GayNewOrleans.COM SouthernDecadence.COM December 6-19, 2011 The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM Facebook.COM/AmbushMag 21

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1 GayNewOrleans.COM SouthernDecadence.COM December 6-19, 2011 The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM Facebook.COM/AmbushMag 21

2 travel feature by Tony Leggio Photo by: Larry Graham, GrahamStudioOne.COM Ambush on The Road: Pensacola Ilove traveling and find that some of the best getaways are just a few hours from where you live. Every year, my mother and I have a ritual where we go to another city for the extended Thanksgiving weekend and enjoy shopping, dining at great restaurants and taking in some of the holiday happenings. This year we chose Pensacola, Florida and it was a truly memorable trip. We started our journey leaving New Orleans at 10am Thanksgiving morning and taking the scenic Beach Road drive through Mississippi. You hit the beach staring at Waveland and maneuver your way down the winding road through Ocean Springs. The drive itself was pleasant seeing how much the Mississippi Gulf Coast has rebuilt since Katrina. The homes are just breathtaking and the weather was gorgeous. Bay St. Louis is one of the cutest little towns; I made a mental note that I have to go back there and stay for a few days. And, I hear that they just opened a new gay bar, Club Red, all the more reason. We stopped at the Island View Casino on the way to Florida for a little spot of lunch and some gaming. We had a scrumptious Thanksgiving turkey dinner at their restaurant C&G Grille, which was a welcome change to dining at the buffet. We had a window view of the Gulf and had a leisurely lunch with great service. Kudos goes out to all those people who work on the holidays to make others day special. Our waitress was just an absolute pleasure. After lunch we gambled for two hours, my mother came out $150 richer and I obviously contributed $40 to the save our coast fund (at least I like to think that is where the money went). All in all I have to say that Island View is one of the nicest casinos on the coast and you should definitely do a day trip there. Back on the road, we made it into Pensacola around 4pm and checked into the hotel. The Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel was an incredible place to stay. Located conveniently downtown at 200 East Gregory Street, the hotel is near shopping, dining and the gay bars (which is the most important factor in my book), this has now become one of my favorite spots. What I found interesting was not just the beauty of the place, but its historic importance to the city. The Pensacola Grand Hotel has a rich heritage dating back to The hotel is located in the site of the historic L & N railroad passenger depot and has been restored beautifully with the ornate lobby, lounge, restaurant and meeting rooms. After serving the industry for 58 years, the last train rolled out in The structure soon fell into disrepair; however, in 1978 it became listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an important architectural landmark. Six years later, developers purchased the depot from the railroad and restored it to today s Pensacola Grand Hotel. All the guest rooms were completely renovated after Hurricane Ivan damaged them in I have to attest to the excellent quality of the rooms, my mother and I each had corner suites; mine had incredible views of the bay on one side and downtown on the other. After resting after the drive, we decided to go out to find some dinner. Being Thanksgiving night, the town was almost completely shut down, but we managed to find an open restaurant which was Landry s Seafood. Even though I am not big on chain restaurants, Landry s was just delightful. It was very crowded and the service was still wonderful. Our waiter s name was Kyle who was working his first full day off of training, and was hysterical. A personable server can make any dining experience great and that is what he did. The food was good, the martinis even better. I found that the entire place was in a jovial mood, from the staff to the other patrons, everyone seemed to be enjoying the holiday. It is always nice when restaurants surpass your expectations. (Landry s Seafood is located at 905 East Gregory Street). After dinner, I decided to do a little exploring. All the gay bars seemed closed except for the Roundup ( which has changed quite a lot since it renovated and moved locations. It is still one of the city s gay neighborhood bars but now more spacious with lots of indoor and outdoor space. When I arrived they were finishing up a pot luck dinner they provided for their patrons. They had a great crowd, I guess a lot of people wanted to get away from their family after spending the entire day with them. I had a few drinks and called it an early night because I was exhausted. The next day my internal shopping clock went off at 3am. It is Black Friday and the sales were on. Now anyone who knows me will attest, I love to shop, and the sales on Black Friday are among my favorites. After fixing two Bloody Mary s for us, mom and I were ready for the sales. We drove to the outlet mall Silver Sands in Destin which opened at midnight that morning. I can t believe these crazy people are out here this early, Mom commented. Mom, we are here. Yes, but honey, we are drinking which makes the world of difference. Who can argue with that? So after a few hours of shopping and getting some great bargains, we returned back to the hotel and had lunch at the hotel restaurant, appropriately titled The Restaurant I have to admit another outstanding meal; I had some great fish tacos. The décor in the eatery was also historic and included the entrance s Biva doors bought in a shop in London, a cast bronze French style chandelier from a home in Philadelphia and beveled glass windows circa 1885 from a Victorian hotel in Pennsylvania, and scalloped-shaped grillwork from Lloyd s of London. After crashing for a few hours, we were back out again to attend the kickoff celebration of Winter Fest, which is a holiday tradition for locals and visitors alike. The hub of all excitement begins in Christmas Town Wonderland, a plaza in front of the historic Escambia County Courthouse that has faux snow falling from its rooftop. Santa s Workshop Revue is a free song-and-dance show in the Plaza with your favorite holiday characters like Rudolph, Frosty and Old St. Nick himself in his beautiful red sleigh. A special red trolley features delicious holiday treats. They started the night with the Elf Parade where hundreds of children line up for a short parade through downtown heralding Santa into the city. Then we took one of their performance tours, which features 11 stops complete with your favorite holiday characters singing memorable tunes to get you in the spirit. Our tour was visited by Rudolph, Frosty, the Peanuts Gang, Elvis (who of course sang Blue Christmas), the Cajun Alligator Boudreaux, the Grinch, the heroes from the Polar Express and culminated in a Living Nativity scene with one of the best singers performing O Holy Night that had the entire tour cheering. My mom especially liked the alligator because it terrified the children. I had to admit, it was kind of fun watching those kids scream in pure terror at this green outfitted man with sharp teeth. There are three different trolley tours and a walking tour that will take you through Downtown Pensacola from the Historic Seville to Palafox Business District. From the historic homes to the awesome light displays this area is very festive during the holidays. I highly recommend doing this tour which goes on through December. To find out more about Winter Fest happenings and dates, go to After dealing with lots of children we needed several cocktails. We went to Jackson s Steakhouse which was one of the best restaurants in the city. The food was just spectacular and the service impeccable. Their steaks were so tender and cooked to perfection. The atmosphere was another winning feature of this restaurant with its tasteful holiday décor and prime location near all the holiday and downtown action. One can easily tell this is one of the places to dine and be seen in the city. A little history about the steakhouse; it occupies the ground floor of the revitalized 1860s-era building that originally housed H. Pfeiffer & Company Mercantile. The building overlooks Plaza Ferdinand at 400 S. Palafox Street where, in July 1821, General Andrew Jackson accepted the transfer of Florida from Spain to the United States and raised the American flag in Pensacola for the first time. He served briefly as governor of Florida and then returned to Tennessee with his wife Rachel. In 1828, Jackson was elected seventh president of the United States. In 1935, to commemorate this historic event, a bust of Jackson was commissioned and placed in Plaza Ferdinand. In 1998, a group of like-minded entrepreneurs were inspired to renovate the old building and open a restaurant in honor of this American hero. The name of the restaurant would be Jackson s, with a re-creation of his signature serving as the logo and theme of the establishment. In keeping with this idea, since the restaurant overlooks the plaza where this moment in history occurred and where the bust of Jackson stands, they decided to create an atmosphere from the handcrafted tree-branch light fixtures to the mural behind the bar that would virtually put patrons in the park. Over the past decade, Jackson s Steakhouse has earned the Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator eight times. Also, as an eight-time consecutive recipient of Florida Trend magazine s Golden Spoon Award, Jackson s Steakhouse is considered one of Florida s top 25 restaurants and is placed by the Distinguished Restaurants of North America in the top two percent of all fine dining restaurants in the country. And, I have to add, Jackson s ranks as one of my favorite steakhouses in the United States. Once dinner was over, I ran back to the room and quick changed and ventured downstairs to the lobby bar in the hotel called the Cavu Club. There seemed to be lots of people there that night especially military personnel. It was a quaint lounge with a great feel, good bartenders and lots of Military memorabilia adorning the walls. Once I downed a very satisfying martini, I crossed the street to The Other Side which is connected to Emerald City and is more of a low key type neighborhood bar feel. It was quite empty when I first arrived so I took a cab, which was very easy to obtain, downtown to Cabaret. This bar has been open for about 2 ½ years, previously known as Jack and Ron s. Now with a new owner and in a new location, Cabaret [continued on 23] 22 The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM Facebook.COM/AmbushMag December 6-19, 2011 Official ficial Gay Mardi di Gras Guide GayMardiGras.COM

