My second trip in June took me to Columbus, Ohio. I had heard that there was no Ohio Pride like a Columbus Ohio Pride. This in itself had me looking forward to spending the weekend there. I had only been to Columbus a couple times before. Once was a weekend trip to visit a nephew who is living there. Another time was to pick up a different nephew who was coming home for a visit from Norfolk. Somehow I got volunteered to make the trip. Most often when it comes to my family I can’t say no, however that isn’t important to this particular story. This Columbus Pride weekend was my time to explore the capital city.

I arrived Friday evening checked into my hotel room and called an online friend who was going to show me around. I was to meet him and his boyfriend at Goodale Park where the Pride festival was taking place. That should have been easy enough to accomplish. There was just one outstanding factor in the scheme. I can get lost turning around. What is worse is that even though I know and acknowledge this fact I hate to ask for directions. So here I am leaving the hotel thinking I’ll just follow this group of people. Surely they will lead me to the place I need to go.

The people I was following did not go to the festival grounds. They instead went into some restaurant. Somehow what should have been about a fifteen minute walk tuned into an hour and a half of wandering around aimlessly. Why is it that when one is in the midst of a fiasco every decision seems like a good idea? It is only with hind sight that one understands what a moronic move it is not to stop and ask, “Can you tell me where there is a huge gathering of homos in the area?”

 Frustrated, sweaty and near the point of tears I called my friend. I got so turned around that apparently I was in a bad neighborhood. It didn’t seem that bad, but the worry in Louis’ voice made me a little panicky. Somehow I made it back hotel. By that time it was too late to meet anyone. I showered, went down to the hotel restaurant, and had a couple pints of beer. This made me feel a little better, but my first big gay night in a new city was a disaster. The saving grace to it all was another friend Nick had graciously accepted the task of showing me around the area. The reason that he wasn’t there during my meandering around downtown Columbus was the fact that he had to work and was coming from out of town himself. Thankfully Nick showed up to guide me through the rest of the weekend.