Can you say ‘Provincetown-north?

Ogunquit is quickly becoming New England’s premiere gay vacation destination

By Tony Giampetruzzi

BOYS OF SUMMER: Phillip Cleary, Maine St. manager, with Toby Lindsay.

Hal Feldberg’s having a great time in Ogunquit this year. Business has been so good at his disco, The Club, that he recently expanded the 22-year-old institution: turning part of the second level into a second dance floor, and adding a Martini Lounge and a late-night, open-air café. The Club now rivals or bests any similar venue in Portland.

And just about everyone in the place is gay. In fact, The Club is one of the oldest continuously operated gay bars in the state, if not the region.

Feldberg returns from Fort Lauderdale every spring to air out the huge white building on Main Street in anticipation of the onslaught of gay boys and girls from all over New England and beyond. This year, he returned happier than usual, though.

Feldberg was challenged on two fronts last year. First, he ran into trouble when the town initially denied him a liquor license for his refurbished upstairs bar. Second, he faced his only direct competition in years when Al Dello Russo opened Maine Street, a sweeping disco and cabaret that attracts a similar crowd with its spacious digs, throbbing music, and close proximity.

Any adversity Hal may have felt last year has diminished, however, partly because the town relented on the liquor license and he retained his loyal clientele, and partly because of an overwhelming influx of tourists, an increase that was felt last year and as early as late April of this year. By now, it has become evident that there are

more than enough people around to keep more than one club hopping.

“It’s already been a great year,” said Feldberg. “There are more people coming into town than ever before. It’s really amazing . . . I feel like I’ve come out on top.”

Feldberg concedes, however, that a lot of those people who are visiting Ogunquit are now former Provincetown faithfuls. “People are really getting tired of Provincetown. It’s incredibly pricey and people are finding little, if any, reason to go there instead of here. With all the cover charges there, four-night minimum stays at over-priced hotels, why go there?”

It may be a bit unfair to compare Ogunquit to Provincetown, “it’s like comparing Portland to New York City,” says Ogunquit Beach Inn owner, Greg Testa, but, the truth is, the allure of Ogunquit among gay men and women is growing at lightning speed and is inspiring many would-be business owners to sign on the dotted line.

In just the past three months, two new gay-owned guest houses and two gay-owned bars joined the mix in Ogunquit, ostensibly to capitalize on the booming gay market. The launch of Vine, an upscale, open-air wine bar, followed No. Five-O, a roomy restaurant and bar, as the second lounge to open in Ogunquit this summer, thereby adding to the ever-expanding list of libation offerings.

“We came here to get out of the city and to be near both the beach and the mountains for skiing,” said Dan Daley who moved with partner Kirby Crum from Washington D.C. last year to open Perkins and Perkins, a gourmet provisions shop on Route 1. “And Ogunquit has been great.” Crum added that in the one year that Perkins and Perkins has been open for business, he has noticed unparalleled growth in Ogunquit.

“Just in the past few months we’ve seen a number of gay-owned businesses popping up, from the Abalonia to the Carriage Trade Inn to No. Five-O,” said Crum. “Things are really great here, and we’ll probably only see it get bigger.”

The Carriage Trade Inn was purchased and opened in April by Jake Burrill and partner Christopher Robinson, the publisher of innewsweekly [which this reporter does some writing for], New England’s largest gay and lesbian weekly newspaper and, arguably, one of the largest news sources of its type in the country. Robinson, who is a native of Kennebunk, says that he chose Ogunquit because he grew weary of Boston and because he’s always had an affinity for the area. He, too, has noticed the transformation of Ogunquit.

“For the first time that I can remember, we actually have more businesses from Ogunquit than from Provincetown advertising in the paper this week,” said Robinson. “I’d say that that definitely speaks to the positive growth of the gay community in Ogunquit.”

To be sure, Ogunquit has joined the ranks of other resort towns where hundreds of young, gay men and women are unfettered as they walk hand-in-hand through town, relishing the opportunity to be in a community that is accepting, inviting, and catering to their wants and needs.

So, you can see why, when the Portland Press Herald ran a headline two weeks ago that painted Ogunquit as a town brimming with gray hairs (GRAYING OF OGUNQUIT SHAPES CHARACTER OF SERVICES, POLICING: The town with Maine’s oldest population receives enrichment. June 11, 2001 Page 1A), a lot of people were left scratching their heads. The story reported that census statistics show that Ogunquit has the “oldest” population in Maine and only about 55 young people.

“This is one of the strangest things I’ve ever read,” said John Matta, owner of Moon Over Maine, one of town’s many gay guest houses. Matta was not only genuinely concerned that the headline would resonate with potential visitors, he was also perplexed. But then, who wouldn’t be.

Ogunquit is a small town of less than 1000 year-round residents, but, come June, that number swells well into the tens of thousands when seasonal home-owners and tourists flood the traditional artists’ colony south of Portland. And, as Matta points out, most of those people are not only gay, they are increasingly younger than one would expect.

It’s not just tourists, either. Gays and lesbians from all over Maine and New Hampshire are making Ogunquit their weekend, if not afternoon, retreat. “Don’t forget there are also a lot of day-trippers within a 90-minute drive coming here for the day or the night because of how gay-friendly it is,” notes Testa. “They can spend the entire day at one of the prettiest beaches in New England and then do a five-bar pub crawl without ever having to get into their car. Yes, Ogunquit has its share of geriatrics, but if any reporter ever actually visits the town, I don’t think that is the overriding impression that they would leave with.”

