Blog Archives
Gay families in Baltimore
ManAboutWorld correspondent Paul J. Heney, his partner and their two growing boys brought back this report from Baltimore after a recent visit. No kids? No worries! You don’t need progeny to enjoy this article or learn practical and important trip-planning information about Baltimore, like the use of Old Bay. You don’t know what that is? Read on!
Where
Baltimore has always seemed to me to be a bit misplaced — it has that “big city with a small town feel” that so many Midwestern cities tout. But this metropolitan area of 2.7 million people is strategically placed on the East Coast, about 45 minutes north of our nation’s capital. It’s easily accessible from New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. And its modern airport has always gotten our family through efficiently. It’s not much more than an hours flight from places like Chicago or Atlanta, so it’s a nice option for a long family weekend.
Why go to Baltimore
Baltimore’s famed Inner Harbor is the center of its attractions, and the density of things to do in such a small area makes it 
an ideal vacation spot for families of all shapes and sizes. The collection of museums, variety of restaurants, and waterfront activities can quickly fill up a weekend, making you wish you’d planned a few more days in this aptly named “Charm City.”
Weather is generally pleasant from spring through fall, although humidity can occasionally be overbearing in the middle of summer, so be forewarned. Baltimore has a great variety of festivals (including gay celebrations) throughout the year, so you may wish to check out the calendar at VisitBaltimore.com before planning your visit.
Gay factor
While neighboring Washington, D.C. may get more media attention for its gay life, Baltimore holds its own with its queer vibe. The “gayborhood,” if you will, is the lovely Mount Vernon neighborhood, just north of the city center, and its environs are quite LGBT popular and friendly. There are numerous theaters, art museums and gay establishments dotting this area. And who can forget that Baltimore is the beloved home of iconic director John Walters? Fellow Hollywood writers Barry Levinson and David Simon also grew up in the city. Annual LGBT-oriented events in the city include:
- Baltimore Black Pride (October);
- Outoberfest(October);
- The Creative Alliance Charm City LGBT Film Festival (May);
- Honfest Bawlmer (June);
- Baltimore Pride Festival (July); and
- Artscape (July);
Planning resources
According to Tom Noonan, President and CEO of Visit Baltimore, his organization has an LGBT Tourism Advisory Committee that includes many of the city’s family-focused attractions, including the National Aquarium, Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and the American Visionary Art Museum. Noonan noted that there is a Baltimore LGBT Visitors Guide http://issuu.com/baltimoregaylife/docs/baltimorelgbtguide2014?e=1223151/7404635 that is produced by GayLife, the local gay monthly. The Visitors Guide offers a wealth of knowledge, with sections on accommodations, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, congregations, neighborhoods, and even a wedding guide.
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Our Go, Daddy correspondent Paul and his son.
ManAboutWorld correspondent was invited to Baltimore on an LGBT family media visit. Below is one of his dispatches posted via his Twitter page. Check out the rest of his updates on our Twitter page (MAWtravel) and read his full report in an upcoming issue of ManAboutWorld magazine.
Sightseeing is hard work!! I have one tired cookie at dinner. @BaltimoreMD @MAWtravel @TWtravelnews #baltimore pic.twitter.com/UWjUl46cxY
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The latest gay travel column from Global Correspondent Jeff Guaracino celebrates 11 years of gay family travel.
R Family Vacations was founded eleven years ago by travel entrepreneur Gregg Kaminsky and Kelli Carpenter and since then 19,000 people have traveled the world with Gregg and Kelli on trips designed just for our community.
R Family Vacations is unique in the travel space. The R Family experience is for everyone. Families don’t just mean children. It can be adults with their adult gay or lesbian child or childless LGBT couples who are looking for a different experience than that of Atlantis Events, RSVP Vacations or Olivia.
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Aloha!
ManAboutWorld’s latest issue is ready for download. Subscribers: Open your iPad, tap on ManAboutWorld, go to Library, download and enjoy. Non-subscribers may find us in the AppStore. Or click on our website to subscribe and get access to all our back issues.
This is our coolest — and hottest — cover, yet.
Learn why we love Hawaii and its beautiful aloha spirit.
Other coverage includes:
- Gay family travel to Kauai
- Washington, DC
- Merida, Mexico
- Panama City, Panama
- 6 fabulous honeymoon hotels
- and more
Wait, not a subscriber? (Est-ce possible ?! :). Become one now and get access to all our back issues for free.Please share
Welcome to ManAboutWorld’s newest correspondent, Lance Stamps.
