A Blast at the Invasion of the Pines

If the rest of the summer is going to be like this past weekend, well it's gonna be a great summer! This particular 4th of July Weekend was a great one from start to finish, full of friends new and old, plenty of fun, new memories, and a little bit of discovery to boot.  Sandwiched among drinks with friends on Friday night and a 4th of July party on Sunday, I got to experience the Fire Island Pines a bit more extensively not once, but twice, and on Monday I had my first opportunity at experiencing the infamous Invasion of the Pines...a complete blast!

The Invasion

According to legend, 40 years ago, in the summer of 1976, a Cherry Grove man by the name of Teri Warren was denied service at a Pines restaurant called the Botel, simply because he was dressed in drag.  Upon hearing of the incident, the freshly crowned Homecoming Queen of the Cherry Grove Arts Project, Thom Hansen, lead a small group of about 9 fellow dragsters over to the Pines to protest.  Though the drag queens expected confrontation, they were instead welcomed wholeheartedly and invited to hang for awhile at the Blue Whale by their more affluent neighbors who were amused at this "invasion of drag queens."  And thus, the Invasion of the Pines was born and has continued and grown ever since.   

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After All These Years

In all of the years I have been going to Fire Island I have never gone to see the Invasion of the Pines. Sure, I'd been invited before, even to ride on the boat, but I never accepted an invitation to go until this year.  Since I'd missed the NYC Pride Parade with my pals Manny and Ozzie a week earlier, I couldn't pass up a chance to see what all of the fuss was about.  Besides it was the 4th of July and a beautiful day to boot.

Manny, Ozzie, their friend Tara, her friend Jeannette and I made our way out to the Pines on an early 10:00 ferry.  The invasion is supposed to start at noon, but that's really when the festivities begin over at the Grove.  The main event doesn't really get underway until about an hour later.  When we first arrived the crowd was sparse, but not for long.  By noon the place was absolutely buzzing with people from all walks of life; straight gawkers, wannabe queens, muscleboys and pretty much everything in between.  As the time got closer and closer to the arrival of the boat it was literally standing room only on the dock.  Virtually every inch of space was filled, and it was going to be hard to see it all.  Finally, around 12:30 or so, the red carpet had been laid and the festivities were about to get underway.

After about a half hour of intros and filler, the time for the invasion had come...

Dragsters Galore

As you can see from the video, there were A LOT of drag queens on that boat, and the crowd loved it.  There was something about the spectacle of it all, the outlandish costumes, the performances of God Bless America and other tunes, the dancing and the parading, that made for an exciting celebration.  One by one the dragsters exited the boats as they were introduced and then made their way down he red carpet and off into the depths of the Pines community.

At Manny's suggestion, we had earlier purchased passes to the pool area, and once the parade had begun, my friend ushered us all to that very spot, as that was where most of the queens would end up. He was right, and this was where we got to check out some pretty colorful sights...

The Star of the Show

For me, the best part of the entire day was my friend Ricardo, who participated in the invasion as one of his alter-egos Miss Piggy.  Now Ricardo is a huge part of the gay community out here on Long Island, seen at virtually every major and minor event, recording all with his photos, and he even hosts a Latin Fusion Dance Party once a month at the Veranda in Bay Shore.  He's donned his Piggy outfit once before, but not for such a huge audience.

Piggy was on fire all afternoon, taking 2nd place in a contest of about 85 contestants and he was even mentioned newnownext/logo's blog post about the event.  Yeah, she was that good and you couldn't hep but smile every time you saw her.  God thing for me I got her on video doing her thang so you can see for yourself just how electrifying Piggy was...

   

All in all it was an awesome day under the sun at the Pines, with good friends and several hundred drag queens. I honestly don't know if I ever really have to do this again, it was soooo crowded....but it was a blast while it lasted!

An Amaaaazing Bachelor Party!

