort is meant to be a fairly contained experience, but since I wasn’t really planning on eating at the hotel much, I did go into town to hit a grocery store to pick up some things for me and the booth. That was the only time left the resort until I headed back to Providence to fly home.
I don’t really have too much more to report. It did stop raining on the last day I was there, and I did go out to see the beach and other areas nearby. Considering how remote and difficult it is to get to Provincetown, not to mention how limited the lodging options are, I am not sure this is an area I would say I am quick to come back to.
Final note, I drove back to the Provincetown airport, which for being such a small one was pretty much a nightmare. Some of that is because it under major construction, but whomever did the planning needs to be slapped, because there were no restrooms available in the side of terminal I was in, which meant you had to walk all the way to the other side of the terminal for a restroom. Not a huge deal for me, but I am thinking of anyone with a mobility issue. I was definitely ready to get out of there.
Orlando, FL
Picking up the last note, I hate the Orlando airport. It is poorly laid out, and it just isn’t built to handle the volumes of vacationers.
I have been to Orlando a few times in the past few years, but for the most part, those hotels have been on or near Disney property, which was nice because I could head over to Disney Springs and at least get a taste of the theme park. I even got the closest I ever need to get to a hurricane when Helene skirted Florida on the way to hitting the further up the east coast. It was the eeriest feeling standing on my balcony smelling the salt air churned up by the outer bands of Helene. You could almost feel the energy crackling and winding itself.
All of this is to say that this trip to Orlando was a lot less exciting. The resort was nice, and it had a nice pool, which I spent as much time as I possibly could floating on the lazy river (when I wasn’t working the conference that brought me there in the first place). This was more “downtown” and closer to the Universal parks. I did entertain the idea of going to Epic Universe, mainly to see Super Nintendo Land, but I just couldn’t justify the cost.
Not much more to say here, but I did write a post about the buffet vs. the European continental breakfasts I had in May. You can catch that over here.
Miami, FL
My company recently started a new project in Miami, and since it is rather large, it was considered an all hands on deck situation. There was a scenario where I left Orlando and went down to Miami, but after missing much of the fun of June in Chicago, I wanted to spend July 4th weekend at home.
It was a short stay, because on July 5th, I was on a plane down to Miami for a week in the new office. I have been to Miami before during a trip to Fort Lauderdale many years ago. We were there for Miami Beach Pride, which is definitely fun since it is ON the beach, but beyond that, I didn’t really gel much with the Miami Beach area, at least.
For this trip, I was staying downtown in the booming Brickell area. I probably don’t need to mention that I am not in love with the Miami airport, either. It’s rare to find me liking a Florida or Texas airport, but the more I travel, the more I appreciate O’Hare, warts and all.
After I got into my hotel, I decided to go exploring, and I primarily wanted to use mass transit to get to Miami Beach. I wasn’t going to have any other time this trip to do it, but what I didn’t realize was just how much the World Cup was disrupting everything in downtown. It took a lot longer to get to Miami Beach than planned.
Once I got off the bus, I tried to get a little acclimated, but it had been way to long since the last time I was there to remember much. I did make a quick pit stop into Walgreens to get an energy drink and hit the ATM because I know the first stop I was going to was cash only. Across the street from Walgreens Mac’s Club Deuce, which purports to be the oldest bar in Miami. I love finding an old dive bar, though I typically want to keep it in the family, but since this was the nearest option, I went for it.
Mac’s Club Deuce definitely has character! It’s almost vintage bowling alley, if that’s means anything to you. Think a winding bar and neon. One shocker when I first walked into the bar was that smoking was allowed inside. This fact, as well as the drink was overpriced and tiny, meant I didn’t stay for a second cocktail, but as far as checking off an historic dive bar, I can at least say mission accomplished.
I walked down the street to Twist, which is a big gay bar I have heard of before, but I am pretty sure we didn’t get to the last time I was here. I should remind you this is a late Sunday afternoon/early evening, and I wasn’t expecting a whole lot. When I walked in, it was still happy hour, and since there was a seat at the bar, I went ahead and took it instead of exploring more of this reasonably vast establishment.