Lance is a hotel junkie. As the VP of Marketing for ClassicTravel.com, the online division of Classic Travel Service, he hand-picks the hotels that are featured on their luxury hotel booking platform. Classictravel.com features the world’s best hotels and members have access to some of the best rates and amenities available to the luxury traveler. Keeping up with all the new properties that are available to clients is a challenge that he loves. Every hotel has a few special rooms and discovering the perfect one is always exciting. His goal in the near future is to take a year and live in various hotels around the world. Who doesn’t love waking up in a luxury hotel?!
When he is not traveling and expanding Classics hotel collection he enjoys overseeing his nightclub OPEN HOUSE in the L.E.S.
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We love the new Miss Richfield commercial for gay-friendly Philadelphia but I think we love the outtakes even more!
If you want to check out what Miss Richfield 1981 is up to on her blog.
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ManAboutWorld’s latest issue is ready for download! Subscribers: Open your iPad, tap on ManAboutWorld, go to Library, download and enjoy. Non-subscribers may find us in the AppStore. Or click on our website to subscribe and get access to all our back issues!
This is the very cool cover featuring a few goats who thought we were the silliest things for filming these ancient ruins. Looking for peaceful, stable, gay-friendly spots in the Middle East? Journey with us to Tel Aviv, Jordan and a few other spots.
Other coverage includes:
- San Juan
- Vieques
- San Miguel de Allende
- Top Halloween hotspots
- Rovos Rail done gay
Wait, not a subscriber? (Est-ce possible ?! :). Become one now and get access to all our back issues for free.Please share
Haven Caylor is a ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent, father to two incredibly cute kids and one of our “Gay Traveling Dads.” He and his husband recently took Ammon and Carter to Walt Disney World Resort. Here his update from the “Happiest Place on Earth.”
‘Let the Memories Begin’ … and treasure them in your heart when the awesome adventure is over. Ammon, Carter, Sean, and I spent the 3rd week of September at Walt Disney World Resort. For 8 adventure-filled days, we spent time in the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and the Animal Kingdom. My synoptic advise for Walt Disney World is GO THERE! Save your money, plan your itinerary (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com was my all-inclusive helper), go, and ENJOY! I also have 3 other pieces of advice I would like to share.
1) Stay on the Walt Disney World Resort. The use of its monorail and bus system is first rate. I highly recommend the Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Carter, Ammon, Sean, and I stayed there, and it was in a perfect location. We could walk to the Magic Kingdom in less than 10 minutes, and in the evenings if we were leaving from the Magic Kingdom, it was the first stop off the monorail. We had chosen to drive our own vehicle from our home in Chattanooga to Orlando, and when we parked our car upon our Bay Lake Tower arrival, we didn’t touch it again until 8 days later when we returned home.
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Courtesy: Four Seasons Baltimore
By Jeff Guaracino, ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent
With 13 states in the U.S. (as well as the District of Columbia) now with legalized same-sex marriage, there are more and more choices for same-sex couples to choose from for destination weddings and honeymoons. In the first year since same-sex weddings became legal in New York, NYC & Co found that more than 8100 same-sex licenses were issued in the city alone.
The travel industry loves same-sex weddings. We are a new group of potential customers. We tend to book our ceremonies very quickly and we opt-out of the standard cookie cutter ceremony. Just read the Sunday New York Times Wedding announcements, the LGBT community is anything but typical.
With so many options to celebrate our love, it pays to be a smart and well-researched groom or bride. Here are just a few of your choices to mark the most important decision of your life (that is after you come out!)
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Call this mashing in vegetables with the foods your kids want to eat. But our Global Correspondent Paul J. Heney, a gay father of two, devised a strategy to blend fun travel and useful scouting. In his words:
I’m all about having fun on family vacations, but, as most parents do, I also like to throw in some educational things when I can. All the better if the kids don’t quite realize they’re learning something. Whether it’s a somber visit to the Pearl Harbor Memorial or a lighthearted stop at a science museum, my kids generally go along with it, and we all get a lot out of the experience.
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By ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent and Traveling Gay Dad Paul J. Heney
Our trip through Glacier National Park ended on a challenging note, as we took a last hike to Avalanche Lake–a ranger told us it was an easy 2 mile (each way) hike with a beautiful view at the end of a lake with waterfalls cascading into it. Both our guidebooks listed it is an “easy” hike. But it was anything but. The 500-ft elevation gain felt more like 2,000 ft. Our feet were exhausted by the end; the view was stunning, but we slugged back to the car and decided we were done, to the hotel it was.
