Sometime in the four a.m. hour Adrienne gathers all of her belongings and makes her graceful exit from Miami. She has an early flight leaving for New Orleans to attend a conference. We say our farewells and I fall back to sleep.
A few hours later it is my turn. I make a final sweep of the room and make my express checkout via the television. While it is handy, I still am a bit paranoid about how much I will be charged. But Adrienne had left the checkout bill in the bathroom for me that indicated all the money that was left to pay.
I head down to the lobby. I thought I would be the first to arrive, but Don and Michael are already there. Pretty soon Roger arrives. We don't have long to wait for our shuttle. Everything runs smoothly from the shuttle, to going through security and waiting for our flight.
While waiting I ran into two members of the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus, Jason B. and Tito. Tito knows my friend John so it was a little bit of that "Small World" syndrome. It was nice having them to pass the time away. Jason had a really great digital camera that also took good video. I always love looking at someone else's pictures. He was sweet enough to help a fellow chorus member in need. The chorus member in question slept through his alarm and was about to miss his flight. Jason volunteered to drive him up to Fort Lauderdale so he could catch his flight. He and Tito turned lemons into lemonade and were able to see the sunrise on the beach of Fort Lauderdale.
Eventually my flight takes off and I am on it. We land in Philadelphia and Don, Michael, and Roger say goodbye. I take the Regional Rail home to West Philly.
While about to go down to the platform, I meet Martin from Los Angeles. He needed directions to take the train into Center City. I help him out and we talk down on the platform. I had worn my Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus polo shirt for my flight because I wanted something I didn't have to worry about ruining due to mishaps during travel. He noticed the logo and asked about the chorus. I told him about the trip I had just been on. He was here in Philadelphia for a conference for the American Dietetic Association. We continued our conversation on the train into the city. On my way out I gave him my name and cell phone number. As I was passing him the little note he already had his business card at the ready. I was the first to leave the train.
Before I even got to my front door, Martin had already given me a call on my phone. We arranged to go out for dinner. He was staying at the Radisson Warwick Hotel. I met him there and took him on a little guided tour. Of course, prior to meeting him I had called a few people to share my news. Chad was one of the ones that I called. He happened to see the two of us as we were walking the streets of Philadelphia. I have a witness! He can vouch that I had not landed a troll. I wasn't so much concerned about the attractiveness of the guy I had picked up but the fact that I had picked up anyone at all. I had brought my camera and stowed it in a pocket of my cargo shorts. I wanted documentation. Now I didn't need the camera because I had a witness.
Martin and I walked over to Knock for a nice leisurely dinner. Martin absolutely loved the restaurant. We did have an especially good meal. I had two pan seared scallops presented on risotto cakes and dressed with a sweet corn sauce as an appetizer. It was incredible. That was my favorite part of the meal. For my main plate I had angel hair tossed in a white sauce with mussels, clams and jumbo shrimp. It is during dinner that I discover that Martin has a partner in Los Angeles and would not be interested in me as anything more than a tour guide. Of course he has a partner! That only makes sense because besides packing a camera in my shorts I had packed a handy bottle of lube and condoms. Honey, I was prepared! Isn't that what hotel rooms are for!?! I made the best of the situation and took him to Capogiro for dessert. We indulged in the wonderful world of gelato. Yummy. I walked him back to his hotel. I pointed out the new gay bar, Stir, which is only a couple of doors away from his hotel. We decide to cap off the night with a beverage inside Stir. After we each enjoyed a beverage it was time to say goodbye.
I returned home and that is the end of all my adventures associated with GALA Festival VIII.