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Escape to Indy for a weekend getaway

Monon Trail, new street malls, Cole Porter exhibit, and more await

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Indianapolis travel, gay news, Washington Blade
The Indianapolis Culture Trail offers eight miles of attractions.

The diverse and friendly Indianapolis scene makes for a perfect weekend getaway. It is a three-hour drive from Chicago. There is so much to do. The city features a compact, walkable downtown plus no less than three cute villages within the city: Mass Avenue, Broad Ripple, and Fountain Square. Bring your bike helmet and ride the Monon Trail, a 30-mile or so rail trail that runs from downtown to points north including Broad Ripple Village.

WHAT TO DO

Take a walk along the downtown canal and enjoy the State Museum and History Center along the way. The Indianapolis History Center (450 W. Ohio) enables you to enjoy interactive Hoosier history featuring live actors singing the songs of Cole Porter as you request them off the song menu. Porter was an Indiana native and led a colorful life. My favorite Porter hit, “Anything Goes,” was performed live at my request. Also at the center, learn about Madam C.J. Walker in The Empowering Women Exhibit. Details at indianahistory.org.

Rent a bike at the bike share station, ride around the Cultural Trail downtown, and then head north to Broad Ripple on the Monon Trail. Broad Ripple is a cute, walkable village just seven miles north of downtown with a pedestrian mall to enjoy your favorite restaurant or bar outdoors. Enjoy the farmer’s market Saturday mornings behind Glendale Mall just east of Broad Ripple. Have lunch on the patio at Bazbeaux Pizza. Pick up a gourmet bakery treat at Rene’s Bakery just across the trail. Try the vegan delights and fresh juices at Ezras. Enjoy great Mexican food at LaPiedad. Then grab an ice cream cone at BRICs and walk along Broad Ripple Avenue, which is currently closed to autos. Enjoy the Indianapolis Art Center and gardens. Plan your Broad Ripple outing at broadrippleindy.org. You can also reach Broad Ripple by the new Red Line rapid transit bus line. Details at indygo.net.

Head up to Newfields (formerly the Indianapolis Museum of Art) and enjoy the paintings and outdoor gardens. Do not miss the new exhibit, “Edward Hopper and the American Hotel.” Have a cocktail at the pop up Hotel Bar. Enjoy the outdoor gardens.

Also visit the Indianapolis Zoo, which is downtown in the White River State Park.

Just south of downtown is the urban hipster hangout, Fountain Square. Try the coffee at Fletcher Place Coffee.

NIGHTLIFE

You will find several bars on Massachusetts Avenue, which is blocked off to cars for the summer to enhance outdoor dining and drinking. Metro (707 Mass Avenue) is a nightclub and restaurant. Next door is Tini, which has a great outdoor patio bar Forty Five has great food and drinks and is at 45 Mass Avenue (corner of College Avenue).

A bit farther from downtown, stop by Gregs, on 231 16th Street. The Sunday afternoon show tunes always draws a crowd. Downtown Olly’s (822 N. Illinois) features food and libations. Check out the piano bar on Tuesdays. There is always something going on at this neighborhood hangout. You will find them on Illinois Street just west of downtown.

English Ivy’s is a gay friendly neighborhood pub, which features food and drinks. You will find them at 944 N. Alabama just north of Mass. Avenue and downtown. Enjoy a pork tenderloin sandwich, a Hoosier favorite.

WHERE TO STAY

Downtown hotels include the Courtyard on the Canal as well as the Residence Inn on the Canal. The Sheraton is always an affordable option. The JW Marriott is also very nice. The Hotel Broad Ripple is a charmer and right on the Monon Trail. You can walk to the bars and restaurants of Broad Ripple.

GETTING TO INDY

Indianapolis is a three-hour drive from Chicago. It is also serviced by Amtrak three days a week (and with a Thruway Bus the other days) with a station just steps from downtown hotels. Book your ticket at Amtrak.com.

The award-winning Indianapolis International Airport (#1 in the nation for 2020 according to both Travel and Leisure as well as Conde Nast) is another option for travelers. Take the Green Line or #8 bus to downtown from IND. I recommend Southwest, which serves Indy from Midway and other airports around the nation.

SHOPPING

Freshen your wardrobe at Heritage Clothier and Home (1134 E. 54th Street). Great deals and the latest styles including my favorite, Penguin. Ask for the cologne. Pick up some sexy underwear or supplies at Toolbox at 750 N. College.

