PINK Magazine

TRAVEL ISSUE | WINTER/SPRING 2010
MAKING OUT
IN MIAMI
HOMOS ON
HOLIDAY
REPOSE FOR
RUPAUL
ROBERT VERDI
JESSE ARCHER +
JANE VALEZ-MITCHELL
SOUTH BEACH’S
BEST BETS
GET YOUR
FRANC ON
FAYS IN FRANCE
ARUBA’S BEST KEPT SECRET IS
For Adults Only
ALL THIS AND MORE
LIFESTYLE REVIEWS AND FUN AT WWW.PINKMAG.COM
+PINK PAGES BUSINESS DIRECTORIES
CHICAGO • DENVER • LOS ANGELES • SAN FRANCISCO
PUBLISHER’S
words
DAVID COHEN
PINK hasn’t just expanded its portal on paper, but online as well. New
enhancements to www.pinkmag.com make our magazine more comprehensive and timely in the areas of arts, entertainment and culture, both
locally and globally.
Visitors to the site will enjoy the frequently refreshed theater reviews by
Performance Art Editor Rhonda Walker (Walker’s always sitting in an auditorium, seeing something, somewhere) and Editor Jason Freeman’s blog shares witty editorial musings about his out and about, professional
and/or personal experiences.
And that’s not all. Site users can expect more music, more movies, more dining, more features and
real estate news beyond what appears in the quarterly publication. That includes prizes and giveaways that
will only be available to online site users.
So log on to www.pinkmag.com, log on often and I’ll see you surfing.
EDITOR’s letter
JASON P. FREEMAN
Winter woes got you down? Need to get away from it all? Well then get packing and
take a trip with PINK’s annual travel issue for 2010. In addition to our regularly featured front—showcasing this quarter’s signature collection of luxury cars, mainstream
music, movies, books and booze—our guide for “Getaway Gear” has got the goods
this year’s travelers need to get; the title of which is not to be confused with “A-Gays’
Getaways,” a piece profiling the preferred pastimes of some fabulously famous people.
Hotspot bound, as any travel issue should be, features writer Duane Wells escargot-s to France, looking
for nightlife in Lyon and more in Montpelier. Snorkel in tow and flippers on his feet, PINK Publisher David
Cohen arrives in Aruba for an island adventure while yours truly was joined in Miami by my photographer
friend Brian Hofmeister. Together, we staked out the exciting scenes of LGBT-popular SoBe both near and
clear of the city’s celebrated beachfront.
Florida, pom frittes, and regal retreats, this issue of PINK is a venerable vacation.
Bon Voyage!
ON THE COVER: EAGLE BEACH, BUCUTI BEACH RESORT
PHOTOS COURTESEY OF BUCUTI BEACH RESORT, ARUBA; WWW.BUCUTI.COM
Bucuti Beach Resort was voted as one of the top 10 Best for Romance in the world by
TripAdvisor travelers and it is one of only three resorts in Aruba to be TAG certified. Bucuti
welcomes same-sex couples with a longstanding commitment to the LBGT community.
4 | PINK Winter/Spring 2010
GREAT, GREEN AND GAY ARUBA-N ROMANCE
HEAVEN IN PARADISE
BY DAVID COHEN
Pictures >>>>>>>.
Imagine the perfect island setting: sounds of the
shore from a blue-green sea horizon that’s backdropped by nautical European deco, white puffy
clouds above, lounging in a cabana with your feet
buried in white sands and a glass of champagne
in hand. For this and some of the world’s best in
rest, romantic revelry and relaxation, Aruba is the
Caribbean cat’s meow. And to enhance that island-serene scene with anything-your-heart-desires
and first-class, contemporary accommodations that
cat chooses its best-kept secret, the Bucuti Beach
Resort & Tara Beach Suites (www.bucuti.com).
