ONE MILLION BEARS B.C. (May 20-22, 2011)

Have you ever had the urge to club someone over the head and drag them back to your man cave? Or maybe you've always wanted to try a "Land of the Lost" fantasy? Well you're in luck because BEAR ALBANY is putting a CAVEMAN spin on the traditional TOGA PARTY on May 21, 2011. So get yourself a few animal prints, some safety pins, and CREATE a SEXY TOGA worthy of a Fred & Barney commitment ceremony or something that would make the the First Gay Caveman proud!

Friday Evening
The weekend kicks off on Friday May 20 @ 9pm with our traditional BEARAOKE Meat & Greet at the WaterWorks Pub (76 Central Ave). It's a great time to "meat" new friends and "greet" existing buddies that you haven't seen in a while. WaterWorks Pub always has a great atmosphere, awesome drink specials, free pizza & wings, a dance floor upstairs, and NO COVER for all of our BEAR ALBANY buds. More info...

Saturday Afternoon
If you're looking for a fun and memorable adventure in Upstate NY, a bunch of the Bears & Cubs are heading to Sharon Springs for the afternoon. The plan is to do lunch at the Black Cat Cafe, visit a few shops like the Finishing Touch, visit the shop of the Fabulous Beekman Boys, and have drinks on the patio of the American Hotel to gawk at the cute bear-celebs who run the place. We will leave from the Marriott parking lot at 11am and car pool to Sharon Springs for about 45-50 minutes west of Albany. More info...

Looking for a great place to eat after a relaxing day of enjoying the local sites? Head over to McGeary's Pub and get 20% off your meals all weekend long. Just ask the waitress for the Bear Albany discount and enjoy a great meal from their deliciously diverse menu. They also have a great Happy Hour from 3pm to 7:30pm, where you'll get $2 and $3 Drafts and $3 Single Liquor well drinks. It's the perfect place to bring your buddies for dinner and drinks before heading out for the night.

Saturday Evening
When we planned our pre-historic Toga Party, we had no idea that it was also the same weekend as THE RAPTURE. So instead of complaining, we're taking our lemons and make lemonaid -- or in this case, a "VELOCI-RAPTURE" party! What better way to celebrate the end of time, but with a beginning of time dance party on May 20-22

So come impress your BEAR ALBANY buddies on Saturday May 21 @ 9pm in your CAVEMAN TOGA creation and go hunting for beefy Northeastern beefcakes at the “ONE MILLION BEARS B.C.” main event @ ROCKS Bar (77 Central Ave). As always, we'll have great drink specials, the dance club will be hopping, and keep an eye out for the midnight snacks scurrying through the brush. And for those of you who need a little inspiration, check out the video to the right. We can't wait for you to SHOW US YOUR FUR so we can show you ours. More info...

Sunday Morning
We're changing things up a bit for the Bear Albany Backroom Brunch on Sunday May 22. McGeary's Pub will be offering it's incredibly diverse menu with a number of breakfast specials specifically designed for the bears from 11am to 1pm. There you'll chow down with your new buddies on a delicious manly meal. Afterward you can join your new friends for drinks at the front bar or head over to ROCKS @ 77 Central Ave for Tea Dance with the rest of the gang. More info...

Sunday Evening
For those of you sticking around town on Sunday, infamous Stacy Layne Matthews will be visiting Albany all the way from Back Swamp, North Carolina (yes that's a real place). Stacy Layne is one of the celebrity queens that appeared on this season of RuePaul's Drag Race and is best known as the big girl with small town sweetness. More info...

Hotel Reservations
Our host hotel is the Marriott Townplace Suites at 22 Holland Ave in Albany, NY (518-860-1500). There are only a certain number rooms blocked off at the Bear Albany discount rate and they almost always sell out. So we recommend making reservations as early as possible. Remaining rooms will be released to the general public 10-days before our event. Please also be sure to mention you're part of the “BearAlbany group” to get the following discounted rates:
  • $83 per night for studios
  • $89 per night for one-bedroom suite
  • $139 per night for two-bedroom suites

Taxi and Shuttle Info
We've been working closely with the host hotel to ensure that our Bear Runs remain inexpensive don't break the bank. Following with that theme, the host hotel now has it's own free shuttle service that can transport six people at a time. Just talk to the front desk to ask about it's availability (518-860-1500) and please don't forget to thank the driver with a little tip. The shuttle is not exclusive to our group, so in the event that it's unavailable or you don't want to wait, the host hotel has setup a great deal with Capitaland Taxi with fantastic rates: 
  • $6.00 for 1 rider and $1 extra for each additional rider ($7 for 2 riders, $8 for 3 riders, etc.)
  • Add Capitaland Taxi to your phone @ 518-308-7727 and let them know you are utilizing the BEAR ALBANY rate.
  • Rates are only valid on Friday & Saturday nights of our 2011 events