Mark:

 I was in a couple of weekends ago with a friend and his sister… I was the tall guy, and we got to talking about ‘old’ bars.  I just checked out the list of the clubs around the area that came and went.Wow!  Now, I’m really feeling old.

 A lot of them I remember.  The very first bar I went to was The Last Moving Picture Company in downtown Lakeland.  I was 18, and was working at a radio station in Lakeland, and used to trade high school football scores with a guy who worked at another station in town.  After a couple of weeks of Friday night phone calls, he said we should get together for a beer, as we both got off work at midnight.  I drove the length of Lime Street and met him in the parking lot of WONN (I was working at WQPD) which is across from the civic center.  There, I met a guy standing in the parking lot who wanted to know who I was, and he also let me know he had a gun.  Turns out, this was the guy who worked at the radio station’s boyfriend.   Bad perm and all.  He asked me if I knew about LMPC, and being the naïve kid I was, I said no, so he said the place is ‘mixed’.  Like I would know what that meant.  We get to the place, and go in through the back, and it took me a couple of minutes before I realize the place is full of guys!  Holy Shit!  This is what’s been missing in my life!  I met my first drag queen there… Lori DelMar.  His first name was Larry, but his last escapes me.  I became a regular, and had an absolute blast every time I went.  I met my very first boyfriend there, too.  His name was Gerald, and he was from Plant City.  The other place in town was The Green Parrot, but we NEVER went there.  Keep in mind, I was 18.  At the time, they only served beer and wine, and the place was full of old men lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on all the young dudes who dared to go in there.  Of course, most of those guys were probably only in their late 20’s or 30’s… so yeah, that was old to us.  Of course, here I am now in my ____’s.I ventured to Orlando to PH a couple of times.  Once, I took my then boyfriend one Friday night.  One of the little hottie waiters was flirting with him, and he was flirting back, which kinda pissed me off.  I had to go looking for him a couple of times that night, and actually ended up leaving him there.  Bitch.I’m originally from Dade City, so I’ve spent a lot of time in the Bay Area, and have actually visited quite a few of the bars you have listed… a lot of them I’ve forgotten about.  Especially, Flamingos in downtown Clearwater.  I was living on Clearwater Beach when that place was open, and walked in one night only to find some guy who also lived in my building there.  Funny thing is, it never occurred to me he was gay, and needless to say, I ended up at his place later that night… his place being only two floors below mine—very convenient.  Pro Shop—check.   Dallape’s—check.  Then, there’s Bedrocks, and the Backroom Bar down near St. Pete Beach, and a shit load of clubs in Tampa, too.I’m probably leaving out some places, and maybe that’s just as well.  (grins) Thanks for your time.  I live in Safety Harbor, so I’ll look for you next time in down that way.Steve