Saturday, October 20, 2007

Tub Time, Part Two

In the comments on Bath Time, our correspondent Kent notes “I might be more inclined to visit one of these dens of iniquity if they weren’t so damned iniquitous here in Seattle. I've never heard anything good about the three we have.” Having spent part of my early homo years in the lovely Seattle and having visited again a couple of times recently, I’m sad to say I have to agree with Kent. Not about the iniquitous part; tubs are supposed to be iniquitous. It’s his lament about them not being very good that gets a big amen from me.

The tubs in Seattle have always rated as some of the dullest I’ve ever graced. The most interesting time in any of them may have been when I broke my toe falling down the stairs at the old Pine Street Baths. It may have been interesting, but it wasn’t what I was looking for at the tubs. The Club Baths had a huge hot tub inside the steam room, which was very deluxe, but they stopped using it as a tub years ago and now it’s just a big waste of space, plus the steam room is too big to be effectively heated. The place that’s the Zodiac was downright scary in the late 70’s. It had been some flop house SRO and the possibility of hooking up with a serial killer always seemed sort of high there.

But what about the mens, the sex, the old in-and-out, the oinky boinky? Feh. The pickings have always been very slim and what few buckos there might be (these places are big and most evenings resemble a ghost town) were not very high quality. They certainly wouldn’t stack up against the charming Steamworks in Chicago or even the skanky Hollywood Spa.

Ken also mentions his desire for a glamorous bathhouse. I applaud the idea. I’ve heard the Steamworks in Toronto fits that bill. I’ll report back as soon as we visit there.

10 comments:

  1. hey there...first time visitor to your blog..just wanted to say hello and tell you how much I am enjoying reading your blog.

    stop by and say hi somemtime

    www.rickrockhill.blogspot.com

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  2. well how flattering, thank you. I love PS and look forward to visiting your blog.

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  3. I'm sayin! Club Z, Basic Plumbing, and Club Seattle. I've never spoken to anyone who had anything nice to say about any of them. Club Z actually terrifies me a little bit...it faces a street that I walk down practically every day, and I just feel like some bad man's gonna reach out and snatch me when I walk by.

    Not to mention the guys who I see come out are invariably unattractive and occasionally homeless.

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  4. P.s. Steamworks in Chicago looks fabulous. Men working out in towels? How delightfully edgy. The only problem is I'm one of those boys who's both skinny and pudgy at the same time (not terribly thick, but a little soft). I'd be very self-conscious. And I know nothing of sex club etiquette. I'm afraid I'd do something really gauche.

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  5. Club Z is the Zodiac I mentioned above. The scariest.

    I'm skinny and soft, too. The ONLY place I've ever had luck snagging really cute men is at the tubs, but I've had incredible luck over the years. The beauty of the baths is there is always a spectrum of looks and types so we all fit in.

    Don't worry about etiquette. People get rooms, they sit in them with the doors open, other people walk by and if they're interested, they come in and the magic happens. It's much more straight forward then bars.

    There's also usually a common area, dimly lit, where you show your interest by groping. If they're not interested, they don't respond and you move on. Again, no small talk, no drinks, it's just what I like.

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  6. Just stumbled across your blog, searching for bath house news, no less! My last visit to Club Seattle (okay, and it was yesterday, instead of going to church) and the clerk commented that the company had just recently been sold. I don't remember now if he said it was Flex or Steamworks who bought it, but either one would be a breath of fresh air in that stale hovel. He indicated that a remodel is planned to start mid Jan 08; Do pass along any updates that you might hear, and you can thank me later for the scoop!

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  7. gmaletop
    A big howdy and thanks for the tip about the upgrade to Club Seattle. You're right, it could really use it.

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  8. Its Steamworks that has taken over Club Seattle, known about it for at least 6 months now.

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  9. Went to Club Seattle the other day and they said that it's now Steamworks and gave me a new Steamworks card. Wasn't any different inside but the guy said that they'll be doing some remodeling...

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  10. You sound like a bit puss to me. I went to Zodiac when I was 17 in 1985 ... it was a bit scary since it was my first bathhouse and I was literally in there for 20 minutes ... just enough time to get in, get off and get the hell out. By the time I got home to Enumclaw, however, I was wishing I had stayed. I still remember it when jacking my 41 year-old stick.

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