Happy…Fifth…of Pride? No…body was…Killed?
This summer has been incredibly packed, so SF Pride and the Fourth of July definitely were not low-key nor quiet weekends. I always joke to myself "I'll sleep when I'm dead/when festival season ends!" but sometimes a gyal needs to recharge. I do look forward to weekends like these, though, because at the end of the day, they're a great chance to spend time with my friends (some of who I don't see all that often) and make memories together (or crack endless jokes about Derrick Berry’s recollection of Stonewall).
A Grover brother sandwich
2019 would mark my third SF Pride. I partook in Pride festivities at Bonnaroo earlier this summer and knew that SF would have a hard time beating it. My good judy, Jackson, came up from LA for the weekend, so I was excited to spend some time with him. The main issue with SF Pride is that is lands on a Sunday. Last year's celebrations wrecked me, and I had to stay home on that Monday. I knew I needed to pace myself better this year, which I was able to accomplish.
For Pride, we (drank a lot) hit some good ol’ Castro bars (and Butter!) and spent Saturday afternoon in Dolores Park as always. Pride is an incredibly inspiring time as we come together to celebrate our LGBTQA+ loved ones, free love and the right to be you. Like Gaga once said, “It’s the gay men in my life that helped me to become a woman, and I don’t know that a lot of people would understand that.” I owe so much to this community, so it's only right that I celebrate them during this month and every month.
For the Fourth, we packed up and headed east to Lake Tahoe. Some of you might've heard of the infamous 2016 Fourth of July I spent in South Lake with my friends, Emma and Mackenzie. I hoped that this year would be slightly more put together. We stayed in North Lake near Tahoe City, which already is far calmer than Zephyr Cove.
We spent the weekend chowing tf down, throwing back Chambers punch, "rafting," enjoying some time on the water and playing and playing an exorbitant amount of drinking games (actually, I only played about 10% of the weekend's total games). Considering how difficult traveling and being with lots of people for consecutive days (except Roo!) has been for me and my anxiety, I am very glad to report I did reasonably well – other than the gnarly spill I took tripping over a suitcase in the dark which left me with a foot-long scar on my arm and nasty bruise on my leg. I think I've gotten better about knowing when to tap out or excuse myself for some sort of "alone" time.
The startling effects of too many drinking games
My favorite part of the trip, however, was going to get coffee and breakfast in the mornings at Sugar Pine Cakery. I'm addicted to coffee at the moment, and I absolutely need to start my morning off with it. On the last morning, though, Wes and I decided to walk down the hill to the Cakery and have Lauren come scoop us. The walk was just what we needed to get the blood pumping and clear our minds. We were able to come across things like the Jambulence (pictured below) that we otherwise would've missed if we had driven down. Lauren finally came down to meet us, and we sat, sip, ate and chatted outside. Wes then got lost in the woods in search of the bathrooms for so long that Lauren and I were able to order a second coffee. We were asked to run to Safeway to pickup more White Claw (vom), but we threw down the windows and listened to our favorite podcast, Who Weekly. I look back and just giggle at us wishing other people in town a Happy Fourth/Fifth/Sixth or at my $12 7-11 splurge on children’s Beanie Baby sandals (also pictured below). It's always these small gem moments that make these weekends worth it.
I'm forcing myself to have as much downtime as possible in my weeks so that I have enough energy by the next weekend. With a couple of packed weekends coming up, it's definitely necessary to just chill. I'm excited for what the rest of the summer holds and just hope I make it out in one piece.