“The article in the Portland Press Herald misses one thing that the Boston Globe actually pointed out last week — it’s a proven fact that some couples who are not legally married are not represented in the census. In Ogunquit, there are a lot of second homes owned by people from places like Albany, Boston, Key West, Hartford, and way beyond,” said Testa. “[The Press Herald] also marveled over the fact that there is a small number of children in Ogunquit. Well, duh! When you have a lot of old people and a lot of gay people, there aren’t going to be a lot of toddlers crawling around.”

The bottom line is that the statistics may be connected with the census, but they certainly overlook the people who spend money here and keep the town going.

GREG TESTA: he and his partner can be very open here.

“Couples like me and my partner who actually consider themselves to be married can be very open here, but our situation isn’t always represented in census numbers,” said Testa. “Don’t get me wrong, Ogunquit is still very much one of the provinces, it’s not flamboyant and that probably explains why there still are a lot of older people here. But, they feel comfortable here and so do we.”

More and more, as Ogunquit becomes gayer and gayer, a lot of people have taken to comparing the small town to Massachusetts’ Provincetown, perhaps one of the gayest towns in the country. Provincetown is now saturated with gay bars, clubs, and guest houses, and often feels more like a street fair and circuit party than a lazy weekend beach town where you can leisurely hang with the boys. Among the many oft-heard complaints is that P-Town is becoming too expensive and increasingly inaccessible. According to some hopeful business owners in Ogunquit, what all that adds up to is that Provincetown may be in retrograde as the region’s premier gay summer playground.

“Ogunquit is experiencing a renaissance, and many people are beginning to realize that it’s a favored alternative to Provincetown or one of the other popular gay resorts,” said Matta.

According to Matta, urban gays are beginning to realize that not only is Ogunquit more affordable, it’s also more geographically convenient than Provincetown.

“Have you ever been stuck in traffic going onto the Cape on a Friday afternoon? Even if you haven’t, geographically, Ogunquit is not only closer to Boston than Provincetown, it’s closer to New York City as well. A lot of people are starting to catch on,” explains Matta. “Believe me, in the past year or two my clientele has gradually changed from the 40 to 50 something set to a 20 to 30 something crowd.”

Matta is also the proprietor of gayogunquit.com, a web site that started out as a marketing tool for his establishment and two other gay guest houses, the Ogunquit Beach Inn and the Black Boar Inn. In the last two years, however, the site has become a behemoth: Matta can’t keep up with demand from area business owners who want to cash in on gay dollars. “I’m getting calls from people in Kennebunkport and other towns who want in on this site,” said Matta. Gayogunquit.com currently receives more than 1000 hits per day and many business owners credit the site with their own positive cash flow.

Still, Ogunquit always has been and will likely remain the quieter retreat for gays and lesbians who have embraced the bohemian, liberal lifestyle that defines the seaside enclave. Despite the new bars, clubs, and guest houses aimed at attracting gay clientele that pop up on a monthly, if not weekly, basis, the traditionally sleepy little town isn’t really being injected with too much caffeine. And, despite all the comparisons, Provincetown and Ogunquit really only have a couple things in common, says Testa. They are both seaside towns and they both started out as so-called artists’ colonies, a euphemistic term for ‘gay ghetto’ that has endured for at least a century.

“Both towns did start as artists’ colonies over 100 years ago. Look at all the old photo books. Ogunquit was just like all the other artists’ colonies — Fire Island, New Hope, Provincetown, even the West Village. If you look at the old pictures, their social life was punctuated by what they called ‘artists’ balls.’ But, when you look closely you notice that everyone was wearing a dress. Come on — that was the beginning of drag, and it was really big and really gay,” said Testa.

“The people who lived here and visited here were painters and thespians, and there was a lot of gay energy. The piano bars were started by actors who would get all worked-up over at the Ogunquit Playhouse and then want a place to bang their bongos and sing ‘Hello, Dolly’,” explains Testa. “It was all about theaters and artists of every kind. Even today, there are a lot of beatniks from the ’50s and ’60’s still living in town but who you will never see out at the bars.” Well, you might spot them at the Ogunquit’s Front Porch, one of the last of a dying breed of piano bars, but a legend among locals and other New Englanders.

“As much as we may have learned a lot from our sister colony on the Cape, it’s not the same type of honky-tonk resort,” says Testa.

If you walk into Maine Street, the newest club in town, you’d be hard-pressed to not imagine that you had just entered a big-city disco. It likely draws more people than any club north of Boston, and people love the place. Packed to the gills with both men and women, the music never stops. Something sets it apart, though. The staff is friendly, and the crowd is so comfortably mixed and surprisingly familiar with everyone else, you feel more like you’re at a house party than a disco.

“Our formula works, and it’s all about consistency,” said Phillip Cleary, Maine Street manager. “It’s a low stress environment, the staff and the clientele are happy . . . we actually greet people at the door. That gives people a sense of security. I think that’s what Ogunquit is all about.”

Cleary also said that Maine Street will attempt to reach an even wider audience this summer by hosting gay comedians and other performers for early evening cabaret shows. Already scheduled are Cheril Vendetti, Jerry Halliday, and the CC Rae Comedy Show for 7 p.m. shows throughout the summer.

Despite the clubs, the parties, the restaurants, the drinks and the beach, people live in and visit Ogunquit simply because they like it. It’s close to Boston and Portland, it’s friendly, and it’s beautiful. But, with new things to look forward to, like programming at Maine Street, cheap eats at The Club, and other surprises (rumor has it some big name Boston club owners are eyeing beachfront locations – T-Dance a la Boatslip anyone?), Ogunquit is emerging with a new energy and an identity that it can call its own.

Tony Giampetruzzi can be reached at groovejet4@aol.com