With summer in full swing, the stars and stripes abound it Chicago for the July 4th holiday. The best way to experience our fireworks is to book yourself on a lakefront cruise, grab the hottest sailor boy you can find, a bottle booze and head out with 100 of your closest friends on a chartered luxury liner to get your front row floating seat directly under the multimillion dollar fireworks display. I skip planning any club events during the Independence holiday because of the mass exodus of this audience to Saugatuck, Michigan located 3 hours from Chicago, for the debauchery and chaos of the Dunes Resort. Porn stars, DJ’s, pool parties, drinks, dancing, Speedos and sunburned boys overflow at this lakeside resort and Fire Island-esque town every year for a sexy holiday weekend. The 4th of July weekend is my chance to regroup and recharge from the insanity of gay pride. I tend to hide out at home, unplug and eat non-stop for 3 days. This year, I did grab some friends and head out to Six Flags Great America for some roller coaster madness. With our prepaid parking and “flash passes” (shorter waits for rides for a additional ticket cost-SO WORTH IT) we hit the park and had a solid 8 hours of twists, flips and turns. The day was a much-needed escape before heading into the high intensity of the second half of Chicago’s summer fun. Two more REVOLUTION parties at House Of Blues, Market Days Boystown street festival, the Softball Gay World Series opening and closing ceremonies and of course my STOLI / OUT Magazine Nighthawks party to name a few. Like Karen Carpenter once sang ”We’ve only just begun”.