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The other day Sir Steve and I were sitting on the back porch talking about the great time that we had when we went to the Tradesmen Club’s event in Charlotte, North Carolina. I had just purchased a new vehicle and we drove down. The trip put over 1,000 miles on my new car. It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago, but it has been almost ten years. As this newspaper looks back over the past ten years, I find myself looking back also. I have a lot of wonderful memories, and I now have a lot more miles on me too!

Travis Rice
February 24, 1986—May 3, 2013

Travis A. Rice, who worked in gay bars in both Baltimore and D.C., died suddenly from medical-related problems on May 3 in Baltimore. He was 27.

One night mid or late 70s I’m sleeping in my bed and it’s about 3 a.m. and the phone rings and it’s this kid. This was in the days when every telephone was personally installed by a Ma Bell representative and you could never turn the damn things off.

So I had worked a long shift at my wonderful restaurant, the Waterfront Kitchen in Fells Point. A double. Work. Not a drink, really.  All the shops were closed except for the Save Goodwill store on Broadway.

Now this was 12 midnight. What was that doing open I wondered, Well, I had to go in, you all know I love a bargain. Midnight sale anyone? Well I stepped in. There was an old man with 1800 clothing on. Looked like he should be doing a ghost tour. Did I mention the lights were flickering? I felt like I was in a Stephen King wet dream waiting to happen.