In 1999 I moved from LA to New York where I embarked on a 16 year relationship. More about that another time. When that came to an end I was still very innocent when it came to living the gay lifestyle I heard about from so many people. I felt I had to make up for lost time. There was so much I had to do. In my life I had probably only slept with 15 guys. I felt like I was laughing stock to many of the gay guys I talked to. Bars were passe. I had no choice but to turn to Grindr and Scruff. At some point I will devote a Blog or two to them. I just hoped I would feel like a kid in a candy store.
It was summer I think two years ago and I had to go to Chicago for a family wedding. I cannot stand NYC in the summer and I didn't have any plans so I said to myself, what the hell spend some time in Chicago. As it was most of my family would not be there after the wedding and I had a great empty apartment in the middle of the city to use.
When I started using Scruff and Grindr it was a bit of a learning process. I have always been an early riser, 5:00 A.M. due to my job. Slowly I discovered after a while that most of the people online at that time were either, "playing or partying," Well it is Monday morning after the wedding and I get online to see if anyone was around. In only a a few minutes I get a text from this guy who although not my usual type was pretty sexy and hot. We were both a few miles apart on Lake Shore Drive and decide we will meet about 1/2 way between. Just a warning for anyone of you who are not partiers beware they are always late. Anyway, by the time we met I was practically at his place. The fun was about to begin and last about five days, two of them spent at the Chicago Steamworks.
It was probably around 6:00 A.M. now and we went to the roof of what I presumed was his building, messing around a bit and ending up in the bathroom on the roof for a bit more fun. We were both pleased with what the other had to offer, Gradually we made our way downstairs to as it turned out not his apartment, but his friends. There were a few friends at the place and my guess would be that they were up all night, Next a shower and an empty bedroom. Chicago was working out just fine .
I ended up leaving about two in the afternoon rushing to a haircut appointment. God knows, why I did not just cancel it. I was having such a good time. I was very sorry my good time ended. I was quite surprised and happy that evening when I received a text from from him. I had him meet me outside the building where I was staying. I brought him upstairs where we had a drink and in a hurried frenzy messed around again. I did not feel comfortable having him stay for the night as it was not my place and did not know if he might sneak out taking half the apartment with him when he left. Later I suggested we go to his place.. He told me it was too far away at which point he suggested the Chicago Steamworks. I was thrilled with the idea. I had always heard about the Gay Sauna but I had been too afraid to go by myself.
By now it was probably about two in the morning and he told me that the place would be packed at this hour. I am sure just about everybody has been to one but me, so I will skip the complete description of it. When we got there they pretty much checked our belongings with a fine tooth comb looking for drugs, My "trick"or friend suggested we get a room which I quickly said yes to. He explained to me that if when you get a room you leave the door slightly ajar and people would look in and if we wanted them to come in and join us they would. The rooms were very small dark and consisted of a bed and a sling. I had never been in a sling before.
I really felt like a teenager I was too afraid to walk around the place by myself so we went together and I saw the steam and sauna all the different rooms and all the different type of men etc. I realized it was not the place I would ever go to for sex. I did however enjoy the sling quite a bit. Funnily enough we left sometime in the afternoon to get some food and refresh ourselves and returned that evening for some more fun.
I told my friend, I considered him a friend by now, not a trick that I was surprised at how many people he knew.. He told me that he knew a lot of people because he sold drugs so he would have the money to buy his own. Next I asked him what he did for a living being the nosey person I am. He then told me that he was an escort. He showed me his ad and I was quite impressed especially because I was getting it for free and thought as I said before he was pretty fucking hot. Maybe I'll attach his ad,
As it turned out we somehow ended up spending about five days together. I must say I had a blast. Chicago turned out better than I could've imagined. There were only two mishaps I was having such a good time I cancelled 2 flight back to NYC and could not afford to cancel a third, As I was rushing to leave The Steamworks to catch my flight I hit my head on the sling and had to stop at the hospital to get it cleaned up. Somehow I managed to get to the airport on time, I was in the pre approved TSA line going through the security, when one of the guards begins to shout, "Who does this belong to". In his hand was my oversized bottle of lube, I would have kept on walking if I could but I needed my luggage. When I said mine ,completely red faced, he started to tell me that I was an idiot and should know better, I agreed, at that point, I would have agreed to anything, Personally I could not believe he even held the bottle in his hand.