3 travel feature...from 22 ( has a cool vibe to the place. Huge murals look down on patrons as they enjoy a great array of libations. Dubbed as Downtown s Most Progressive Neighborhood Bar (read between the lines gay bar), it offers everything from live musical acts to karaoke night. I had a few cocktails and conversation with the friendly staff there before returning to Emerald City where the scene had quite picked up. Almost everyone who works at Emerald City ( in this bar was extremely friendly and hospitable. I immediately found my favorite bartender, Ben, who you read in another part of this issue is my bartender of the month choice. He kept me quite cocktailed and his Dirty Ass Bong Water Shots were to die for. That night one of the city s premier entertainers Lauren Mitchell hosted the Strip Off at midnight. Now this club knows how to get some hot male flesh out on that stage and Lauren is the ultimate entertainer, funny, snappy and sassy. She had the audience and some of the boys worked up into a frenzy. This is quite the show to witness. Afterwards I caught up with Lauren and talked to her about the club, the city and the gay community. I found out she previously worked in Emerald City s predecessor The Office. Now she does almost nightly shows and is a mainstay in the community. She said that when the club was The Office they performed on a platform placed over the pool. The club was completely renovated after Ivan to what it is today. One of the only good things that came out of the storm is now I have my own dressing room. I got to see backstage and it is probably the best one I have seen in a gay bar, with small private dressing rooms for their star performers and a spacious [continued on 24] GayNewOrleans.COM SouthernDecadence.COM December 6-19, 2011 The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM Facebook.COM/AmbushMag 23

