A weblog by Ernie Hsiung

They have a gay strip mall by Ft. Lauderdale.
Nuff said.

Miami architecture
Incidentally, this is what a building in Miami looks like. A group of people actually sat at a table in the 1980s, presumably in their pink suits and gold chains and cigars, and said, "you know what? I think we should have a building, and it should be in five bright neon colors. There should be a corner that looks like a missile silo." Then they all snorted a mountain of cocaine and called it a night. The end.

§84 · May 5, 2007 · gay · · [Print]

16 Comments to “No, seriously, gayest vacation ever.”

  1. Joshua says:

    “I think I’m going to head on down to Gay Mart to do my shopping, and then Humpy’s pizza to eat.”

    Never in my Nebraska-raised life have I had an opportunity to say that.

  2. Z says:

    That’s funny. I actually work 5 minutes from there. Humpy’s Pizza is good food. And Alibi’s is one of the few places you can eat at during the day and come back later on that night and enjoy the club as well.

  3. superaleja says:

    I love how Social Security is in the same complex as Gay Mart, Humpy’s, and Bottoms & Tops.

  4. oontz oontz oontz…

  5. Calichef says:

    Holy crap! That is like some kind of freshly retired gay super-center! I could totally see a bunch of extremely well-groomed, white-haired, Bob Barker clones in pastel plaid seersucker pants, white belts and coordinating golf shirts cruising each other at Gay Mart or Humpy’s. Kinda surreal.

  6. dorid says:

    ROTFL… looks like a lot of fun. First thought:

    “Oh look. Ernie’s posted a giant phallus shaped building.”

    so, what DO they sell at Gay Mart?

  7. stan says:

    How was Gay Mart? I miss that place!

    Yes. Absolutely gay vacation.

  8. 42 says:

    It’s the gay icing on the gay cake that they spell it “shoppes”. Gayest strip mall evah!

  9. Sherri says:

    It could only have been more perfect if there’s been a kosher deli.

  10. Joe.My.God. says:

    I believe that building didn’t go up until the mid-90’s. Maybe early 90’s. If you were there at night, you’d see that the windows on the missle silo light up in cool changing neon colors. True story!

    Shoppes Of Wilton Manors is still the only all-gay (except the SSA) shopping center in the nation. Poverello is a thrift shop benefitting local AIDS charities. And I hope you stopped into the Alibi for one of their gallon-sized happy hour Long Island iced teas!

    I miss Ft. Lauderdale.

  11. JunkThief says:

    Actually, when they completed the design, they held it up for the developer to see and said, “Say hello to my lil frien.”

  12. Camilo says:

    Um, I have been there? And I thought that it was pretty much Caribbean in style.

    I like different colours, what can I say.

  13. Greg says:

    I discovered Wilton Manors on my trip down there in January. Surreal is the word. They were having an antique auto show in the parking lot which I seem to recall was comprised of a lot of pink cadillacs. I missed the neon building though.

  14. Esther says:

    Wow that missle reminds me of uh… something umm… from a guy LOL. :)

  15. slurpy says:

    ft lauderdale is heinous. A strip mall in hell. But Miami is another story. Heaven. That building is ugly, and there are lots of those cocaine looking phalllic wrecks. But there are also charming, fabulous deco (the gayest of sensibilities) buildings remaining.

  16. Byron says:

    I thought that was you sitting at the table behind us at News Cafe. “Hey that’s Ernie from LYD.” I nudged the boyfriend.

    Sounds like we had the same itinerary–few days in Miami, then a drive to Key West. Gay indeed.

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