Follies and Foibles on Rainbow Mountain

I should have realized when I met Ed, AKA Evelyn, outside of Cherry House at Rainbow Mountain on Friday night that the weekend was going to be a strange one.  Yes, after last year's, um...adventure, my pals Sean, Sonny and I returned to that Mountain Called Rainbow over in the Poconos, and we even brought a fourth, our friend and fellow bowler Al.  It was Sonny who planned the whole thing, and although I knew little about the particular weekend we were going, I happily agreed to go just happy for a weekend getaway from life.  Little did I know I was in for a couple of days in the Twilight Zone.

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I really didn't think anything of it at first.  Ed was smoking a cigarette outside, as was I, and we were just making friendly chit chat.  He...she...was very tall, over six feet, and quite simply looked like a middle-aged man in women's clothes...garish women's clothes to boot,  When he mentioned that his wife didn't want him to come, I became curious and soon found out that he was there for the first time and very nervous.  We soon parted ways as I returned to my room to get ready to go to the club with my buds.

Though I thought of Rainbow as somewhat dated and not really the nicest of places, I did remember that the club housed on the grounds was pretty cool.  It had been packed last time and lots of fun, so I was really looking forward to getting my groove on...that is, until I got there.  On the short walk from Cherry House over to the club we passed two more people like Ed. As we walked past them, Sonny casually mentioned, Oh, it's crossdresser's weekend.  

Really?  Are you kidding? 

No, Really!

It was true.  We walked into the empty, cavernous club and immediately made our way downstairs to the basement for some crossdressing karaoke.  Out of the thirty or so people down there, more than half the patrons were middle-aged crossdressers singing Frank Sinatra, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and plenty of other songs from like forty years ago.  We were definitely in the Twilight Zone!  As my pal Rich said when I told him the story a couple of days later, I'd have gotten drunk, that's exactly what I did.  Great minds think alike!

And so set the stage for a weekend of follies and foibles, missed opportunities and a few laughs in between.  It wasn't the greatest of weekends, but it was good to be doing it all with some good people. Here are some of the highlights and low-lights of the weekend...      

After a morning of outlet shopping, the four of us were hungry and looking for a snack to tide us over before dinner.  Along the road in Stroudsburg, Al noticed the coolest little place, Rootin' Tootin' Hot Dogs.  This place as like the hot dog version of so many of those 50's style hamburger places that are so popular these days.  It was owned by a sweet gay couple who really put their own unique spin on both the vintage decor and the menu.  

Old 45 record sleeves adorned the walls and beautifully crafted wooden shelves lined the perimeter. There were red leather booths and a real jukebox that played three songs for a quarter.  And the menu consisted of hot dogs served in several unique ways, with chili, cheese, pesto mayonnaise and more, as well as some delicious tater tot/hash browny potatoes.  High point!

The Horror Hotel

On Sonny's itinerary for us over the weekend was a visit to a haunted mansion, which is always fun. After realizing that the one he had picked out was 45 minutes away, we found one a little closer called the Horror Hotel, or something to that effect.  This place was three attractions in one, and though three of us (four of Sonny's friends had met us up there on Saturday) ended up bailing after a really long wait for the second one (low point!), the one that we did go through was pretty darned scary...and full of belly laughs, too. You see, Sonny's got this look about her that just seems to attract people everywhere she goes, and virtually every monster at this ride set their sights on our poor friend.  You can imagine the laughs we shared at her expense.

Karaoke, More Belly Laughs, and Bradley

Other than the crossdressing karaoke singers, probably the one thing we're all going to remember the most about this particular weekend is Bradley.  Bradley was this young dude who is a local to the Rainbow Mountain area.  He seemed like, and I hate to say this, but it's true, a meth head, though he didn't really appear to be high or anything...maybe just exhibiting some of the effects of having done the drug for a long, long time. Really, though, Bradley was sweet and harmless, and he provided us with all of the entertainment we'd need for that second night at Rainbow.

We'd all first seen Bradley on Friday night, first at karaoke doing a nice rendition of something by Miranda Lambert.  After that, he spent most of the night alone, shirtless on the dance floor pretending he was a stripper at a club or something.  It was then that his strangeness first made itself known, as every once in awhile he'd run up to the bar, place his hands on it as if he were going to do a some sort of flip as his feet arced upwards behind him, and he'd make this very strange face as he yelled out a great big Ahhhhhhh.  It was a unique sound that really can't be described in words, except perhaps some sort of jungle bird calling out to a potential mate.  We'd hear that sound a lot over the next two nights.

To top things off...you remember how I said earlier that Sonny seems to attract attention wherever she goes?  Well, Bradley first laid his eyes on her Friday night and his admiration only grew by Saturday.  Bradley was in love!  Before Sonny and I even hit the front door on Saturday, the Ahhhhhh's could be heard echoing throughout the chilly night air.  

Hey baby!  Sonny was aghast.

Bradley followed us inside and downstairs to a booth where Sonny's pals were hanging out and we were all just taking it in.  The attention Bradley was paying to poor old Sonny.  It was priceless, both Bradley and Sonny's reactions to him, well at least for a couple of hours.

Eventually, though, Bradley got the hint and made himself scarce.  Everybody, except for me and Al, got up and karaoked the rest of the night away.  Sonny, as always, was fabulous (she even won a contest!), and by the end of the night everyone had become so imbibed that the whole group wanted to get up and do Madonna's True Blue.  As you can imagine, and as the karaoke hostess claimed, it was one hot mess!  But it was a fun ending to a strange weekend on Rainbow Mountain.  Of course the next morning the question came up: Will I ever go again?  All I can say is we shall see...but definitely not on crossdresser's weekend.