Last year, I told you how the gays have raised the bar on grand weddings when I attended the lavish Gatsby-styled shindig that was my friends Daved and Tom's wedding (An Affair to Remember). Well, after a wonderful day yesterday, I can attest to the fact that we've also now cornered the market on innovative and awesomely fun bachelor parties, too!

This September, two very good friends of mine, Eric and Rick, will be saying their vows to one another in front of many friends and family members, including me, and to celebrate their upcoming nuptials, Eric's sister Kristen, and two of the couple's very best friends, Jim and Steve, threw them a bachelor party none of us will soon forget...  

Hi everyone! Looking forward to next Saturday! We will be meting at noon to take the 12:25 Ferry from Sayville to Cherry Grove. As soon as we hit the Grove your Amazing Race Style Scavenger Hunt will begin. (So maybe leave the high heels at home.) As part of the prep for Race we need for each of you who is coming to this part, to give us your cell phone number. Please write that here ASAP. PS - This is ALL a SURPRISE to Eric and Rick!!! SHHHHHHHH...  

This was a message sent out to the participants of the Amazing Race Scavenger Hunt, the first of two parts of this great celebratory party.  None of us really had a clue, lol, as to what exactly to expect, but Kristen filled us all in once we were on the boat headed towards the Grove.  

The rules were simple.  The members of the group were put into teams of two and given a nylon bag to match the color of the team name.  My buddy Eric and I were Team Orange,  The bag was filled with water and other items we would need for our approximately hour-long scavenger hunt through Cherry Grove.  The theme was The Amazing Race and the game mirrored all of the things found on the hit game show, with clues, road blocks, detours and even one U-turn somewhere in the middle. Our hunt would begin as soon as we got to the dock, and soon enough, it was on!

Our first task was to find a house somewhere in this small community full of crisscrossing boardwalks and dozens upon dozens of homes. There was a marker to this one, though, a sign above the entrance way showing a Good n Plenty box.  Upon exiting the boat, the frantic search was on as about ten teams ran, chased and asked people for help in finding the home.  Within seconds we were all out of breath as we followed those who'd found out the location of the famous, candy coated icon, and once we were there, we were faced with our first task, called Suck It Up.  

Use the straws provided in this clue to transfer 10 Good n Plenty candies from a bowl to a cup.  You must use suction to get the candy to stick to the end of the straw.  You may not hold the candy in your hand.

One teammate must suck up a candy from the bowl with their straw and walk it over to their waiting teammate and drop it into the cup.  If it drops, you must come back to the bowl and get another candy.  After one teammate had transferred five candies, switch places.  Once your team has transferred 10 candies, give the cup to Jim to receive your next clue.
Pretty good, huh?  You would think that with all of these gay guys and women, sucking it up would be easy, but hell no!  The race to transfer 10 candies was on and it was fierce.  I went first for our team and oh my God, was it difficult!  I actually realized about midway through that my glasses were causing me to miss the cup that Eric was holding, dropping it just short a few times.  After removing them, I soon got the hang of it and after Eric quickly got his five candies, we were on our way to our next task in no time...

The rest of the next hour was filled with all sorts of cool and fun tasks, like counting the number of cherries in a picture of a drink, solving a puzzle of the 50 states, taking a picture in the Ice Palace's famous red chair wearing a 'costume' (we got Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears and mustaches!), drinking a strawberry margarita with curly straws in a task called Brain Freeze, pulling out bones in the game Operation, and my personal favorite, proposing to a stranger in the Ice Palace using a candy wedding ring.  

As you can see from these pictures, every single person involved had a great time, and as a testament to Eric and Rick, all of the people were genuinely fun to be with. Once the race's last task, Cracking the Code, was over, it was time for a little R&R, some food and drink, at the Tiki Bar overlooking the bay.  It was a nice way to ending that one grueling, frantic, and exhilarating hour.  The party continued on throughout the evening as more guests arrived at the Grove and we all danced, laughed, and had the time of our lives.

