Baths, bookstores, and bars

Back to the early 90's, it was probably 1990 when I made the first of several trips to Dallas to check out what the big city had to offer for this small town gay boy. It's funny to remember places that are now something completely different. There used to be an adult book store called something like "Lobo After Dark" in Oak Lawn. It was at the back of the building that now includes Hunky's, but on the side nearest the Nelson-Tebedo Clinic. There was very limited parking and everybody always joked about having "enter through the rear." Just exploring the stock, both video and magazines, was quite eye-opening. I probably shopped there a half-dozen times in a 2-3 year period before it closed down. Across the street, in the building where Skivvies is now, there was a very cool dance club that I distinctly recall dancing in only one time with friends.

From these 2 places on Cedar Springs, I soon branched out and discovered some adult bookstores on Mockingbird. I don't really recall their names anymore, but one was in the building now marked "McKool Graphics" and that's where I had some furtive gropes and an unexpected hookup one time. He and I along with about 8-10 other guys were in a small theater showing porn projected onto a screen. I remember following him to a part of north Dallas that I'd never seen before. For some reason though, I remember how we met more than the actual encounter. I know this seems kind of random, but it was memorable for being the only time I was cruised at an adult theater.

Around this same time, I discovered there was still a bath house operating in Dallas. (Actually, there are 2, and they are still operating, but I didn't learn about the second one until much later.) I first visited Midtowne Spa in Dallas sometime around the summer of 1990. For those that have been there recently, this was before the maze was installed, otherwise, it hasn't changed much in the 15 years until they remodeled the basement. The routine at Midtowne Spa at this time was to cruise the corridors, the spa area, or the roof. You could also leave your door open and try to catch someone's eye to invite in. Typically, you'd lay on the bed in your preferred position, showing off the particular asset you wanted to use. Bottoms would either face the door with the ass up and away from the door, or contort into a position to show your ass and still see the door. Tops had to maintain enough of an erection to attract interest. Before Viagra, this was more of a challenge for some guys than others. My main memory from my first visit was kind of a mixed deal. I was cruised by this super hot red-bearded otter and somehow we ended up in someone's room for a very awkward 3-some. I was in the middle of what should have been a hot bear sandwich. The red otter was very hot, but the other guy really wasn't prepared to be the bottom and it really wrecked the scene. Luckily, I would encounter the red otter again on at least 2 other trips to the baths. One time about 10 years ago, I saw him looking even hotter in a tux at an event at the Meyerson Symphony Center, but I never saw him again after that.

Sometime later, I went back to Midtowne Spa with a gay coworker. He had a much older partner, but seemed to free to go play in the city. We coordinated days off to drive up and spend the night at the club. Back then, you could check in to a room for 10-12 hours, nowadays, rooms at Midtowne are 6 or 8 hours. I really wanted to play with him and thought this would be a good opportunity, but once we were there, I never got the vibe that he was interested in playing with me. I still had a good time, cruising the halls and the steam room and several anonymous quickies of various flavors. We compared notes on the drive home, but never really spoke of it again.

Another time, I took a straight, but curious, young redheaded co-worker to Dallas to show him the Crossroads. For some reason, we ended up at a dive bar called Big Daddy's that is now a strip center with a sandwich and sushi shop. We were watching some comedic drag show when he decided to go tip the performer. A bit later, I discovered he had arranged for her to come over and embarrass me. He got a good laugh out of it, but decided it was time to return home. I remember he stayed the night at my place and we were up very late experimenting. He was a good kisser and actually a good cocksucker. He said he'd never done that before and his earnestness was pretty believable. He had a comfortable-sized cut cock that I certainly enjoyed playing with. He really wasn't interested in fucking me, but I don't recall if he let me fuck him. I do know that we both had a good time and a satisfactory conclusion, but that ultimately, he decided he was more interested in girls. I ran into him a few years later in a similar job at another location. He had gotten 2 different women pregnant at the same time, so he was struggling to pay his share of everything for both babies. He seemed happy about the way things turned out and was genuinely glad to see me and tell me all these details.