I’d originally planned to have us stay in Kalispell, Montana that evening, the main town at the western end of the park. But the best lodging option seemed to be the Pine Lodge in nearby Whitefish. I didn’t know anything about Whitefish and I guess I assumed it was sort of a crummy suburb of Kalispell, 15 min north. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
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The Montana state Capitol in Helena. Quite beautiful inside.
Our first day of our first gay family trip went well. We’d decided to save some money and use frequent flier miles, so we were somewhat restricted by the airline’s (United’s) whims. We flew from CLE-IAH-DEN-HLN. A three hour layover in Houston was actually a nice gift; the kids spotted a Chili’s and begged to have lunch there. We were fine with that, because it wasn’t McDonalds. We also took a tour of about every gift shop in the B and C terminals … but I convinced the boys to save their money, as they would probably see some really cool stuff in Montana.
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A healthy fear of bears;)
By Paul J. Heney
Our first gay family adventure—should I be nervous?
In a few days, I’ll be taking what I am deeming my first gay family trip. I’ve traveled extensively with my two sons—and I’ve traveled extensively with my partner—but the four of us have never taken a trip together. Lance and the boys get along quite well, and this trip seemed like a natural. Until I pointed out to Lance recently that he’d never been around the boys 24 hours a day for a whole week. That got him thinking a little. And me as well, I suppose. Will we get along in the car? Will everyone want to do the same activities? Who sits next to whom on the plane? Will the lack of internet connectivity and television where we’re going drive someone (me!) insane?
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Carter, Haven, & Ammon Museum of Natural History
By Haven Caylor
My husband, Sean, and my children, Carter and Ammon started summer with a one-week vacation the second week of June. Our favorite family vacation spot isn’t an amusement park or a beach it’s New York City. Ammon, Carter, Sean, and I have some special places we return to, and we add new places as Carter and Ammon get older.
Sean and I started going to New York City on a regular basis in 2004. Carter and Ammon started going with us when they were 18 months old. We have been lucky that Sean’s mother, Nana, goes with us to take care of Ammon and Carter if we go to a late-night Broadway show, but as they have gotten older, we choose shows that Carter and Ammon can enjoy as well.Please share
These dads are about to smooch.
¡Viva el Romance, Viva la familia, y Viva Las Vegas!
“It’s good luck for sweethearts, lovers, or spouses to kiss under this bridge. Go ahead and Happy Anniversary!” our lovely, Greek gondolier at Las Vegas’ Venetian Hotel encouraged. Sean and I were seated across from each other and we blushed, smiled and leaned across for a husband-husband smooch. When we kissed, Carter and Ammon didn’t blink an eye, and the gondolier sighed. “How lovely, and what lovely children you two have!”
It was Labor Day week of 2012, and it was my 8th Wedding Anniversary Vacation. Sean, Carter, Ammon, and I were all together, and it has been my favorite anniversary to date. In Las Vegas (just like any city), we lived, loved, and enjoyed ourselves as family.
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Gay parenting: a walk in the park!
The two biggest joys of my life are being a dad and traveling. While I often travel with just my partner, I also very much enjoy taking time to show my two sons (ages 5 and 12) the amazing world we live in.
I learned an important lesson about traveling with kids many years ago. We were going to Europe and decided to take Joshua (then 5). Josh was all about trains, so part of the tour involved the high-speed trains he always talked about, including a ride through the Chunnel to London. It was a fantastic trip, encompassing much of Germany, The Netherlands and greater London.
Years later, what does he remember of the trip? The trains? The museums? The statues in London? The food? Heck no. He remembers feeding the ducks in a pond at the Munich Olympic Park. (He could do that three minutes from our house!) The moral is that you have to plan plenty of open, unscheduled time, to let the wandering attention of little ones call the shots sometimes.Please share
Our newest correspondent, Haven Calor, is a traveling dad. Here is his first blog post.
It was July 4, 2009 in New York City, Manhattan. Sean, my husband, and I strolled from 42nd Street back up 8th Avenue to our hotel after seeing a light-hearted, romantic comedy in the evening. It was a warm evening, the stroll was romantic, and we touched hands for a few seconds and gazed into each other’s eyes: what an apropos moment for a married, gay couple of 5 years.
We even had fireworks from the Hudson River as a backdrop; however, something/some things were missing … our two, 9 month old twins, Ammon and Carter who were back home in Tennessee with grandparents. Almost simultaneously we said, “I miss the babies.”Please share
