Anchorage, Part Two
We had headed back to our glamorous hotel suite for a cocktail, Gentle Reader, when I left you. As you may remember from Anchorage, Part One, we had been scouring downtown for the gay bars that I was sure were there, in pursuit of dinner, drinks, and dancing – but we’d been thwarted. After our refreshments, then, we turned to the same fickle Internet that had evidently misled us earlier.
My beau, Mr. Temple, hired a taxi and we were off. When we arrived at the Kodiak – the first on our list – the doors were boarded up.
The driver seemed leery of letting us off there – but we knew that our backup destination was only a block away. First, we needed to find a place to eat.
We had a lovely dinner at the nearby Jade Steak and Seafood. The decor was lovely, the lighting low, the atmosphere upscale and quiet. Over dinner, it suddenly seemed that we were the only people in the joint who weren’t English. Since we’d been searching for the British Consulate for much of the day, it came as quite a surprise.
Passing a gay community center, we found Mad Myrna’s, the most popular gay bar in Anchorage – and, judging by the lack of options in its largest city – perhaps the most popular gay bar in all of Alaska.
Myrna herself, apparently
We approached the blond, buff bartender clad in tie-dye and shorts. He was awfully butch – maybe even straight – and very friendly. When I embarrassed Mr. Temple by informing Bartender “that he’d been living in Anchorage for 8 months and hasn’t even seen another gay person” he gave us some decent info on the local gay underground. The truth is, there isn’t much – quelle surprise – but Myrna’s boasts dancing, drag shows, and other events. It’s pretty Alaskan there – rough wood walls, unfinished stone accents – a sort of viking feast hall crossed with an old-time saloon.
Our ears pricked up at the mention of dancing, but alas, the dance floor was closed that evening. Instead, we perched on our stools – Mr. Temple with his vodka cran, me with my gin and lime – and perused the locals. We debated hitting the other gay bar in town – well, the other one that was probably still open, the Raven – but Temple had heard that it was pretty solidly a kink bar. Dressed as we were – pretty posh for a night on the town – we thought we’d better give it a miss.
And I think I’ll leave you there, Gentle Reader, with the rest of the trip our own. My thoughts on Anchorage? Parts of it are like any other city, parts of it are run-down and residential, and parts of that northern vastness speak to their frontier past, but all in all? Anchorage has a rugged beauty that’s well worth seeing.
Tagged: Alaska, Anchorage, Date Night, Gay Bars Far And Wide, Rambling Cities
