Of Course I Was Right...

...But I was wrong too. I admit it, I'm often guilty of having preconceived notions of people or places, especially gay ones, so much that I never want to experience them. For instance, gay cruises: I see them as being like Gay Days at Disney...lots of cracked out guys just lookin to hookup or dance to the monotonous sounds of drum n base techno. Actually, that was a preconceived notion of Gay Days that came to be true--at least that's the scene at the hotels and parties. But yea...the cruises. I love cruises, its the latent marine biologist in me, but I would never want to go on a gay one, though I'm sure if I was forced (i.e., peer pressured) into going, I'd enjoy it somewhat. I say the same thing about gay gyms (e.g., Main Street Wilton Manors, Results in DC, or LA Fitness in ATL), but when I end up going, I always have good workouts--I get motivated by the desire to impress.

Ever since moving to DC in Feb 2006, I've always heard of the gay beach oasis Rehoboth. Growing up as a kid in Philly I heard mention of it infrequently, just as much as any other sleepy beach town. I figured it was like Cape May, NJ back in my "str8"/gay-ignorant days. But my preconceived notion changed when I moved to DC. In my mind it became more of a Fire Island or P-town, where gays dominate the landscape and there's an entire industry to cater to them. I resisted going my first year here, partly cause I saw it being like the aforementioned cruises or Gay Days. I am also HIGHLY resistant to Mid-Atlantic beaches. Again, I remember going to Jersey as a kid, where the beaches are crowded, water is dirty and cold, and the dunes are nonexistent, instead replaced by seawalls, groins, jetties, boardwalks, cheap hotels and retailers. How many hermit crabs and salt water taffies can a person really buy? I really did enjoy my time in NC, GA, and FL because the beaches were relatively unspoiled compared to those of NJ and MD.

Well this weekend some swim teammates went to Rehoboth after participating in our (DCAC) annual Swim for Life--a charity open water swim in one of the tributary rivers of the Chesapeake. I'd like to brag and say I swam, but instead I sat on the shores, helped register people and time the swimmers. I hate long distance swimming. I also had this preconceived notion that it would be a larger/more competitive event, so I was intimidated mostly because I've never done an open water competition before and hate being the loser. Next year I'll swim a mile. So afterwards the gaggle of gays migrated eastward, destination: Rehoboth Beach. We arrived at 3pm and went right for the sands. It was a pleasant surprise. The gay beach had no surrounding crappy vendors, hotels, or other unsightly marrings of the coast. The gays seemed relatively friendly, and it wasn't even that cruisy. Fast forward 19 hours.

Sunday we hit the sand bright 'n early, around 11am. We ventured to the gay beach along the boardwalk that's spotted with cheap hotels, retailers, crappy video games, etc. Got to the crowded beach that later became inundated with DC gays. The amazing thing is you can take the gay out of DC but you cant take the DC out of the gay. Everyone formed their respective cliques, and rarely intermingled. I thought that the relaxing beach atmosphere would break down those barriers a bit. Not so much. But you cant expect everyone to open up as soon as I arrive to a new city--though they should, dammit! I guess one needs to be indoctrinated into the local Rehoboth fold. Maybe next year. But all in all, I had a great time and am really enjoying hanging out with my fellow swimmer!

Addendum 1: I totally agree with GCC...the guys at DCAC SFL2007 Rehoboth Weekend are all awesome and I love having them as my friends!