I just got word a few days ago that I was selected to attend Amtrak's Asst Conductor training in Wilmington. I'll be there for 2 months, and I'm guessing I'll have some downtime (especially on the weekends) while out there. I have a couple of questions about the gay scene out there. Are there any gay bars/districts in Wilmington itself? What are the best dance bars in Philly? Does Septa go all the way to Wilmington/Newark? And of course, ANY info on ANY subject would be helpful, as I've never been out there, so feel free to post anything you feel would help me out during my stay. Anything I just HAVE to see? Do? Experience?

Thanks!

As far as gay areas in Wilmington, there are none. Wilmington's gay "neighborhood" is Rehoboth Beach down at the beach. (Most people here think of the entire state of Delaware as a "metro area".) The gays that I know from work or friends' workplaces actually all live out in suburban areas; I know a couple lesbians that live in your typical townhouse in suburban Middletown, I know of a gay guy that lives in Brandywine Hundred (suburban area north and northeast of Wilmington), and another gay guy living in the Stanton area. If you want gay culture and whatnot, you'll have to find it in Rehoboth Beach or Philadelphia.

Philadelphia's gay neighborhood, from what I understand, is B3, located at around 13th & Sansom Streets. It's actually called "Midtown Village", but Philadelphia area residents despise the name as a "manhattanization of Philadelphia".

I don't know how old you are, but Rehoboth Beach might be nice for you as well. Rehoboth Beach has a different feel than a normal gay area; from my experience, the gays all tend to be in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. I don't think I've ever seen a young gay man or woman in Rehoboth, which I guess is the age you think of first when thinking of gay places.

Wilmington's bar area is Trolley Square, centered around the intersection of DuPont Street & Delaware Avenue. There are about 7 bars there, which is nice. (As a local, though, my friends and I always wish that there were more bars in Trolley Square and in Wilmington in general. It can get boring if you're going to the same places every weekend.) Once school starts at around Labor Day, Newark is a good place for bars as well, since it is packed with college kids. If you're here before or around Labor Day, the beach resorts have great bars too; Dewey Beach is always bringing in big musicians and bands, and is known as one of the bigger beach towns for boozing on the East Coast. If you want to try something other than Delaware, there are plenty of places in Philly with good bars: Old City, Manayunk, and Northern Liberties all have good bars. West Chester, Media, and Norristown have decent nightlife form what I've heard (I'm going to West Chester this Friday myself and will experience it for the first time at night).

SEPTA offers train service to Wilmington via the R2 line. I think it might go to Newark as well. SEPTA doesn't really do much in Delaware, though, because Wilmington is pretty much considered a separate city and metro (despite what bureaucrats at the U.S. Census will tell you). If you want bus service, you have to use DART, which is the Wilmington area's public transit.

Things that you have to do:

If you're going to be here before or during Labor Day weekend, go to the beach for a day or weekend. Again, Dewey Beach is the party town and Rehoboth Beach is the gay town. I like Rehoboth Beach's beach more than other places personally, because 1) traffic is bad in that area and Rehoboth is the first beach town, and I just want to be on the beach; 2) the sand is the same anywhere; and 3) the boardwalk is better than any other beach town; it was actually named the best boardwalk in the nation for 2006 by Reader's Digest. (I will be posting a picture thread of recent Rehoboth Beach pictures, keep an eye out for that.)

If you want touristy or historical stuff, check out colonial New Castle moreso than any other place. It is one of the best-preserved colonial towns anywhere, right on par with Annapolis, nd it is truly one of the gems of the nation. You're aware of Williamsburg? Well, Williamsburg was Rockefeller's back-up town: New Castle was his original choice, but the residents wouldn't sell their properties. New Castle is that nice.

Winterthur is one of the DuPont mansions in Chateau Country, and has beautiful gardens. Obviously it looks more vibrant and better in the Spring, so maybe it's not worth seeing right now.

Wilmington has some wonderful neighborhoods worth just walking around in for photo tours. The city only 72,000 residents and the metro population is around 650,000. A lot of people might think that because Wilmington is nowhere close to Philadelphia or Baltimore in size, then it lacks the architecture of those bigger Northeast cities. This is not the case; there are plenty of nce buildings. Some neighborhoods are very dangerous and drug-infested; I've been chased down the street a couple times myself while just walking around. Going over the good and bad neighborhoods will take some time though, so I will save that for another time.

Hope this helps so far.

There are gay clubs in Center City, I saw them when Real World had their show here ;)

Lists of gay clubs and other stuff:

http://philadelphia.gaycities.com/
http://cityguide.aol.com/philadelphia/gay-lesbian-guide/?sem=1&ncid=AOLACG00170000000006
http://www.philadelphia.com/nightlife/gay.html
http://philadelphia.about.com/od/gayandlesbian/a/gay_phila_c.htm

On this page click on the schedule for the R2 Wilmington and Newark: Septa (http://www.septa.org/service/rr_schedules.html)

Here is a link to the Official Visitors Guide (online version): http://e-ditionsbyfry.com/ActiveMagazine/welcome/ovg/ovg070401.html
Send an email to this address to get a copy in the mail: receptionist@pcvb.org

Here is the official tourism site: http://www.gophila.com/

Have fun, Philly is a great city.

Uhh, I hate the fact that I am the right person to ask about this, but here goes:

(I really hate gay bars, but ya can't pick up a gay guy at the supermarket.)

Like Matt said, there are a few gay places in Wilmington but they are unsubstantial and not worth your time.

The gay area, called the Gayborhood is located between Juniper (14th) Street, and around 11th Street, from Spruce up to Sansom.

You really want to take SEPTA R2 up to Philly, but then ya gotta stay overnight, so get a cheap hotel, or a cheap guy to stay for the night. Renting a car is a possibility, but I don't really condone drunk driving, especially when you don't know either one of the cities.

Woodys is good on Wednesdays, it is the Grand Central Station of gay clubs in Phila. It is located at 12th and Walnut Streets.
Surrounding that block are Bump, a little pretentious bar for little queens who dress nice and wanna look pretty while sipping their 10 dollar Martinis. On the other side of the block down an alley is PURE, which is the late night afterparty drug club where dudes descend at night to do drugs and have sex, it's kinda nasty but something to do at 3 AM.

There is also Key West, for Black/PR guys, Sisters if you like the lesbos, Uncles if you like the old guys, the bike stop if you like leather, and 12th Air Command, which in my opinion is the only comprimise between them all, with a mix of about everyone and a generally younger population.

Also, down CAMAC Alley is a cool little place called TAVERN on CAMAC, which is good on Saturday nights and Friday nights, and a place farther outside the realm called Shampoo, which is only gay on the first Friday of every month, but worth it.

As for regular dance club, there are too many to mention such as Shampoo, Chrome, Z Bar, music venues such as Johnny Brendas, and the many expensive shitholes around Old City I love to hate.

If you need any questions, I live in Philly, just PM me and I will help you find a good time. Just let me know what night you may come up and I'll tell you which places are worth your time for that particular night.

EDIT: I didn't mean "good time" like THAT ;)