COVID IMPACTS

The city features outdoor dining and limited indoor dining due to COVID. Masks are required when indoors at all facilities including bars and restaurants. The museums are also now again open to the public. Capacity restrictions are in effect. Check before you go to them as rules change frequently as does what is and what is not open. Bring your mask.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

VisitIndy has both daily deals and a LGBTQ guide:
Indy’s Daily Deals
LGBTQ Guide

You will not run out of things to do in this surprisingly friendly and fun Midwestern metro of two million folks. We look forward to your visit to my hometown.

Bill Malcolm is the only nationwide syndicated LGBTQ value travel writer. He is based in Indianapolis. His column is or has been carried in LGBTQ publications around the country. His opinions are his own. Thanks to Visit Indy for the help with this column. All or parts of this material may appear in other publications.

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Travel

2024 transatlantic cruise on Celebrity ASCENT: blog #1

Welcome to Barcelona

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The flight over to Barcelona was uneventful and landed on-time in this beautiful city. I was met at the airport by a very nice taxi driver I had pre-arranged through booking.com. He drove me to my hotel, the Barcelona Continental, on the Ramblas. It was a little disappointing. They neglected to tell those booking the road in front of the hotel was dug up and therefore you needed to be let out of the taxi across the Ramblas and had a long walk with your luggage. It is really old and not redone, except for the bathrooms, those are nice. But I would not recommend it.

I was early and they couldn’t get me checked in for a few hours, so had coffee and then met my friend Simone, also staying at the hotel. She had checked in a couple of days earlier and had the same reaction to the hotel I did. But that didn’t stop either one of us from enjoying Barcelona in all its beauty. I don’t sleep on planes, so the first day was spent relaxing and wandering aimlessly past cathedrals, long shopping streets, and wonderful little side streets off the Ramblas. Simone took off to do her shopping with more specific plans. It was an early night for me and we met again in the morning for coffee and spent a wonderful day together, shopping, walking, and seeing some great street performers. Then it was dinner with friends who we would be boarding the ship with the next morning. They kept predicting rain. It did come late at night and continued through us heading to the port to board the ASCENT. Because of the broken-up roadway we got a little wet heading to the taxi stand, which didn’t make us feel any better about the hotel.

It was a short ride to the port, and soon the beautiful ASCENT came into view. Boarding was easy and then suddenly the cruise was beginning. A walk around the ship unveiled some beautiful artwork, and small changes from the rest of the EDGE series ships I have been on. But it still felt like a welcome home. I headed to deck 15 and the Retreat lounge to meet some of the 70 people I would be traveling with. Scott and Dustin of My Lux Cruise had planned a sail-away party for all of us in their beautiful Iconic suite. They will be hosting a number of events during the cruise, which makes them such great travel agents, and friends. Another friend, the extraordinarily talented Andrew Derbyshire, who would be performing that evening, was there. He was on the ship for only one night, getting off in Alicante to head home to the UK the next day.  

I joined friends, Scott, Mike, and the irrepressible Jason, for dinner in Luminae, the dining room for the retreat.  It was to be a night where dinner came first and then the show. At 9 p.m. we were seated in the third row of the beautiful theater, to hear Andrew. He didn’t disappoint. He is better than ever. He has an incredible voice and such great stage presence. I, and everyone else, were just so sorry he wouldn’t be staying on the cruise with us. He reminded us he has been working with Celebrity for more than eight years and is one of their biggest stars. He also hosts their Pride month events doing so with great panache. As a young man Andrew performed in the West End in London, and has been a star performer for much of his life. Then it was off to The Club for a little disco music, and then off to bed with a satisfied smile on my face to complete day one on the ASCENT. 

Day two began with a knock on the door of my cabin with delivery of coffee, juice, and a bagel. I sat down to write, which I do every morning, and then headed to the gym for my first workout on the ship. It was empty, which was great, and the sun had come out and the view from the lifecycle made it fun. After the gym I headed to the retreat lounge and met some friends and had a cappuccino. The sky started to get gray and clearly it was going to rain in Alicante, our first stop. But that didn’t stop anyone from walking around the town. I was getting the best feeling this was going to be a great cruise. 

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IGLTA’s Osaka convention shines spotlight on LGBTQ travel to Japan and Asia

City’s Pride event to take place after three-day gathering

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(Bigstock photo)

OSAKA, Japan — For the first time in its 41 year history, the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association will this week hold its annual convention in Asia, marking milestones both for the world’s premier LGBTQ travel industry organization and for the fast-growing Japanese and Asian queer travel markets. 

