Pride: Lollipop

After a fun BBQ on Thursday, and knowing that the actual day time party and march was on Saturday, I figured Friday would be the one night I didn't have plans and didn't know what was up. That was solved on Friday afternoon when McButter asked me how to spell my last name because she was buying me a ticket for Lollipop, a themed party for the ladies at Kelly's Mission Rock in China Basin.

I head up to Za and T's place around 10 o'clock, and we're immediately faced with the fact that Tri is in another part of town. I know this is a time for Maurod, who comes through once again, picking her up at her place, driving down to T's place, picking us all up (it's Tri, T, McButter, Za, myself and Marge), fitting us all in, drinks included, and then sharing a j with me on the way across town. When we get there, the line is huge, but it seems to be moving well because of the guest list. In line we meet up with Nah, Bini and a few others. We get in where Xena, Arlene and a bunch others have been for a bit.

When we get to the front, I'm amazed at how little time it took. The girls all think that this was a horrendously long time to wait, which brings out an interesting contrast in the way girls and guys see lines outside of bars and clubs. Of course, the tables are turned once I'm inside and all the women are using both bathrooms which makes it the longest time I've waited for a bathroom line, so this proves as an interesting point of comparison for the lines and length of time spent standing in them. None of the women I was with felt that the bathroom lines were too long.

When we get past the ticket check, this place is awesome. It's a huge outdoor area with a walk up a flight of stairs to get into the bar/dancefloor area. The entire outside area is centered around patios and balconies that look out over the bay providing for some amazing views. It also helps in terms of getting outside and getting fresh air when necessary.

Inside, the place is packed. Estimates for the evening range from 400-700 people, and they are all drunk and dancing. Never before have I been to a venue with that many people and seen that few just standing on the wall. They've got some beautiful go-go dancers, and the DJs, throughout the night, are dropping some sick mash-ups. As we walk in and I realize that aside from security, I'm pretty much one of the only guys there, Za recognizes the same thing and turns around to tell me that I'm lucky to be there. I couldn't agree more. After the longest bathroom line of my life, and getting my ass grabbed on the way out of the bathroom, we're back for drinks and more dancing, and have managed to carve out a nice spot behind the DJ stand to dance and be more or less out of the way.

After a bit, we take in the bay view from the smoking balcony, which is awesome. The security guard doesn't say anything to me about the j I light, and I make some new friends as I pass it around and start talking to people around me.

The party is slated to go until 4 am, but about 2:45, the drinks have been shut off for an hour, and despite the fun we're having dancing, most everyone is ready to call it an evening. Back outside on the street, we look at the ridiculous amount of people looking fruitlessly for a cab before giving Maurod a call. He's there in 15 minutes with no fight with others for his car. You gotta love this guy! We get back to T and Za's place a bit after 3, which gives me about 7 hours before it's time to get up and get ready for the main event...the parade!

Apologies for the lack of pictures here, but I try not to be too obtrusive with the camera for obvious reasons....the main dance floor pictures were taken by Za, and I was having fun with the color accent feature on my camera with the funky blacklight/glowing glasses they were serving drinks in.