Activities and such ...

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This posting is from: annie
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A few comments on the various activities ...

I'll post some follow-up thoughts later ...

> 6:30 p.m. Happy half hour at Gino's East
> 7:00 p.m. Dinner at Gino's East

Gino's is good. It kinda reminds me of Giordano's, even in the way the
place is laid out. Food was great, server was fantastic, bar service was
good too. No issues at all. This one is a keeper. :)

> 9ish: Gentry on State

Well, everybody at Gino's decided to go directly out to Hunters, so
that's what we did. Hunters was slow on Thursday. NBD, I enjoyed having
a few drinks.

I hope nobody went to Gentry looking for us ... :(

>Friday, October 13:
> 12:30 a.m. Lunch at Ed Debevics

This place is always fun. Good thing we decided to do lunch there this
year instead of dinner, since the bar is being remodeled and is closed.

> 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. Open house at SpaSkinStyle

This is one of our definite finds for Pinkfest 2006. It seems that TGs
make up a good percentage of their clientele.

I think they are going to be a major hit at DLV! :)

> 6:30 p.m. Happy Half Hour at Winberies (Oak Park)
> 7:00 p.m. Dinner at Winberie's

I like Winberies. I've always enjoyed the food and the service there,
as well as the bar.

This year it seemed more crowded and hectic than before. I know it was
Friday, but I surely don't remember it being as packed on Friday last
year. It was SRO with very little SR at all in the bar, and it was
somewhat challenging to stay out of the traffic pattern.

I realize we did have one major complaint. Winberies is not a steak
house, but I've always regarded their staff as being very professional
and concerned about keeping the customers happy. I might suggest that if
you don't see or get exactly what you want, or if you just want things
your way, ask them. I do remember a couple of our people asking for
things this way and that way, and they seemed to be very happy to
oblige.

One good thing about Winberies is that it's convenient to just about
everybody. Not too far from the expressway for those driving and right
by the El for those without a ride.

Hmmmmm ... it seems that I'm (still) the only one who has posted a
review of this place on Centerstage. This kinda confirms the "well-kept
secret" status. :)

> 9ish A drink at the Nutbush

Nutbush is a nice neighborhood bar. In fact, if I had not been riding
with others, I probably would have elected to stay there (longer) and
gone to Hunters later or skipped it entirely.

> 10:30ish Partying at Hunters Dance Club

Hunters was crowded and zooey, as usual for a weekend. I really didn't
stay that long. I was a bit concerned about getting a ride back so I
left with Elena when she did.

>Saturday, October 14:
> 12:30 p.m. Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe

Ubiquity at its finest! :)

Seriously, I've always enjoyed the food, the drinks, and the service
there and this year was no exception.

> 10 a. m - 8 p.m. - Open house at Rachel's Wigs

This is another great find. A nice neighborhood salon. It appeared to me
that a good percentage of their customers are TG. I've always heard this
place offers great service and competitive prices, and know I know first
hand. :)

> 6:30 p.m.: Happy Hour at Ann Sathers (BYOB)
> 7:30 p.m.: Dinner at Ann Sathers

The only bad thing about Ann Sathers is there's no cocktail service.

This actually worked out well, since for the second year I was treated
to Ginger's favorite whisky [sic] which is something I probably would
not normally drink.

The food was most excellent as usual. The cheesecake was a real
diet-buster. {sigh}

Very good turnout, partly due to the co-sponsorship with SBS. Quite a
few DLVers in attendance!

> 9ish: Boystown Bars

Quite different this year. I followed part of our crowd who just said
they were gonna go to the first bar they came to. Well, that was the L&L
Tavern, just north of Belmont on Clark.

Looking this one up on Centerstage, it seems they have quite the
reputation ...

"Not only is this a classic dive bar, but it's serial killer friendly.
Both John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer were known customers! ..."

Their house specialty was some kind of liqueur which looked and smelled
like green nail polish remover at something like $8 per shot. I think I
will stick with Galiano [sic] ... ... NOT! :)

Ya know, I actually enjoyed the place. The bartender was somewhat of
a grouch, but he was a grouch to all, not just TGs.

After that, some scattered to the winds, some went out to Hunters, and
the group I was with wandered on, looking for a semi-quiet bar. Cocktail
was a zoo, so we went to Roscoes, which had a cover, so we ended up at
Hydrate, which was actually nice. I guess Hydrate turns into a dance bar
after midnight.

We never made it to Gentry. Rare exception for Pinkfest. Sometimes
it's nice to just go and shoot the sh^H^Hbreeze, as opposed to being
entertained.

