Long Beach Get Away

Club Ripples & Mic-&-Macs
Long Beach, CA
Long Beach is only about ten miles south of Los Angeles, but it feels like it should be several hours away. Like many of the LA suburbs, Long Beach is completely different from the City of Angels. While situated on the ocean, Long Beach is still filled with the normal suburban delights (lots of bars, restaurants, & random shopping adventures).
I traveled to Long Beach for the time at the urgings of my friend Antonio. At Club Ripples, there is the Dreamgirl Revue, which is (I'm told) one of the best drag queen, or more accurately, female inspirator acts in southern California. And after watching the show, I can see why.
The show I witnessed at Club Ripples was impressive, and the evening was dedicated to the Dreamgirl Hunter, who had died a few weeks before. The girls all put out their best for Hunter, lipsyncing and dancing to the heavy beats of Pat Benatar, the Dreamgirls soundtrack, and Chicago the musical. I could talk about the highlights of the show, but there were too numerous to recount. Needless to say, that if you're in the LA area, I would stop by one of their shows (they also perform at Rage in WeHo). The girls know to entertain a crowd.
But let's pause a moment and talk about drag queens in general. When I was younger, I admit they kind of freaked me out. And the reason wasn't that they were strange or odd- looking in any manner, but that they can easily pass for a woman. If you didn't know what you were looking for, most people probably wouldn't have thought twice. And then there's female impersonators, who only dress up for the stage, meaning the wigs and dresses are all an act. Its complicated, blurring the lines of gender all around. Especially when they change names and pronouns. Dealing with men dressed as women is just about as complicated as you can get. Just my personal opinion. And complicated in a good way. Most of the time.
And anyways, back to Long Beach, at Club Ripples. The club is situated on Ocean, which (you guessed it) is on the ocean. The day was gorgeous and as I arrived at the club, the sun was setting over the ocean, which was nice. Ripples is decently sized, with several smaller rooms. On the first floor, there is the bar area with a rather large bar manned by several hot boys. To the other side is an area with tables. Beyond the bar is a patio, which is really the smoking lounge. That is the part I hate about being outside at certain bars: the air is always drenched in smoke. The Club has a second floor, where the Revue was, with a large dancefloor and bar. While the bar was definitely old, it had a lot of flavor and personality.
After there, we traveled about five minutes to Mic & Macs, another gay bar with drag queens. (Apparently Long Beach really likes them.) The bar was decently empty, but free, which is always good. The people there did not seem that friendly, but the drinks were good and cheap. The drag queens also were definitely not as good as the ones at Club Ripple. It seemed like your normal, friendly gay bar, complete with a pool table (all alone in its room) and decent-sized patio. A decent place for drinks with friends.
The Long Beach experience was nice, especially when compared to the some of the bars in Los Angeles, with their lines and noses in the air. It was refreshing to see people actually enjoying themselves at a bar.