I really enjoy bellying up to a bar and interacting with bartenders and the locals, and for this, Twist did not disappoint. The bartender was the expected amount of sassy for an afternoon happy hour veteran, and the fascinating person sitting next to me, who was dressed like a Victorian vampire (who may have, indeed, been one) had a lot of great stories about Miami and his home of NYC, where he was part of Paris is Burning era ballroom. Twist was a home run for what I want out of a trip to a bar on a business trip.
Since I had an early morning, I didn’t stay out too late, though I definitely wanted to try to stay for the drag show, but I made my way back to the hotel (via Uber this time), and I got ready for my week in the office.
I may have mentioned that I have worked from home since 2018, which obviously pre-dates the pandemic when everyone started to do the same thing, and while I am very much an introverted extrovert, I have, obviously, not worked in an office for a very long time.
I don’t want to say I was petrified, but it definitely had a “first day of school” vibe. I wanted to take the Miami transit as much as possible. They have an elevated train, but there is also a tram (think airport transportation between terminals) that is a fairly good way to get around the loop that it services.
Early in the morning, I walked my way to the tram stop, which was about a block from the hotel. I was already sweating in my khakis and company polo, which is a big change from my normal work attire which is generally shorts and usually not a shirt.
As I was walking up to the tram stop, I heard…a rooster. Then I heard another one, and then I saw several meandering flocks of chickens just wandering around the neighborhood. I certainly wasn’t expecting that. Ok, Miami…
I made it into the office and got settled, and frankly, that is pretty much where my Miami story ends. I didn’t get a chance to go out again. If the transit had been a bit less disturbed by the World Cup, I might have tried to get back out to Miami Beach, but I was there for work, real work, instead of the stop and start of the conference stuff I typically travel for. So, I was being a good boy.
I walked away from Miami with a bit of a higher opinion than when I came in, but it would still not necessarily be a vacation destination for me.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Yep, Florida again. After Miami, I was home for a three solid weeks. Towards the end of the Miami trip, I was really feeling the straying of having been on the road for almost two solid months between vacation in May and all the work travel in June.
Starting off the way the last three sections have gone, I hate the Fort Lauderdale airport, too. I had flown in there before, but the last time I flew on Southwest, which is a bit of a nicer terminal than American. It was rough.
The good part about this trip is that my hotel was very near my good friend’s Rob & Mark’s condo, and I was able to have dinner and catch up with them. It had been over a year since they joined me in New Orleans for my 50th birthday, and it was great to catch up with them.
After dinner, I decided to go ahead and head into Wilton Manors, the gay area of the city, even though it was a Monday night. I had a couple cocktails at Hunters, and I pretty much called it a night.
The conference was not great, and the hotel was actually pretty terrible. It takes a lot for me to hate a hotel, but this one, for being a Westin “resort,” was pretty lackluster. They’re obviously trying to make it better via renovation, but man, from it taking 10 minutes for water to warm up to the elevators not working all the time, I was definitely ready to get homeo
My flight was on Thursday, and since the conference wrapped up early, I went back into Manors to have dinner at Rosie’s and get my Big Helga giant pretzel. I love Rosie’s which has more outdoor seating than indoor, and it just has a fun Florida vibe with great drinks and a snarky menu of elevated diner food. I had a few cocktails there, and then I walked down the strip for a bit. I settled in at the Eagle for a couple cocktails, but since it was a Wednesday night and this was the “off” season for travelers, it was pretty dead.
San Juan, PR & Indianapolis, IN
Between Fort Lauderdale & Fort Worth, I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the first time for a work project, and I will be doing a separate post about that. Originally, I was just heading to Indianapolis for a conference and then visiting family, but when PR came around, it became a trip Chicago to San Juan and then San Juan to Indianapolis.
It was great to see family, since I hadn’t seen them since I left for Europe back in May!
Fort Worth, TX
There was one other trip between Fort Lauderdale and this one, but since it was my first time to San Juan, Puerto Rico, I will do a separate post about that. I really loved it, and I can’t wait to tell you about it.
For Fort Worth, I had to fly into one of my most hated airports: DFW. This is only the second time I have flown into it to stay though, and it was the first time I have ever had to deal with baggage claim. This is where I will actually give DFW some props. DFW is made up of a number of terminals connected by an inner and outer loop of trams. The trams are where the nightmares persist, but I didn’t have to deal with them this time.
