PK's gotta know: Where are the alternative/gay joints in Seattle?

HK0S0150-1
Originally uploaded by Seattlelee.

Long-time reader, 1st-time caller PK writes:

--snip--
Hi,

Ive been reading your blog for a while. Im moving to Seattle and I was wondering where the Alternative/gay hang outs are?

PK
--un-snip--

Dear PK --
Glad to know you're heading our way. I get jealous of the outflow to places like NYC or even, ahem, Portland OR sometimes so it's good to know that fresh recruits are coming - especially fresh recruits in search of alternative/gay joints.

I'm glad you turned to us for the download -- but I do want to caveat everything here by stating that we are pretty darn straight so are approaching this from 3rd-party POV. Should a sportswriter not cover baseball if he can't hit a curveball? That's what I'm saying!

So, by alternative, we'll assume you mean 'freaky cool' and not necessarily the alternative in 'alternative rock radio' (alternative to what? one might ask) or, conversely, alternative as in co-op food stores hawking carob-coated everything. We're hoping you mean weird and wonderful and out-of-the mainstream. And gay or gay friendly or gays-for-president, even, as a bonus.

We'll also assume that you know that Capitol Hill is where you go if you want to revel in good old-fashioned super-queer disco, etc. That's where the boys-who-love-girls-who-love-girls-who-love-boys-who-love-etc. action goes down in its most accessible and public form. Faves in that genre include The Wild Rose and Neighbors (btw, my including them here guarantees you that they are not cool in the GLBetc. circles -- or are so bad, they are cool. either, or!)

But I'd encourage you to explore Seattle in another way. I'm sure there are times when you want a guaranteed alt/gay experience. They're out there. But we're pretty relaxed on things up here (true cliche!) so lots of the best alternative folks are mixed up with the rest of us. No, you won't find your homies out in Belltown on a Saturday night or shooting pool at Jillian's with the boys from Belleveue, but any list of the weird and wacky goodness from Seattle will be bespeckled with gay folks and the people who love em.

Also, Seattle's gay population is graying, so some of the 'gayest' places in the city are coffee shops and furniture stores.

For specific 'please, gay only action' tips, I'd post your query to the Seattle LiveJournal and let the masses speak.

Or you can check out sites like GaySeattle.com.

In the meantime, you can also consider these places for everybody to hang. I've limited it to places within walking distance from uptown. They're mostly outside of the mainstream in the best possible way.

Freaky Cool Seattle
+ Rendezvous
2nd ave is as alt as it gets downtown and the Rendezvous is the weird-n-wonderful HQ

+ Five Point
Alternative and divey but not *gay*. I would think a gay posse would do ok there but I'd want reinforcements nearby.

+ Noc Noc
One mission: get you drunk. Dark and dirty, gets even grittier at night. Weird shit happens. Where the Stranger Classifieds folks meet, I like to think.

+ Macrina
Gay people like bakeries, right?

+ Sea Sound Lounge
Young, beautiful dancing people. Many likely gay.

+ Contour
Only late-night dancing that didn't leave me depressed and wondering why.

Pickings are kind of slim around downtown -- if I were moving to Seattle and wanted to be as close to the alt as possible, I'd either go with the tried-and-tested CapHill or Fremont, which is nearly unclassifiably strange and cool.