Tonight I'd like to write about the place where Jack and I first met, a gay bar called The Inspiration, which at one time was located in Long Beach, California. I say "at one time" because therein lays the mystery - I cant find it. After all these years, even after all the tremendous amount of online researching and cross-referencing that I've been doing this past week, I still can't find the damn place. I've even asked various people from the Long Beach, CA area who once lived there, as well as those who currently live there, and no one has ever even heard of the place. Now look, I know I've been onna ton of different Hiv medications over the years and I've survived alotta different medical and non-medical scenarioes over the years, but I swear to everyone out there, this is notta fig-newton of my imagination - I KNOW that place existed because I can see it as clearly now in my memory banks as I did the day Jack and I first met in June, 1983.
Why do I wanna know where it is located so badly these days? Because it's a very special part of my past and the next time I am in California, I do intend to go there to visit it. I dont care how much it has changed over the years, even if it has been bulldozed (which I sincerely hope is not the case) and no longer exists, it means something to me to be able to go back there and visit the area again. The world has changed alot in the last 26 years or so, so perhaps I shouldnt get my hopes up that it even exists anymore but I sure hope it does because remembering it is one thing, but to be able to see it in person again is one sentimental journey I dont mind taking.
It's been extremely frustrating doing all the internet searching I've done so far on it because every single gay bar that is currently listed in the Long Beach, CA area doesnt even closely resemble it; and, for the few gay bars that have graciously provided a bit of a history burb on their establishments, not one of them were listed as "formerly known as The Inspiration" - not one. The next logical step would be to literally call each and every one of those gay bars on the telephone and say "Hey Sparky, was your place once known as The Inspiration?" but the problem with that is that the times I would be able to call, for Pacific Standard Time at least, would be at the height of their peak rush-evening-hours and I sincerely doubt that any bartender is gonna be interested in speaking about history at such busy time periods. Granted, it'd still be worth it to me to go that route but I dunno. I even tried looking for some form of GLTBQ historical organization in Long Beach, strictly pertaining to Long Beach, and nothing, just a few fundraiser posts and that's it.
So I think the next logical step in seeing if anyone out there just might know whatever happened to The Inspiration is for me to literally describe every detail I remember about the building and surrounding area itself and see what happens. Naturally, if I could remember the name of the street it was located on or even hadda picture of the place, there would be no need for a search in the first place; but, since that is not the case.....
The Inspiration was a one-story gay bar and if you were to stand out in front of it, whether in the parking lot or on the sidewalk, here is what you would see...the front of it was painted in what I call a grayish-beige form of brick...it had dark brown trim on the top near the roof and on the bottom of it (no basement or cellar area)...there was a curved-like sign over the entrance door of it, which was located on the left side of the building....there were 4 palm trees surrounding it - one behind the left-hand corner of the building; one behind the right-hand corner of the building; and, two on the right side of building, which also were growing next to a grayish fence, with another business located directly to the right of that.
I even remember the parking lot too (no comments please, lol)...if you were to tip over a capital letter "L" to the left and then reverse it, that's how the parking lot was shaped...near the left-side of the building, where the entrance was, was enough space for 2 rows of about 7 to 8 cars, whereas in the front, just 1 row for about 5 or 6 cars (it really wasnt that big of a bar). One other thing - if you were to stand in the parking lot in front of the building and turn your head and look over your right shoulder, you would see the bow, upper decks and 3 funnels of the QUEEN MARY but only a bit of her upper hull because that's how far away The Inspiration was located in reference to the ship itself, which I roughly estimate to be about 1 and 1/2 miles at the very most.
As for the inside of The Inspiration....when you walked in the entrance, there was the main front part of the bar counter (a little over 4 feet in length) which then curved around to the right and went the rest of the length of the room. Where the bar counter ended, there was a lone pinball machine located to the right of it. The rest of the room consisted of 2 pool tables, a small dancefloor area and I think 6 to 7 sets of small tables-n-chair sets. The atmosphere itself was very much like that of a local neighborhood bar, sorta like a smaller gay version of "Cheers" only with less drama (if you can believe that). Though it was a gay bar, it wasnt just all gay men, there were also lesbians, transgendered folks, and basically just a nice group of folks who were having a few drinks, playing a game of pool and hanging out with their friends. Oh also, there was a jukebox there, I just cant remember exactly where it was located. Naturally, my main point of interest in the entire place is where the pinball machine area was cause that's where Jack and I first met. If the place still exists I highly doubt that that old pinball machine is still around butcha know, wouldnt it be neat if it still was? Whatta hoot that would be.
Probaly the most frustrating thing I have encountered in my search thus far are the few folks who have said to me "Well, there's no bar like that in Long Beach, you were probaly in Redondo Beach." No, if I was in Redondo Beach, I woulda remembered it. In fact, I remember the friends I was with that day telling me all about Redondo Beach because when they were telling me about it we were sitting inside The Inspiration to begin with. I've thought hard about it and I've even said to myself "Well, what if you got the towns mixed up? It could happen to anyone" which I suppose is possible but I still say I woulda remembered it if we had gone there.
There you have it, the whole story behind The Inspiration Mystery. If I am wrong regarding any of my recollections of the place, then it would thrill me to no end for someone to prove me wrong for at least that way the entire matter would be solved. So if anyone out there who resided or currently resides in the Long Beach, CA area, as well as the areas nearby it, knows anything about this one little bar which I have told you about tonight, please dont hesitate to contact me regarding it because I'd really like to know whatever happened to it. Nothing will ever take away my memories of the place and why it's so special to me but like I said, it'd sure be fun to go back to it and see what it's like, if it's still there anymore. Thanks and as always, thank you for reading.
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