East Coast Tour :: New York, New York

DIPSTICK: After meeting my partner's mom for breakfast, Lipstick and I left the rainy Catskills for New York City. It was a beautiful drive, but Lipstick missed most of it because she slept. We listened to our new favorite musician Nedra Johnson, who also happens to be my friend Retts's roommate.

LIPSTICK: Nedra has a great bluesy sound. Now Dipstick and I have one more artist we can listen to together.

DIPSTICK: And then I put on the new Ferron album because I thought Lipstick was asleep, but she woke up and actually said she liked it. It was a great soundtrack as we drove into the city. We arrived at the apartment to find this amazing view of the Brooklyn Bridge from our window. How cool is that?

LIPSTICK: I really wanted to see Ground Zero, so we walked over there from where we were staying, which is just a few blocks away. It was very surreal, as we were making our way over there, realizing that where we were walking had been covered with dust and panicking people fleeing just a five years ago. It all became very real to us. I snapped this picture of one of the airplane windows found in the wreckage.

DIPSTICK: We went to the 9/11 memorial. There are pictures and names of everyone killed in the attacks. I snapped this picture of gay hero Mark Bingham's name. He's the one Melissa Etheridge wrote the song "Tuesday Morning" about.

LIPSTICK: They're rebuilding the towers, so you really can't get that close to the actual site, but below is what it looks like now.

DIPSTICK: After that sobering experience, it was time for some New York City fun. We walked up to Soho where we met my About.com colleague Ramon Johnson for drinks and dinner. Ramon gave us a tour of all the gay areas, including Greenwich Village and Chelsea. Lipstick, of course, had to do some shopping at Filene's . Can't take them femme anywhere without her needing to pull a credit card out.

LIPSTICK: Don't even start, Dipstick. Just because you're wearing the same underwear from 1992...The thing I love about New York is how alive and vibrant it is, even late into the night. I could live in this city and easily get lost in the chaos and hustle and bustle. And I loved Ramone. What a sweet guy!