>Sunday, October 23:
> 12:30 p.m. Lunch at Rainforest Cafe

BBBBZZZzzzzzzzt! Wrong! Thanks for playing anyway, your consolation
prize is dinner (lunch, actually) at Maggiano's Little Italy. (Imagine
hypey Columbia School of Broadcasting radio voice ... "Maggiano's, just
like your friend's grandmother used to make!") :) :)

> 5:00 pm: Farewell Dinner at Chop House

This year's Pinkfest was a total diet-buster, and CCH was the be-all and
end-all! This has to be my favorite place to eat in Chicago. I ordered
the same steak as I had last year, but this year it seemed to be twice
the size and cut easily with a butter knife. I was almost comatose after
dinner!

Overall, Pinkfest 2006 was very laid-back and enjoyable as usual. Thanks
to all who attended and made Pinkfest what it was. I'll post some
follow-up thoughts shortly.


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This posting is from: Elena
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Annie,

I am glad you had a good time at almost everything. I had a good time
at everything I went to at Pinkfest. It was also great to see everyone
and meet a couple of new people.

I set-up the schedule to make it easy for girls staying at hotels near
downtown. But then just about everyone was staying out in the suburbs.
I am just wondering if maybe I should schedule more stuff in the
suburbs. People enjoy the city so I don't want to switch much. Maybe
the Sunday lunch and/or Thursday dinner. I guess this largely depends
where people will be staying.

A few more comments:

annie wrote:

>> 6:30 p.m. Happy Half Hour at Winberies (Oak Park)
>> 7:00 p.m. Dinner at Winberie's

>This year it seemed more crowded and hectic than before. I know it was
>Friday, but I surely don't remember it being as packed on Friday last
>year. It was SRO with very little SR at all in the bar, and it was
>somewhat challenging to stay out of the traffic pattern.

The bar area was pretty empty at 6:30 p.m. It started getting crowded
after 7:00 and then really crowded after Pinkfest attendees came
7:15-7:30.

>I realize we did have one major complaint. Winberies is not a steak
>house, but I've always regarded their staff as being very professional
>and concerned about keeping the customers happy. I might suggest that if
>you don't see or get exactly what you want, or if you just want things
>your way, ask them. I do remember a couple of our people asking for
>things this way and that way, and they seemed to be very happy to
>oblige.

It is too bad there was a problem. I have been to Winberie's several
times before and the food and service was always great, although I did
not order steak. I agree with Annie Winberie's staff is very
accomadating to special requests.

>> 9ish: Boystown Bars

>Quite different this year. I followed part of our crowd who just said
>they were gonna go to the first bar they came to. Well, that was the L&L
>Tavern, just north of Belmont on Clark.

snip

>After that, some scattered to the winds,some went out to Hunters, and

Actually some went to see Barely Standing, a heavy metal rock band with
a TG bass player (Stevie) and a TG following. I am a fan and have seen
them several times. I saw Stevie on Sunday and she suggested we try to
coordinate Pinkfest with Barely Standing playing somewhere.

>the group I was with wandered on, looking for a semi-quiet bar. Cocktail
>was a zoo, so we went to Roscoes, which had a cover, so we ended up at
>Hydrate, which was actually nice. I guess Hydrate turns into a dance bar
>after midnight.

I heard that Hydrate has three bars and a large dance floor. Just one
bar was open when we were there.


>We never made it to Gentry. Rare exception for Pinkfest. Sometimes
>it's nice to just go and shoot the sh^H^Hbreeze, as opposed to being
>entertained.

I agree it was nice to talk.

>>Sunday, October 23:
>> 12:30 p.m. Lunch at Rainforest Cafe

>BBBBZZZzzzzzzzt! Wrong! Thanks for playing anyway, your consolation
>prize is dinner (lunch, actually) at Maggiano's Little Italy. (Imagine
>hypey Columbia School of Broadcasting radio voice ... "Maggiano's, just
>like your friend's grandmother used to make!") :) :)

I should have suggested Maggiano's instead of Rainforest Cafe. I just
forgot about it.

Elena


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This posting is from: annie
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>I set-up the schedule to make it easy for girls staying at hotels near
>downtown. But then just about everyone was staying out in the suburbs.
>I am just wondering if maybe I should schedule more stuff in the
>suburbs. People enjoy the city so I don't want to switch much.

I am including some of this on a more general item I'm writing, but ...

The big drawing card of the suburbs is Hunters.

Janna's, Winberies, Nutbush, etc., are away from the inner city, but
do-able without a car.

I chose my hotel this year as a compromise on many things, price,
location, convenience, scale, food, etc. One factor was that I could
have done everything but Hunters without a vehicle. I was lucky enough
to find rides which made some things easier (thanks again, gang) but I
most definitely wanted to do Pinkfest without a vehicle.