4 Welcome, Spinning, Creating ~ Mobile, Alabama ~ Photos by Cieanne & John Welcome Home for the Holidays Joseph along with Miss Cie DJ Leroy spinning happiness on B-Bob s dance floor Dennis & Asher enjoying the Holiday B-Bob s B-Bob s DJ Chromatic blowing the speakers up! Judson creating the magic on the B-Bob s dance floor mobile paparazzi B-Bob s Show Host Miss Davenport showing her Alabama Roll Tide Spirit The new Miss B-Bob s Nadya Simone with Taylor Heart B-Bob s Lloyd, Greg, Mike & Kevin, & Mark visiting home from Vegas & Sacramento Bacchus owner Stevie with Harrison enjoying a cocktail Crayton, O Brian & B-Bob s Saturday Fun-Day Chad & Cory with the Beautiful Girls of Mobile Patrick, O Brian, John & Lee having a great time Brandy & B-Bob s Burlesque Show Jasyn, Miss Cie & James enjoying a night out in Mobile Miss Gina Germaine Midtown Pub travel feature...from 23 area for the others to get ready. One of the things I wondered was how was it living in Pensacola, with it being a military town and seemingly very straight -laced. I think it is important how you carry and present yourself, I love this city and this bar. We are very much like a family here. I have performed everywhere in Pensacola from the Navy base to the Saenger and the Little Theatre, Lauren explained. She was quick to point out that most of the gay scene is the bars. People blend here very nicely with each other which is one of the greatest things about Pensacola. She has never had trouble before, even with this being a military town. It is a very accepting area. She has honed her craft after years of performing, watching others and helping the newcomers come up in the scene. Some of them are quite the energetic handfuls. One of the most important things I noticed when she was performing, she acknowledges everyone who tips her. That is probably one of her strongest characteristics and what makes her a fan favorite. After an evening of meeting some great people, the lights went on and all good kids had to go home. Basically, they said stop drinking and leave. I cannot get use to these curfew cities. The following day, we did some more shopping at the Cardoza Mall which as malls go is quite impressive. Then we went to lunch at a superb restaurant located on the bay, The Fish House located at 600 S. Barracks Street. The Fish House is upscale dockside dining overlooking beautiful Pensacola Bay and Seville Harbor, just steps away from Historic Seville Square. It was a wonderful mixture of seafood and Southern home cooking. They also offer an inventive menu of fresh, daily seafood selections, housesmoked steaks, sushi, a handpicked wine list with over 300 wines, and its world-famous Grits a Ya Ya: A delectable Southern specialty of smoked Gouda cheese grits smothered with a sauce of fresh cream, sauteed Gulf shrimp, spinach, portabello mushrooms, applewood-smoked bacon, garlic, and shallots. The choices are not only the seafood but how you would like it prepared. From pecan dusted to gulf grilled, seafood lovers will feel like they are in heaven here. After having an incredible meal, we went for a sightseeing drive around the city taking in the NAVAL Base, the historic lighthouse and beaches. Once we returned, rested for a few hours, and changed, we went to dinner at The Grand Marlin located on Pensacola Beach at 400 Pensacola Beach Boulevard. The Grand Marlin is beach dining at its best. It boasts wonderful food, incredible view and atmosphere with an attentive staff, all [continued on 27] 24 The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM Facebook.COM/AmbushMag December 6-19, 2011 Official ficial Gay Mardi di Gras Guide GayMardiGras.COM

5 GayNewOrleans.COM SouthernDecadence.COM December 6-19, 2011 The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM Facebook.COM/AmbushMag 25