Hello I'm Rich Brown and this is my personal website and blog. I'm just your simple, average, down to earth, professional, out gay man and aspiring circuit boy, living in Phoenix, Arizona with a few things to say while trying to find my place among all the scary, conservative, religious nuts in this sick and twisted world.
Friday, April 21, 2006
White Party 2006 Part 1: Our Arrival
So the plan was that Justin and I would meet Philip, Bernard and his friends Mike & Tony in Palm Springs on Friday afternoon, with all of us being first timers at the White Party. Justin and I were driving out from Phoenix, Bernard was flying in from San Fran, Philip was driving in from the OC, and Mike and Tony were driving in from San Diego. It was ramping up to be one hell of a good weekend.
With sunny skies, Justin and I set out around 9 AM on Friday morning on our drive to Palm Springs. Depending on the traffic and how fast you're willing to drive it's usually only a 3-4 hour drive out from Phoenix, so we took our time and arrived shortly after 1 PM. Bernard's flight arrived early from San Fran, around 9 AM, and their room wasn't ready yet, so he was stuck in the lobby waiting for us most of the morning. Philip arrived at nearly the same time as Justin and I, with the others arriving later in the evening.
We were staying at the Official White Party Weekend host hotel, the Wyndham Palm Springs.
The advantage to staying in official host hotel is that aside from the Tea Dance and the White Party itself, all the other parties are held here at the hotel. This gives everyone staying at the host hotel the advantage of simply being able to walk downstairs to get to the party.
So we arrived, checked into the hotel, and then checked in at the White Party table to pick up our VIP passes and gift bags. Friday is arrival day for most people, so they had the DJ Booth and dance music already going next to the pool for all the early arrivers. After grabbing our bags and unloading everything in our rooms we decided to head down to the pool to grab a drink and check out the setup.
It was nearly 80 degrees, sunny and the pool water was a very nice, lukewarm temperature. The interesting thing about the host hotel is that for this one weekend it becomes completly transformed into an exclusive 'gay only' resort. For more then a year in advance, every room is blocked out specifically for potential White Party guests who must call the hotel directly to make room reservations. It's my assumption that the hotel probably dosen't want any 'regular season' guests unknowingly making reservations to stay here and end up with a huge surprise when they find themselves in the middle of one of the west coast's largest Gay Circuit Party weekends.
The pool area was setup with chairs, bars, the DJ Booth, a mini-stage, and several stands of stacked speakers and all ready to go for tomorrow's pool party. As more and more people were gradually making their way down to check things out, we decided to hang out for a bit and listen to the music before heading back up and getting ready for the friday evening party.