I had envisioned having to go to a central location to wait on my bag, but that is not actually how DFW handles things, which made me happy. Each terminal does its own baggage claims on site. Since the terminals themselves are relatively compact, I literally walked out a door right to the baggage claim, and sit was glorious.
Then I had to take a ride share almost 30 minutes to downtown Fort Worth, which is someplace I have never been. As is with most downtowns, it was pretty dead when work was done, and since it was 109 degrees, people weren’t exactly clamoring to be outside, either.
I was staying in a Hilton property a few blocks from the conference hotel, which means I was out in the heat, but all in all, I actually kind of enjoyed Fort Worth. Unfortunately, it will also be the place I remember when I got the news that Dolly Parton had died. I had just finished setting up my booth, and I gay gasped in the middle of the exhibit hall.
It was a Tuesday, but I decided I wanted to venture out to some gay bars to see if there was any Dolly related eulogizing. I started out at the Liberty Lounge, which is a small, dive-type bar, which I absolutely loved. The walls were festooned with artwork from cartoons to real “art,” and I even found a few pics of Dolly on the wall. I sat there for a couple hours and took over the TouchTunes jukebox for lots and lots of Dolly, and I had a nice chat with the bartender and some of the locals.
The gayborhood in Fort Worth is not large, but there are a few bars in one area. I stumbled over to Jackie O’s, which is much more of an upscale lounge vibe and obviously a homage to Jackie Kennedy Onassis. I had a good time there interacting with the cute bartender and chit chatting with a local. Before I called it a night, I walked over to Club Reflection, that’s was a pretty large dance club, though no dancing on a Tuesday. There was a drag show, and I stayed for a few numbers. Since I had a long day ahead, I decided to call it a night.
This same conference will be in Fort Worth again next year, and I have to say I am kind of looking forward to it.
New Orleans, LA
I went to New Orleans for a vacation trip over Labor Day weekend. I need to do a New Orleans post, and since this one is just getting to be too long, let’s just say it was a fun week, hot AF, and I think I learned 5 days in NOLA is too much. More to come.
Washington, DC
After I got back from New Orleans, I had a couple days before leaving for Washington, DC to assist with a training. I have a complicated relationship with DC. I was a political nerd growing up, and I went to school for Political Science. I spent a semester in DC, and I loved it. It was the city I was first “out” in, and it will always have a special place in my heart.
But… That semester also gave me a bird’s eye view of how DC operates, and while I could have gone back after school, I just didn’t. I have fallen into government tangential work for all of my professional career, but DC just does not hit the way it once did. I should probably do a post about DC, too.
I have been to DC a few times for work, but it has always been either in the Georgetown/Dupont Circle area or downtown. This conference training was in a hotel on Capitol Hill near Union Station. After I got settled in my hotel, I took a walk to Union Station, a building I had always loved, and they also have a Walgreens now, which I took advantage of to pick up some supplies.
As I was walking towards Union Station, I stopped in my tracks feeling a great sense of Déjà vu at Kelly’s Irish Times, a venerable Irish bar. I then realized that 2026 is 30 years ago, when a 21 year old Nick went to Kelly’s Irish Times with some of his cohorts from the semester in DC. It was such an odd and unexpected feeling.
21 year old Nick was definitely in a different headspace than the 51 year old one, and I am sure that Nick the younger had no idea that he’d be standing here 30 years later thinking about those days in DC.
Louisville, KY
This was my last combo trip of the year. I flew from DC to Louisville for a conference. It was being held in a hotel near the airport, which just meant there was NOTHING around the hotel to do, and other than a trip to Walmart to pick up some items for myself and the booth, I pretty much stayed put in the hotel the whole time.
Louisville used to have a great bar called The Connection, which was a gigantic warehouse sized building (or conglomeration for buildings) that held five or six different bars inside it, and it was one of the first I ever experienced a real show bar. We would make the trip from Indianapolis in the same night. Those were the days, but Connection not longer exists. Louisville is kind of boring now.
It is at this point of the story where I should say I am getting pretty worn down by all the travel this year, and the fact that the conference was a mess for me, professionally, I was really ready to go home.
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That pretty much wraps up my summer of travel. As I am writing this, after two+ weeks home after Louisville, I am sitting in the lounge at O’Hare about to kick off Q4 travel with a short hop to Detroit until Tuesday, and I have all of my travel planned through December 31st!