Moving more things to the 'burbs implies more dependency on private
vehicles.

If there are any PARTICULAR things of interest in the 'burbs, yes, let's
do them, but let's not fix what ain't broke! :) (There's a diner people
talk about out by Ohare that sounds like fun, for example.)

Chicago is the Loop, River North, Lakeview, and even Ravenswood and Oak
Park (among many others). These areas give Chicago the class and charm
that I look forward to experiencing at Pinkfest.

Not to put down Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg, etc., but they exude the
essence of nondescript suburbia, with shopping malls, a Chilis on every
corner, and really nothing that you can't get in the suburbs of Omaha
or Kansas City or Orange County or anywhere.

Pinkfest *IS* Chicago, and I would like to see it kept that way. :)


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This posting is from: Denise McCracken
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Just a few questions...thanks for keeping me on the list, even though I
never seem to be able to make it. I guess I'm wondering how it compares
to DLV...

Do most of the Pinkfest people make it to most of the activities, or do
a lot of people go off on their own? How many people go?

..and most importantly, is it already cold up there?

-densie


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This posting is from: Lynda
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>..and most importantly, is it already cold up there?

denise.for an arizona girl the answer is yes at this time of the year it
is colder than a well diggers butt in the klondyke



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This posting is from: annie
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>Just a few questions...thanks for keeping me on the list, even though I
>never seem to be able to make it. I guess I'm wondering how it compares
>to DLV...

Think back to DLV 1998 and DLV 1999 and you'll have a good idea of the
look and feel of Pinkfest.

(Shades of DLV 1998 ... We even had what you might call a surrogate
Galiano [sic] as one bar we visited, the one that's "Serial Killer
Friendly", had a house specialty of some nasty liqueur that looked
and smelled kind of like blue nail polish remover. There were even
some "Del Mar opportunities" this year, if anybody was interested.)

>Do most of the Pinkfest people make it to most of the activities, or do
>a lot of people go off on their own?

This year we had some things (dinners and bars) where we attracted a good
turnout, and others only had a handful.

In general, evening activities were better attended than those in the
daytime.

Since the model is very similar to that of DLV, everybody's free to come
and go as they like.

>How many people go?

I think at Saturday dinner we had about 16. That was probably the single
largest gathering this year. There were a few others who came to HHH
(that's Happy Half Hour) before but did not stay for dinner.

>..and most importantly, is it already cold up there?

This was the coldest Pinkfest we've ever had. It was snowing when I
landed at Midway, and Thursday and Friday were definitely Bad Hair
Advisory days. It was nice but cool on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

In past years we've seen it get to the 60s and even the 70s one year.


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This posting is from: Denise McCracken
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I'll have to say that 1998 was the most interesting, exciting, and often
silliest DLV, the one that I will never forget.

I wasn't there for the Margeth/restroom encounter, but if it was
anywhere near as funny as the Keys restroom incident, I think that I
would have been the one losing bladder control. I wanted to crawl under
a rock at first, but it didn't take long for me to realize just how
funny it was.

The cold, I might have a hard time dealing with. I would be the one in
the parka and the moon boots.

-densie


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This posting is from: annie
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>I'll have to say that 1998 was the most interesting, exciting, and
>often silliest DLV, the one that I will never forget.

DLV 1998 still is one of my faves. The year the Galiano [sic] legend
was born. :)

>I wasn't there for the Margeth/restroom encounter, but if it was
>anywhere near as funny as the Keys restroom incident, I think that I
>would have been the one losing bladder control.

Well, if you woulda been at Pinkfest 2004 you could have witnessed me
pull a Margeth on the way back from Hunters. :) It's funny when I look
back on it, but it was uncomfortable at the time. :)

>The cold, I might have a hard time dealing with. I would be the one in
>the parka and the moon boots.

This year it was unseasonably cold. Usually it's been cool but not cold.
I'm sure glad I brought along the heavier coat this year. Usually a
sweater or light jacket is all that's required.


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This posting is from: Elena
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>This year it was unseasonably cold. Usually it's been cool but not cold.
>I'm sure glad I brought along the heavier coat this year. Usually a
>sweater or light jacket is all that's required.

The weekend before the it was sunny with a high in the low seventies.
Then a few days later it was snowing! Weather in Chicago is quite
variable. We got unlucky with this year's Pinkfest.

Elena


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This posting is from: Janna
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Yes Elena, you did a marvelous job getting all those people together
and getting people to places and making it look easy and fun! You did
a great job! Hugs Janna _www.Jannasplace.com_
(http://www.Jannasplace.com)


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