The three-day convention kicks off on Wednesday and runs through Friday, to be followed this weekend by Rainbow Festa, Osaka’s Pride event, where IGLTA will also host a pavilion.

Japan’s third largest city with some 2.75 million people, Osaka was an early capital of the country dating back to the 7th century. More recently, it has wowed modern visitors to Japan with its stellar street food scene and its less-hectic-than-Tokyo urban vibe. Western traveler interest has also been piqued by the runaway success of FX’s “Shōgun” miniseries, which is partly set in 17th century Osaka.

Osaka’s Convention and Tourism Bureau joined IGLTA in 2018 and soon thereafter began lobbying to host the organization’s yearly conference, which travels to a different host city every year. OCTB President Hiroshi Mizohata recently told the Japan Times that Osaka’s “historically being a city of diversity and openness to the world” makes it a great fit for the event. 

Osaka in 2021 became the first locality in Japan to launch an official LGBTQ tourism portal, Visit Gay Osaka. The city is said to be home to more than 100 gays bars, mostly spread across its Doyama, Namba, and Shin Sekai districts.

“To me, the IGLTA Global Convention being held in Osaka means that LGBTQ+ tourism will be fully launched in Japan,” said Shintaro Koizumi, president of luxury tour operator Out Asia Travel, who will receive IGLTA’s Pioneer Award this week for his key role in bringing the convention to Japan.

While attitudes about LGBTQ issues are changing quickly in Japanese society — as evidenced, for instance, by the surprise popularity of Netflix’s new Japan-set gay reality series “The Boyfriend” — the country’s travel community is not yet as integrated into the world market as many locals believe it can be.

“Most of our local queer community and hospitality professionals still do not know about IGLTA, so this will be a great way to showcase who IGLTA is and what we do throughout the convention,” said Shiho Ikeuchi, a longtime IGLTA board member and the general manager of the Ace Hotel Kyoto, one of that city’s most stylish and gay-popular hotels.

“There has been much progress in Japan for the past 10 years,” she said. “LGBTQ+ issues are no longer invisible, and there have been many discussions everywhere about how we can be more diverse, equal, and inclusive. We are proud of our power of hospitality, and we would like all visitors to Japan to experience the essence of it during their time here.”

Aside from offering unique networking opportunities for big players and small in the LGBTQ travel space, this week’s IGLTA convention will include sessions and seminars that highlight various aspects of the industry, including masterclasses in empowering the BIPOC travel community and being an accountable ally of trans and gender diverse travelers.

Registration for this year’s IGLTA convention in Osaka has already hit 550, tying the record the organization set two years ago in Milan, Italy, for its largest-ever convention outside of North America. Some 300 companies from 49 countries will be represented in Osaka, about a quarter from Japan and around a third from across Asia and the Middle East.

Founded in 1983 and based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., IGLTA’s members hail from more than 80 countries and include LGBTQ and friendly destinations, accommodations, tour operators, and travel advisors. The group offers free travel resources and promotes equality and safety in LGBTQ tourism around the world.

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Traveling with Brand g: A unique, intimate LGBTQ vacation experience

Heart, community, and a celebration of queer culture

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Setting sail with Brand g Vacations. (Photo by Dana Piccoli)

(This article originally appeared in News is Out.) 

“I feel like I’m in that scene from ‘Under the Tuscan Sun,’” my wife whispered to me as we boarded the Brand g Vacations bus in Bordeaux, France. 

She’s not wrong. It does hearken to the scene where Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) takes her best lesbian friend’s place on a queer European adventure. We are seated among a sea of gay men (and two very dedicated lesbian Brand g regulars) on our way from the Intercontinental Hotel Bordeaux to have lunch at the famous Château Smith Haut Lafitte. One of our many excellent guides that week tells us that King Charles III recently paid a visit to the winery. The visit sets the tone for the rest of our Loire Valley River trip –  sometimes decadent, often boisterous, but always fun.  

Founded in 2011 as “the next generation in gay travel” Brand g Vacations offers an alternative to queer vacation companies that host large cruises and resort trips. If 1,000-person, party-centric cruises aren’t your cup of tea, Brand g offers a more intimate, excursion-heavy option. This proves popular with Brand g’s clientele, many of whom have traveled with the company multiple times.

Brand g’s Director of Marketing Eric Poole tells me that the company’s success lies in four key elements – service, quality, inclusivity, and destinations.

