Gay of a Certain Age - WeHo Pride 2025 - Day 1

 Gay Pride in WeHo came in two days: the first day being the last day of May!

As a Gay of a Certain Age, especially in the time which inspired me to come up with the moto, "Be More Gay!" I know the importance of gathering and creating joy wherever and whenever we can.  It also didn't hurt that muh DABs, Dudley and Mark Gaddis invited me to join them in a little pre-parade reveling. 

We kicked off the day at Mother Lode, a favorite haunt of ours.  We met up with our friends Anthony & Chris and enjoyed the view of Pride happenings and folks around us.

  Like this fella sporting his crown as many of us did (will) over the weekend.    

Directly in front of the bar, in the street, we watched the hot MISTR men inform people about Prep, Pep and hotness options.

When it came time to move on, we stepped out of the bar and into the street where I could get a pic with the hotties from the booth next to Mistr.

We also popped in to say "Hi" to Mr. Crown himself, Andrew Russell, who makes these fabulous crowns. I have three of my own and have gifted one or two...

Of course, I captured a few man on the street pics, notably inspired by this guy.

We headed east, in the direction of the La Cienega entrance of the festivities, just to be sure we hit everything from top to bottom.  Along the way we enjoyed all the people in the blocked off street,

along with the booths lining the curb, with people handing out stuff.

My favorites were the guys offering free sun block spray

I think Dudley liked them, too...

Exhausted from our two or three block jaunt, we found ourselves in front of Schmitty's!

Of course, we had to stop in say, "hi", grab a drink and open ourselves up to the possibility of meeting someone to be a parade escort.  I was delighted to see DJ Bruce Daniels as soon as I walked in.  He's a sweetheart and I wish only super great things for him. 

I think it's easy to say we had a fun time

We certainly had a nice view of perspective beaus...

When it was time to move on again, I tried one last ditch effort and offered a proposal of marriage, but he declined, letting me down easy.

"No. But thank you, kindly, for the offer."

As soon as we stepped onto the street, a Ferris wheel was in view!  

Of course, we hopped on board and took in the sights!

I was barely tall enough to get on the ride!

Once we dismounted, we made our way back toward Mother Lode, to make sure we didn't miss anything/one. On the way back we saw more friendly faces,

More people,

More people I know,

Jeffrey Drew

More people in booths,

a DJ playing for people dancing in the street,

People dancing in the street,

Go-Go dancers dancing near the street,

And a bar called 33 Taps.  We stopped in for a drink and that is where my fancy camera ran out of battery power.  So, here is a pic from 33 Taps and a little show of other Pre-Parade revelers in the street!

Remember, I've got a thing for bartenders...

Finally, a revisit to the man of my dreams (that night)!

Next up, WeHo Pride 2025 - Day 2, the parade!

Stay tuned!