Bella In the City

 So, I went with my cuzzos (London and Nik) to DC for Black Pride weekend. Because of scheduling conflicts and general lack of funding, we weren’t able to stay for the entire weekend. However, since DC is very close to us (about 2.5 hours driving), it wasn’t a big deal that we could only party for one night.

The course of the trip was very hectic. We went from going for two nights, to not going at all, to leaving out late and coming back early in the morning to saying screw it and staying the whole weekend. Finally though, we settled on leaving early Saturday afternoon and coming back early Sunday morning. This worked for everyone’s schedule and budget.

So, we rented a car, booked a hotel room, and were on our way. Of course there’s a story there, so here it is. London suggested that we use Hertz to rent the car. I was cool with that because they just require a $100 deposit to rent a car. However, when we called them, we found out they changed their policy so they now needed a $200 deposit. No bueno. Remember the whole lack of funding issue? So, I went with Alamo because I have rented from them before and they don’t require a deposit at all. They just hold the full amount of your rental on your credit card. I think they were a bit more expensive, maybe like $12, but at least I didn’t have to tie up any of my money.

The hotel situation was interesting to say the least. I was tempted to go with Priceline by suggestion from Glennisha, but once I went to the website I got cold feet. It felt like jumping into a pool with blindfolds on! I was just too scared to do it! The whole non refundable part is what got me. Anyway, London took matters into her own hands and just booked us at the unofficial host hotel from the party flyer (Holiday Inn Express). Nik was skeptical. I was cool with it. When we got there, we were all pleasantly surprised. They gave us a suite, with a sitting area, two flat screens, free wireless internet and free breakfast. It was lovely and well priced.

The drive down was smooth. No traffic, no drama. We got there rather quickly thanks to perfect directions from my bestie Kam and my trusty Sprint Navigation. Once we arrived, we started to get ready to go to the Poetry Slam, which was being held at the official host hotel, the Renaissance M Street Hotel, which is in Downtown DC. Before we started to get dressed, we wanted to eat. Of course this made getting ready take longer, and by the time we got to the Renaissance the Poetry Slam was just about over. Since we were there, we just had a few drinks in the lobby before we went back to our hotel to get ready for the Mya party at DC Star (formerly the Tunnel).

Mya at DC Star - DC Black Pride 2009

So, we soon realized that DC Star was literally walking distance from our hotel! That’s probably why it was on the flyer. Good call London! If we had been too drunk we wouldn’t have even had to drive back which was nice.

I haven’t been to the Tunnel in a very long time, and it looked different than the last time I was there. There was a stage set up in the middle of the dance floor, and as soon as we got there, Mya was brought out on the stage. If we had gotten there 10 minutes later we would have missed her. She literally talked on stage for 5 minutes and that was it for Mya. After her little spiel, they started with their stage performances. I was over it after 10 minutes. They had these femme and AG dancers, who did stripper dances but didn’t get naked..WTF? I was so confused. Girls were tipping them and everything. I guess that’s some DC shit. In Philly, you gets no tip till the clothes come off but that’s another story for another day (LOL). The fake strippers went on for like an hour. Then finally the DJ started playing dance music and the party started.

I actually didn’t drink at all at the party. I’m not sure why. Probably because I had been drinking Grey Goose earlier and I knew I had to drive back down town because I promised Glennisha I would take her and Brittiany back to their hotel after the party. Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention that I met up with some of my Twitter friends at DC Star! There was Glennisha, and Brittiany, and Angel. Hey ya’ll! That was nice. G and Brit were super cool and fun. We all (minus Angel) went back to our hotel to hang out at the pool before we took them back. We stayed out until around 6 in the morning. It was fun, but we were wondering where the afterhours spot was. It all just seemed to die after the party. That was a bit of a letdown, but whatever.

In all, DC Pride was fun, and I’m looking forward to my next city this summer. I want to go to Chicago Pride in July, but that will depend on my cuzzos.. I can’t go by myself! Atlanta in September is a guarantee. I’ll definitely be at that one. Hope to see all my tweeples there

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Tags: black pride 2009, dc black pride, fun, travel, tweeples, twitter

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