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By Jack Nichols
Traveling from Tampa to Cocoa Beach and riding across the causeway between the mainland and the ocean, I revel in Central Florida's temperate clime. Leon Russell blares on the radio singing "Island in the Sun" and the azure skies and soft beach breezes somehow seem the next best thing to paradise.
We laid over in Orlando last night, going straight to Central Florida's best known gay entertainment complex, The Parliament House. There's been handsome refurbishing there. The street that once wound through this huge complex has been paved over and now suggests a little bit of Paris with umbrella-covered tables surrounded by chairs and flanked by a classy outside bar. Inside, my old bartending friend, Vicki, a 17-year fixture at the PH, is still serving drinks. She notes my arrival with a big wink and, though she's terribly busy, we exchange e-mail addresses. Then I wander into the main dance bar where literally hundreds are shaking their booties.
While cruising is plentiful enough at this bar, there's even more going on right outside its door and on the surrounding balconies that beckon to curious locals who find that overnight guests often stand in the entranceways to their rooms wearing their best "come and get me" outfits. Those who cruise these balconies tell their more stationery friends in the bars that they're off to play "Balcony Bingo". Indeed. The Parliament House stands on the edge of a lovely lake and there are beach lounge chairs and a sand-pitted volleyball court where, during the day, more shirtless bodies glisten and sweat as they swat the ball. On the interior side of the complex is a swimming pool, also lined by chairs and adjacent to an inside bar. There's also a 24-hour restaurant on the premises that may have its own name, but which I've named the Last Chance Café.
My favorite theme park, however, is Wet and Wild, where I climb high into the clouds and slide on spouts of rushing water into a waiting pool. The only other pool wherein I've had as much fun is at The Club, for which a private membership must be purchased. Its a gay health club, with a gym, private rooms, steam rooms, and lounges. The pool itself is enclosed by high walls, but is outside. If the weather is cool, as it was the night I last lingered there, steam rises toward the moon, casting a spell of mystery and romance over the nearby naked bodies splashing. Tampa is my favorite Florida town, as such. Its residents are mainly natives, not tourists who've forgotten to go home. As in Orlando, there's a thriving night life that extends to Clearwater and St. Petersburg, both nearby. On the Atlantic coast, Cocoa Beach—straight down the Bee Line from Orlando—is quieter and gentler than Daytona, with a small beach bar, Wanna Be's, and a nearby mainland bar, Chances. There are a great variety of inexpensive, tasty restaurants. During the day, I stroll not only the beach beautiful, but there a variety of sights to see, including the Kennedy Space Center. If it's the right time of day or night, a Space shuttle or a rocket soars into the stratosphere, a fiery ball leaving a trail of white smoke.
Cocoa Beach boasts an oceanside thoroughfare called "I Dream of Jeannie Lane" recalling the famous
1960s TV series that once gave this beach town's name a familiar ring.
Daytona Beach, 90 miles northward, boasts several festive centers of pleasure-mongering at night and is a trip back in time, to the 1970s, perhaps, when things were wilder and woolier. The annual influx of motorcycle enthusiasts here gives life to a peaceful leather culture in action. Next time you decide to vacation in the sunny south lands, keep Central Florida in mind. It's not as chic as South Beach, perhaps, but it has its own lush flavors which are not quite so expensive and which offer almost everything a great vacation should. |
Outside the gates of the Parliament House Orlando offers travelers a great number of attractions, including
Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World. It was at Disney World downtown last summer that I saw
La Nouba by the Cirque du Soleil, the most inspiring stage show in my memory.
© 1997-2000 BEI