“Our commitment to high-touch service is unparalleled in the industry,” said Poole. “The surveys we receive from guests after each trip routinely point out the extremely high level of personal service and their appreciation of the fact that all they have to do is show up. We will take care of everything else.”

Mark W. from Fort Lauderdale was one of our trip’s 80 or so guests. It’s precisely the service level that Poole mentions that has resulted in Mark booking 17 trips with Brand g. Mark tells me that it’s the door-to-door service and like-minded LGBTQ guests that keep him coming back.

Couple Steve M. and David P. also commend the service they experience with Brand g. Originally on a stateside cruise that was canceled (by the charter company), the couple pivoted and booked a spot on the Loire Valley trip. This was their third Brand G adventure. 

For our particular trip, we arrived in Bordeaux and spent the next six days experiencing delightful Loire Valley towns like Nantes, La Rochelle and Clisson. On our visit to Clisson, we stumbled upon the 13th-century town’s Italian-inspired festival, with masked revelers, music and many fellow tourists.

Our trip was led by our host and cruise director Johnathon Gallagher. Hailing from Scotland, Gallagher is a fixture on many Brand g trips. Bawdy and friendly, you can see why Gallagher is such a popular touchpoint for guests. Steve M. and David P. tell me that one of the reasons they booked again was because of Gallagher and how much he had added to their previous trip. 

While Gallagher is very entertaining, he wasn’t the only top-notch talent on board. Guests were treated to musical performances by West End star Emma Lindars, accompanied by musical director/composer Tom Knowles. Lindars and Knowles performed everything from disco hits to Broadway ballads, captivating the guests each time. The duo was even kind enough to allow some guests (myself included) to sing a little ourselves.

Also performing to cheering crowds was dynamic Wales-based performer Lee Gilbert. Gilbert, who was previously a guest on a Brand g trip, is now a host and performer after impressing the team with his serious chops. 

I asked Poole what Brand g looks for when booking talent for these cruises. 

“The ability to blow our guests away; the ability to perform several shows over the course of a cruise and keep an audience engaged with new material at each show; and someone who is a lovely human being.”

Barrels of wine await their time to shine at Château Smith Haut Lafitte. (Photo by Dana Piccoli)

Something special about this trip for me, was the opportunity to get to know many of the guests. I tried to sit with different guests for meals and excursions, getting to know groups of people from places like Palm Springs, Fort Lauderdale, and even Melbourne, Australia. 

Writing about my experience without noting some important demographics would be impossible. My wife and I were two of four women travelers on my particular trip. We were also some of the youngest travelers on the ship. Brand g was transparent about this when I asked about marketing toward queer women.

“Because we do skew heavily male, we try to attract women travelers who have lots of gay male friends or who enjoy traveling with a mixed group as opposed to an all-female experience like Olivia. No disrespect to Olivia – there’s a place for all kinds of LGBT+ travel experiences,” said Poole. 

“This tends to occur by referral more than through marketing, since we’re seeking a subset of lesbians.”

Poole points out that there are typically more women on Brand g trips, sometimes 15-20 out of a 80-120 person trip. 

The guests on Brand g trips also tend to be over 55. On our trip, the average age was about 62.

“By virtue of the fact that our trips are luxury, all-inclusive packages, they will tend to appeal to an older, more affluent demographic, but we are always working to broaden our offerings in order to bring in more guests in their 30s and 40s,” said Poole. “And each trip has a somewhat different makeup based on the destination, length, and cost. Our exotic trips that require more extensive travel to get to the destination, or that feature more physical activity –  for example, our trips to Africa, Nepal and Bhutan and Peru – attract a younger clientele. As do our trips that offer luxury at a lower price point, like India, Thailand and Vietnam and Cambodia.”

Sometimes, you can’t control things, like the rising of the Loire River, which kept us docked in Nantes longer than expected and altered some of our plans. However, Brand g did its best to pivot and still offer guests adventures, even if it did mean a lot more bus time than expected.

Our experience with Brand g Vacations was memorable, and personally, the highlight was the dear friends. I now have found family in Palm Springs and Melbourne that I plan to visit. At the core of it all, Brand g offers what most non-LGBTQ-focused vacations can’t—heart, community, and a celebration of LGBTQ+ culture.

Brand g offers a more intimate and immersive alternative to larger, party-focused cruises, making it an excellent choice for LGBTQ+ travelers who value adventure and connection.

Brand g has 24 trips planned for 2025, including adventures in Japan, Australia and Scotland. Check out the full list of trips here. 

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