So, as for any of you out there who may be planning a bachelor party, or any other kind of shindig, perhaps you might want to take a hint from the gays, lol.  Like the spectacular wedding almost a year ago at the Suffolk Theater, this was one party to remember for a long, long time to come.  A very special shout out goes to Kristen, Jim and Steve, who masterminded this entire unique funfest.  I can't wait till the wedding!

Here are a few more pics from this fun-filled day, taken by some of my fellow guests...Enjoy!

  

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A Message from the Grove Hotel

I'm on an email list for the Grove Hotel in Cherry Grove, the one that was decimated by the fire the other night.  As I read it, I thought it would be a good thing to share it, so here's the email...

Esteemed Guests and Patrons,

This has been a difficult time for our Ice Palace & Grove Hotel family. Early Friday morning March 27 a fire swept through the Grove Hotel destroying the building.

The Ice Palace Nightclub was undamaged thanks to the amazing efforts of the Cherry Grove Fire Department as well as other neighboring departments. The Cherry Grove Fire Department's knowledge and training helped them contain the fire to the west side of the property. Sadly the fire consumed the hotel as well as homes on Holly Walk.

The Grove Hotel has been a gay hotel for over 59 Years and has had famous guests like Lady Gaga, Liza Minelli and countless Drag Superstars. We are still processing our emotions over this loss but assure the gay community we will rise from these ashes and rebuild.

Once our engineers evaluate the property we will announce the 2015 season opening of the Ice Palace Nightclub. Thank you to everyone for your kind words, love and support.

Dr Frank Liguori and the entire staff of the Grove Hotel

Let's hope and pray that the coming season at Fire Island will be a fruitful one for them, and one of the best for its guests.  Here's to a bright future for this summer and the ones to come...

A Sad Day in Cherry Grove

It was the first thing I saw this morning when I turned on my pc.  In case you haven't heard, there was a major fire over in Cherry Grove last night, over at the Ice Palace complex.  According to Edge Media, the blaze started around 1:30 a.m. and it took several fire departments from the main island to finally extinguish the last of the flames, but not before destroying much of the Grove Hotel, The Holly House, Kokomo and Carousel Guest House. The whole thing is eerily reminiscent of the November 2011 blaze that decimated much of the Pines, and one can't help but feel a sense of great sadness over it all.

For much of the gay community here on Long Island and far away, the news of this tragedy is devastating.  Fire Island, and Cherry Grove in particular, has been a staple of the community for years and years, and I (as my readers well know) and virtually every other PLU (people like us) has spent many a summer night dancing their butts off at the Ice Palace.  Preliminary reports say that there wasn't too much damage to the club itself, but with the hotel being completely gutted, who knows what to expect this summer.  

Most of my Facebook friends have been posting picture of themselves over the years at the Grove, and the Ice Palace, and so I think I'll share some of mine here.  Today was a sad day, but these memories will last a lifetime, and hopefully there are still more to come...   

The Allure of Cherry Grove as a Gay Man's Playground Diminishes

On Saturday night I went to Cherry Grove for the second time in three days.  I haven't gone there this year as much as I usually do in the summer, but judging from these last two visits, I'm not really that upset about it. You see, there's been a definite change in the place over the past few years, one that's becoming more and more a deterrent for us gay men, and I'm starting to think it's gotten to the point where to me it's become decidedly sad.  Both evenings were disappointing, a beautiful, but empty Thursday evening and a dreary (okay, I'll give you that one!) Saturday with drag shows and lots of gay women and straights gave this gay man a reason to rethink going to the Grove regularly anymore

I've been going to Fire Island regularly now for more than thirty years. When I was partnered, Joe and I would usually go only on holiday weekends in the summer, and since I'm single, I've become much more of a regular on Saturday nights in the summer.  Like anything else, things invariably change over time, but not always for the better.  The crowds that frequent the Grove, as well as the bar scene and the cost, are much different today than they were in years past and neither bodes well for the town's future.

