One of Bianco’s teammates, Robb Growdon, was among the inaugural Virgin America flight attendants, leaving a 25-year fashion retail career in his mid-forties to join the stylish new carrier when it started in 2007. Growdon’s home base is San Francisco, Virgin America’s hub city, and he enjoys dispensing tips to his colleagues who layover in the City by the Bay.
“Because there’s so much packed into such a small seven-square-mile area, San Francisco is one of the best cities for a short visit. In a single day you can walk through Golden Gate Park, explore the Haight or the Castro, go shopping at Union Square, and souvenir hunting in Chinatown. And then have a great meal out.”
Off the typical tourist trail, Growdon recommends the upscale American fare at two favorite neighborhood restaurants: Balboa Café (3199 Fillmore St. Tel: 415-921-3944. www.balboacafe.com) in the Marina District, which serves a burger worth writing home about and Chenery Park (683 Chenery St. Tel: 415-337-8537. www.chenerypark.com), just around the corner from Glen Canyon Park, a steep-sided, wildflowerstrewn natural wonder in the midst of the city.
Travis Bose, of US Airways, became a flight attendant immediately after graduating from the University of Vermont, where a lifelong interest in travel also fueled his pursuit of a geography degree.
Bose says that when he was in his 20s,exploring different cities’ gay bars and clubs was definitely part of the allure of travel, but the attraction ran its course. “A lot of the gay flight attendants who are a little older are much less into the whole nightlife scene than the stereotypes might suggest.”
Like many gay travelers, Bose has found a certain sameness to gay clubs around the country that doesn’t really give visitors a sense of local flavor. One notable exception, he points out, is Charlotte, North Carolina’s The Bar at 316 (316 Rensselaer Ave. Tel: 704-910-1478. www.thebarat316.com), which he characterizes not just as unique, but also one of the friendliest and most welcoming gay bars in the country. A real find for gay business travelers in this somewhat starchy city of finance, 316 is a converted old house with lounges and large balconies where one can actually carry on a conversation with new acquaintances.
Many crew members, including Bose, look forward to itineraries that give them easy access to outdoor activities.
San Francisco
“When I have a morning or afternoon in Boston,” he says, “I like to take the Blue Line of the T to Revere Beach (www.mbta.com; www.reverebeach.com). You catch it right at the airport, and in 15 minutes you’re walking along the ocean.” Five quick metro stops and you’ve made it from sky to sea.
When in Seattle, Bose recommends renting a car and driving the quick 90 minutes from the airport out to Bellingham (www.bellingham.org), to take in spectacular views of the Cascade Range and go hiking in the Mount Baker Wilderness. To gear up for that adventure and others, Bose also says a “can’t miss” for outdoor enthusiasts is a visit to the Seattle flagship store of REI which, in addition to clothing and equipment sales, features the world’s largest indoor climbing wall, documentary film screenings, lectures, and classes (222 Yale Ave. N. Tel: 888-873-1938. www.rei.com/stores/11).
Bose’s unexpected activity of choice in Miami is a visit to the Miami Metro Zoo (12400 S.W. 152 St. Tel: 305-251-0400 www.miamimetrozoo.com). “It reminds me of the San Diego Zoo, which more people already know about,” he says. “It’s very spread out, so you can do a lot of walking, and there are great gardens as well as the animals.” In fact, while the zoo boasts over 500 animal species, it is home to more than twice that many plant species.
The same child-like sense of adventure that makes the zoo alluring to Bose is indulged by Southwest crew member Bob Nolls when he spends time at the Great America (4701 Great America Parkway. Tel: 408-988-1776. www.cagreatamerica.com) amusement park, not far from the airport in San Jose, California. “It’s right near our hotel in Santa Clara,” he explains. “Last summer I went four times.”
Repeating the same activity whenever they land in a given location is a way that many flight attendants create a sense of structure for themselves to help counterbalance the geographic discontinuity of their days.
“We are creatures of habit,” admits Brenda Alsman. “We all love it when there’s a Trader Joe’s near our hotel. Even if you’re adventurous by nature, it’s nice to have some things that are familiar when you’re in an unfamiliar place.”
Noll says “I love that I can trade trips with other flight attendants or bunch stuff up so I can work a lot for the beginning of a month and then take a couple weeks off.”
Noll, 48, who became a flight attendant 12 years ago notes that it can be a little disorienting when you’re not home for a stretch, so I have certain routines I get accustomed to.”
“When I overnight in Fort Lauderdale, I always get up at 8:30 A.M., walk the two miles from the 17th Street hotel area to Sebastian Beach, which is very popular with gay guys. After I lay out for a couple hours, I hit the Oasis Café (600 Seabreeze Blvd. 954-463-3130. www.oasiscafe.com) for a relaxing lunch sitting on one of their glider swing chairs. I always order the blackened mahi mahi sandwich. Delicious.”
Alsman also has her Fort Lauderdale favorites. While Waxy O’Connor’s Irish Pub is part of a small chain, Alsman explains that the gayfriendly Lauderdale location is special because, in addition to flight attendants, it’s frequented by a young international crowd who work as crew members on the private yachts that dock along the intracoastal waterway.
“Its a super-friendly crowd, because so many people are from somewhere else. Everyone wants to strike up a conversation and to get to know people from other parts of the world” (1095 Southeast 17th Street. Tel: 954-525-9299. www.waxys.com/ftlauderdale).
That sounds pretty much like flight attendant nirvana.
THE REAL MILE-HIGH CLUB
Airline flight attendants and crew members tend to rely on each other for advice, especially when headed to unfamiliar destinations. At Southwest, thanks to the initiative of entrepreneurial pilot Steve “Arby” Arbetman, they even have their own ever-expanding internal Yelp! of sorts. On The Luv Exchange (www.theluvexchange.com) fellow employees share suggestions and mini-reviews of nightlife, dining, and other activities they come across in their travels. While some areas of the site are password protected and for employee use only, others are accessible to the public, including tips you’d likely not find else- where. Who knew there was “don’t miss” green chili chicken soup for sale at the Albuquerque airport?
Other flight attendant websites and blogs of note include Savvy Stews (www.savvystews.com): Travel tips, “Jetiquette” advice, videos, blogs, and links to a net- work of other flight sites, including “Up Up And a Gay.”
Heather Poole (www.hpoole.wordpress.com): Airborne humor and on-the-job insights from a longtime flight attendant, including the crowdsourced “Laviators” photo collection: self-portraits taken in airplane bathrooms.
The Flying Pinto (www.theflyingpinto.com): While infrequently updated, this straight female flight attendant’s blog has some gems in its archives, including a FAQ presenting dilemmas such as “I would like to be a flight attendant when I’m older, but the thing is, I am male, but I’m not gay…”
