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Dishing with Mark And Carrie – June 21st 2012

June 19, 2012

OH MY! St. Pete Pride’s 10th Year “Carnival” Anniversary is in full swing with dozens of Pride parties planned all month. The big street festival will be on Saturday, June 30th and the Promenade Parade starts at 9 am sharp! That night there are HUGE Parties planned all over GaYBOR/Ybor City. We suggest to make your hotel & dinner reservations now. The Hampton Inn & Suites and Sheraton Downtown Riverwalk have great rates. The countdown to the GOP Republican National Convention in Tampa has begun. In now less than 90 days, what some are calling “Hurricane RNC” will be hitting Tampa. From great to bad and everywhere in between the stories are already starting. One thing for sure is this will be a very interesting August.

You Can Not Make This Stuff Up!!! (The Weekly Series) “The 5 P’s”

There was a very famous Gay Bar in Tampa called Rene’s Cabaret opened in 1972 under the watchful eyes of Rene Rodrigez and his brother Ceasar. The club had a huge outdoors swimming pool and a big show bar inside. Many of today’s Diva’s got their start there. Rene loved Drag and was a community fighter for drag and gay rights. He owned the Miss Florida Pageant! He was a short guy with a high voice with a Spanish accent. He would walk into the dressing room and shout”You want to be a woman and No nylons…$25 dollar fine or OH NO finger nails $25 dollar fine!” The clapping his hands together would say, “Remember the 5 P’s Ladies!” He would then say the 5 P’s and always get them wrong! LOL! The 5 P’s are Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Back in those days it was against the law for a guy to wear ladies panties. Rene decided to challenge this. One Halloween night he filled his convertible with drag queens in ladies panties. They didn’t drive to far down Kennedy Blvd. when the police pulled the car over & asked to see their men’s underwear. Everybody went to jail that night. Rene’s attorney challenged this law and the judge agreed. From that day forward men could wear ladies panties in Tampa. You just cannot make this stuff up! To see more about the Rene’s and “Bar’s that Were” visit http://www.mcfilm.co/bars-that-were-new/

The Perfect Date

People ask us what we do on our day off. After 34 years we still try to go out on dates. This past Monday Carrie took Mark out on a date. (That means Mark let Carrie pick up the tab…LOL) After running a couple errands we stopped for a light lunch at Jessie’s in Brandon and then went to Muvico 20 in Centro Ybor to make the 3:40 showing of “Snow White and the Huntsman.” This adult version of Snow White was fantastic. Muvico 20 is the perfect theater for a date. There is so much to do before and after any show. We were out in plenty of time to make the 1/2 price appetizers special at Hamburger Mary’s where we ordered Mary’s Handbag and Man Bag. Before we knew it there is a huge festive spread with samples of everything! Leaving Mary’s we headed to our car parked in the G.BAR parking lot, but who can walk past Bradley’s on 7th without stopping in to see who’s there. Bradley’s on 7th should have been called Gay Cheers on 7th…LOL. It is the warmest neighborhood bar you will every visit with friendly bartenders and customers too. We were home before 9pm and then you know the rest of the story!

GaYBOR Member of the Week – Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk

Congratulations to Bryan Clancey the new General Manager. The Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk offers shuttle service to & from GaYBOR. Bryan was a founding GaYBOR member when he was the General Manager at the Hampton Inn & Suite Ybor City. Sheraton.com/TampaRiverwalk

Mark & Carrie’s Nephew/ Niece of the Week

Steve, Bill & Alberto

www.PromoPrintingGroup.com

For the first time ever, we couldn’t pick just one so we picked all three! Together these guys own and operate Promo Printing Group. Look for the guys on the GaYBOR Float in St. Pete Pride.