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The Polish Prince
Time for some serious bar
talk. Of course, it’s not that I
, spend a lot of time in the bars,
just that I have a lot of alcoholic
friends.
First, there’s the grandmother
of New Orleans bars, Lafitte’s,
or as it is officially called, Cafe
Lafitte’s in Exile. It will be
celebrating the 25th anniver
sary at the end of October.
What more appropriate time
than Halloween weekend? For
four days Lafittes’ will be in a
wild and festive mood (which i&
nothing new). From what I’ve
been told there will be special
drink prices (possibly lOc
drinks and 5c beer), a Texas-
style barbeque and a trip for
two to an unknown destination.
For those of you unfamiliar
with this landmark, Lafitte’s is
one of the best bars for cruising.
It is also ranked 10th in the
United States for liquor
consumption for a bar its size. (I
have certainly contributed my
share to that distinction.)
Lafitte’s is owned by cranky but
loveable Uncle Ben. No trip to
New Orleans could be complete
without stopping there at 901
Bourbon St. It is open 24 hours
a day and the busiest times are
from 1 10 pm. to 4 am. during the|
wfeek, anytime on weekends’
and it is always packed late
Sunday afternoons.
Let’s travel over to Rampart
St. and visit Travis’ in the 700
block. At one time Rampart
Street bar activity was dying
out, but Travis has helped bring
it to life again. I never thought
I’d see the day but they now
have shows at Travis’ featuring
‘The Comics’ starring Booby
and Donnie Jay. These two
perform strictly comic drag and
are very adept at it. Considering
, the'size of the stage and the light
and sound conditions, they do
marvelously.
Travis’, I’m ashamed to say, is
the only (gay) bar in New
Orleans to have drag shows,
but, I’m glad Travis and Cliff
had the guts to start them and
The Polish Prince
Lafitte’s —
In Exile for 25 Years
Ask Danny About Good Parties in New Orleans
give those, who like-shows an
opportunity to see them. They
also gave life to a street that
dfPrved it and needed the
business.
Around the corner and one
block down at Burgundy and
St. Ann you’ll find one of the
city’s newest bars, Ms. Kitty’s.
It’s probably the nicest and
cle-anest and best decorated bar
in the quarter.
Literally flooded with
hanging-plants, it gives a warm
and homey atmosphere. Ms.
Kitty herself is a very warm and
friendly person and is trying her
damndest to give the gay
community entertainment and
a nice place to go. On Sunday
evenings they feature either a
country or a jazz band. The
crowd at Kitty’s is a
comfortable mixture of gals
and guys. It is fairly quiet
during the week with mostly
locals who gather for
conversation and good times.
They also have about the best
kept pool tables (in a city whose
bars are notorious for them) in
any bar in the Vieux Carre.
Stop in and enjoy a really good
drink and genuine Southern
hospitality.
By the way, if you’re coming
into town to see King Tut
don’t worry about standing in
line for hours. It didn’t actually,
turn out that way. The average
wait to get in after you’ve
bought your tickets ($1.50 for
adults) is approximately one
and a half hours. Even then you
don’t really have to just sit or
stand while you wait. There are
covered bleachers available if
you just want to sit and wait (or
cruise), but, the museum is in
City Park also, so there is plenty
of area to cover’. And you
always know just how long you
have yet to wait because the
bleachers and the tickets are
color-coded; you always know
how many there are ahead of
you. There is also a large tent by.
WEI-COME TO
...the world's largest gay
entertainment centers!
lOkRUAmenT ,
•WHITE SAND BEACH
ON 12-ACRE LAKE
•CHARCOAL PITS
•TROPICAL OLYMPIC POOL
•MALE POUCH BOUTIQUE
•GAY BLADES HAIRSTYLISTS
• POWERHOUSE DISCO
• PLAYHOUSE THEATRE
• PIANO BAR
• POOLSIDE BAR
•GAME ROOM BAR
•STABLE LEVI-LEATHER BAR
• 120 ROOMS with COLOR TV
410 NORTH ORANGE BLOSSOM TRAIL, ORLANDO, FLA.
PHONE (306) 425-7571
the new
EL GOTO
•THE GOYA THEATRE
• RAMROD LEVI-LEATHER BAR
•LATIN PIANO LOUNGE
•POWER PACK DISCO
•GAME ROOM
PALACE CLUB
kw FULL DISCO stun
BYOB CLUB
1000 HUMPHRIES. ORLANDO. FLA.
OPEN 11 PM. FRI.. SAT. Si SUN.
TILL ■ AJBT~ “
.•ST 7th AVENUE, TAMPA. FLA. (YBOR CITY)
PHONE (SOB) 247-9436
the museum that is really a
restaurant. The “tent” can seat
approximately 500" people and
is serving such exotic items as:
(1) Valley of the Kings Hot
Dogs $2, (2) Queen Nefertiti
Salad $3. 50 (3) Sphinxburgers
$2. 75 (4) Osiris Fried Chicken
and a host of other wild items.
If you wish to make a whole
day of your visit to City Park,
you can visit one of the 43 tennis
courts in the park;or play a few
at any of four golf courses, or
rent a bike, or ride the rides at
the mini-amusement, park, or
you can go fly a kite,. Mary. (I
really don’t care what you do as
long as you have a good time
doing it!) The first week he was
here, the dumb mummy drew
almost 60,000 people and we
still have ’til mid-January to go.
Well, I’ve ran my mouth, or
rather pushed my pen as far as I
dare this time so I’ll just bid you
a fond adieu and-a reminder
that your mother eats shredded
wheat with a spoon.
-Love
T he Great and
Wonderful Qz, I mean Polish
Prince, himself.
Noveptber,\l 977, The Barb — Page 11
Daytona Beach - Fresh from winning the Mr.
Rene’s Contest in Tampa, Gabriel Gerdes was
crowned Mr. East Coast, September 10, at
Damien’s Yum Yum Tree. The pageant was emceed
by Ernestine Brown and Doug Woods.
Highlights of the evening were performances by
Latese Chevron, Miss East Coast 1976 and Ron
Kolher, Mr. East Coast 1977. Lowlight of the
contest was one /very sick judge!
Presents
A
Halloween Show
and
Costume Party
Monday, October 31st
Prizes for Best Costumes
Male as Female .... Portable TV
Female as Male Portable TV
Most Original...,. Cash Prize
tAnjH&z&out t6e evening
fvt&ucctecL TtfocUlt,