The full-service resort is perfectly located in the
heart of Eagle Beach, its sprawling 14 acres offering all the amenities expected of a five-star establishment (such as an on-site fitness center, wireless
broadband, concierge and valet services, full-service
spa and a freshwater outdoor pool and Jacuzzi) as
well as some unexpected extras. Unique highlights
of the Bucuti include on-site car rental, a lending library, a fully equipped business center, a guest laundry room, ocean viewing cabana-side spa treatments—all of which come at outrageously low
rates (and which was also where I received the
best deep-tissue massage/mani-pedi combo of my
30| PINK Winter/Spring 2010
Photos courtesy of Bucuti Resort and wedding photos by Diane Keijzer
life)—surprises left for guests on arrival like champagne, strawberries, chocolate, souvenir picture
frames and cheese platters, and the oddly enjoyable
beach cleanup parties. Once a month, the greenconscious Bucuti hosts and sponsors this popular
eco-friendly event where guests and staff are invited
to help rid the beach of litter and later have lunch.
Yet, of more notable mention, is the overwhelmingly huge invitation and welcome the resort
offers to LGBT guests—a practice that is somewhat
antithetical to Caribbean quotients. In a program
initiated by the resort’s Eco-/LGBT equality advocating owner, Ewald Biemans, the Bucuti requires
sensitivity training to all its employees, and keeps a
same sex-specializing wedding planner on staff.
It’s the resort’s high regard for kid-less couples on romantic retreat and top-tiered hospitality
that repeatedly attract PFLAG Director of Equality
Partnerships Jean-Marie Navetta and her partner
Jude to Aruba’s Bucuti. So much so that they even
opted to hold their commitment ceremony on its
beach in 2008, where the staff eagerly arranged and
executed all the planning and particulars. The intimate event was so well received that the Bucuti incorporated the reception’s distinctive and inherently
unique details into its marketing materials. Navetta’s
overall satisfaction with the amazing accommodations afforded to her and her wife is reported on
her wedding-based blog at www.jmsquared.net.
Anything guests may desire—from sandy beachside dinners for two to planting a diamond in the reef
for an underwater wedding proposal—the eagerly
ready-to-oblige Bucuti staff will endeavor to do it all
at a reasonable cost. However, for those who wish
to explore the island beyond the resort, Bucuti’s everpleasing personnel will be happy to set that up too.
In support of finer dining, the Marandi and
Papiamento restaurants stand out among Aruba’s
500-plus eatery options. The Marandi is choice
for its couple-conducive romantic exterior, where
guests dine on French-ish cuisine under a giant palapa hut or along the pier with breathtaking views of
Laguna Bay from every seat in the house. Equally
magnificent views and ambiance are available to be
had in Papiamento’s regal garden; however the interior dining room of this 175-year-old manor, or
ornately furnished with Dutch antiques, possesses the
house’s best seats. While Papiamento’s surf-n-turf
fare with Island flair often receives mixed reviews,
it’s worth having a meal here if only to experience
the culture and history imbuing the mansion.
Exceptional trekking can be had with hikes
through Arikok National Park, where the culture of
Aruba’s ancestral natives can also be experienced
via the ancient tribal paintings adorning Arikok’s cave
walls. However, also possessing the island’s highest
points of elevation, day walks through this desert resource and wildlife preserve is best for expansive observation of Aruba’s indigenous flora and fauna—like
Aloe Vera, the cultivation, extraction and process of
which can engaged at a later time with an Aloe Vera
Museum & Factory Tour (www.arubaaloe.com).
And for the best off-shore adventure, reserve a
snorkeling/sailing day trip aboard the Tranquillo. The
Tranquillo is popularly plugged as “Aruba’s best operated sail and snorkel [boat],” offering full-service
snorkel cruises since 1977. Passengers aboard the
Tranquillo can expect a full day of sea-side activities
including lunch and champagne toasts, while keeping the passenger manifest small and intimate to ensure safety and personal attention.
For the most divine diversions in an Eden-like environment think Aruba; the superior, couples-only
minded and LGBT-sensitive services of the Bucuti
Resort alone make for one happy island indeed.
Winter/Spring 2010 PINK|31