Dishing with Mark & Carrie May 20, 2010

One of the very best margaritas we have ever had was at Club Play in GaYbor! In their outside patio bar they have one of those big, swirling ice blenders that crush up the tequila and mixes just perfectly. You have to go out and meet bartender Savon! At Hamburger Mary's it was Gay BINGO benefiting charities AIDS Lifecycle Ride to End AIDS and the Metro Wellness & Community Center.

Drag & Dinner was a huge success at JJ's Cafe and Bar Café, located on the corner of 7th Ave and 16th Street (directly across the street from Centro Ybor). A cast of beauties entertained the crowd for 2 shows. Hostess Miss Arica Love promises even more surprises in the future! This is the perfect addition to the popular Thursday nights in GaYbor. There is competitive karaoke at Streetcar Charlie's, an amateur strip contest at Hamburger Mary's at midnight and over at The Ybor Social it's College Night with an amateur drag contest at midnight. Viva la GaYbor!

It's election time again and Tampa Bay has had its share of interesting races and candidates. So where do we stand this year? Most recently in St. Petersburg the city voters in District 5 overwhelmingly voted openly gay candidate Steve Kornell into the St. Petersburg City Council. It has been 1 1/2 years since gay candidate Kevin Beckner was elected to the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners. We are proud to say that many inspiring political guests have spoken to the GaYbor District Coalition members on behalf of helping the gay community. In the past couple of weeks we have seen Linda Saul-Sena running in District 5 and John Dingfelder running in District 1 Hillsborough County Commissioner races. Russ Patterson is running for Florida State House 60. Running for the next March 1st election for Tampa Mayor, this past Monday former Tampa City Councilman Bob Buckhorn entered the race. Three others have also entered. So far Bob is the only mayor candidate to come to a GaYbor meeting! Remember, it is very important that we support candidates who support us!

The fully remodeled Body Shop (formerly Keith's Bar) in North Tampa has opened with a huge patio bar, new dart room and of course the round-about bar full of vivid rainbow colors! The N. Nebraska Ave. club has a lot of new bartenders, familiar local faces and a full line-up of crazy fender bender weekly event specials. Karaoke anyone? For a lift, Friday is a good night to sing your hearts out. Tampa Bay's #1 internet radio station host DJ Cloe was broadcasting live from the bar on JAMN 106 (Live365.com/JAMN206), your pride station, promoting Men of Playgirl Magazine “Sexiest Male Model Competition” Semi-Finals, August 5th through 7th, MANHUNT 2010. I met up with a couple of mechanic guys and was told that this is also the new home to Bear Soup, a new Bear bonding group in Tampa Bay. You can't miss the bar - a Cadillac is crashing out of the front of the building! Check out the newest bar in town at 14905 N Nebraska Ave. (813)971-3576. Open every day.

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