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Cherry Grove Nightlife

The landscape of the nightlife at Cherry Grove has both dwindled and morphed into something entirely different than it once was.  Where there was once at least four nightclubs in this writer's memory, there are now only two.  Unfortunately, the recession of the mid-2000's hit the town hard and both The Monster (then Tides) and Sunsets sadly shuttered their doors forever during the decade.  All that's left are Ice Palace and Cherrys on the Bay, and even these two clubs are much different today than in the past.

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Back in the 90's, when I really started to spend more time at the Grove, Ice Palace was THE place to be. The bar was a genuine dance club that saw plenty of crowds both at the bar, on the outside deck, and on the dance floor.  Today, the club's main Saturday night attraction is The Porshe Show, followed by a Saturday night dance party that hardly fills up the cavernous dance floor in the place.  Now Porshe is a very entertaining performer, but not the type of entertainment clubbers like me are looking for. Daniel Nardicio's Friday night underwear parties attract troves of gay men from the Pines, and is the one regular event that hearkens back to the old days.  Cherrys on the Bay is the other bar/club at the Grove, the one I most frequent. Ever since the Ice Palace started to wane from its glory days as a dance club and the other bars closed, Cherrys became the catch-all for people who want to let loose and have a good time.

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Traditionally, Cherrys was always known to me and my friends as the "lesbian bar," the one place where ladies of the gay persuasion would gather.  I don't even think I ever went there until a few years ago, after I started frequenting Fire Island more in my secondary single days, but once I started going, it became my place.

A Gay Man's Deterrents

The lesbian majority at Cherry's has remained throughout, and almost always the women outnumber the men at least two to one.  I know friends and acquaintances who don't like going to the Grove because of that.  I don't exactly love it either, but there are guys who do go there and I do often have fun when I go.  But there's another reason a lot of people I know have stopped going to the Grove and that's the straights.
Straight people have always frequented the Grove in the evenings, and it's never been a big deal, but these days there seems to be more and more of them.  Between the lesbians and the straights, it's no wonder why gay guys no longer make the Grove their hangout like they once did.

That's my pal Laura Kim with Porsche in 2012

Shows like Porche's, and the Ice Palace's famous Sunday afternoon pool shows are one thing that attracts the straights in droves, but from interactions I've had with many of them over the years, they also come because they see gay men as a safe folly with whom they can have some real fun.  I'm sorry straight people, but you have the whole world to hang out in.  Why you gotta rain on my gay parade?

Show Me the Money

There is one other reason I think the crowds, and especially the crowds of gay men, have dwindled at Cherry Grove is economic.  Though cover charges have halted, the prices at the ferry booth, parking lot and bars have jumped significantly.  Where I used to bring around $80 for a day at the Grove, I am now bringing even more.  The price of drinks has risen astronomically.  I bought a round of three drinks the other day at Cherrys and it cost me a whopping $38.  I mean, I know all about inflation, but this is ridiculous!

Perhaps the rise in prices is caused by the less than stellar attendance I've witnessed on my jaunts over to the Grove during the summer, but if I'm going to be spending that much money over there, I should have reason enough to want to go there.  Smaller crowds, and filled in large part with lesbians and straights for that matter, do not warrant the regular Saturday night jaunts I used to love so much.  Perhaps it's time for this man to start frequenting the Pines.

Now, I hope that no one takes any offense to what I've said here.  I still love Cherry Grove and I will still visit.  I've had a lot of great times over there and it will always have a special place in my heart.  Besides, I'm not sure what the folks over there could do, even if they wanted to, to revamp the place as a prime destination for gay men...lesbians and straights have money, too!  Don't get me wrong, though, I have nothing against either lesbians or straights, but when I want to go clubbing, part of the allure is to meet someone and neither of those groups fit that particular bill for me.