Lets discuss Ramrod

[50latinos]

I love the place but the recent changes that have "vanillified" this historic place have kept me from going as much as I used to. 

The ban of sex, although it's been slightly relaxed lately, the loss of hardcore sex videos and the disappearance of my fav bar tender, - the delicious skinny guy the a PA who used to tend the outside bar-, have been a massive and sudden turn off for me.

I'm interested in hearing what former and current patrons, habitual or occasional, have to say about this.

[hntnhole]

Agreed.  It's disappointing not to know what's going on over there. 

Not very long ago at all, you could stop in for a beer and a fuck almost as soon as they opened.  Even the bartenders (when asked) give different versions of why it is.  One bartender in the "patio' bar said "I don't give a shit what guys do back here".  One in the front bar parried my same question entirely. Lately, I've seen some Cocksucking (like 2 or 3 pairs of guys) going on by the pool table (which used to be covered with a sheet of plywood and what appeared to be a vinyl covering, and you couldn't walk around it for all the guys bent over the table, taking loads.  I've stopped by after hitting Slammer, just to sniff the wind.  Again, a couple of guys sucking Cock back in Pig Alley (soon to be re-named Chicken Alley) as late as 20 minutes to closing time (2am).  Yes, it's Florida's version of "winter" here, but the temps seldom all that cold.  Occasionally the nights dip into the high 40's, but that's rather seldom. I will mention that the crowds have definitely diminished since Pig Week ... when it was jammed with guys fucking each other.  There are groups of guys that know each other - buddies - all having a good time blabbing away.  Maybe somebody made a "business decision" that will prove an error ... I just don't know either.

I'd like to hear what's going on over there too.  It used to be so much fun - but it's not anymore - just another run-down gay bar.  

[50latinos]

3 hours ago, hntnhole said:

Agreed.  It's disappointing not to know what's going on over there. 

Not very long ago at all, you could stop in for a beer and a fuck almost as soon as they opened.  Even the bartenders (when asked) give different versions of why it is.  One bartender in the "patio' bar said "I don't give a shit what guys do back here".  One in the front bar parried my same question entirely. Lately, I've seen some Cocksucking (like 2 or 3 pairs of guys) going on by the pool table (which used to be covered with a sheet of plywood and what appeared to be a vinyl covering, and you couldn't walk around it for all the guys bent over the table, taking loads.  I've stopped by after hitting Slammer, just to sniff the wind.  Again, a couple of guys sucking Cock back in Pig Alley (soon to be re-named Chicken Alley) as late as 20 minutes to closing time (2am).  Yes, it's Florida's version of "winter" here, but the temps seldom all that cold.  Occasionally the nights dip into the high 40's, but that's rather seldom. I will mention that the crowds have definitely diminished since Pig Week ... when it was jammed with guys fucking each other.  There are groups of guys that know each other - buddies - all having a good time blabbing away.  Maybe somebody made a "business decision" that will prove an error ... I just don't know either.

I'd like to hear what's going on over there too.  It used to be so much fun - but it's not anymore - just another run-down gay bar.  

Thank you for your input hntnhole. It's a shame because they also have to deal with competition from the Eagle, and the sleaze certainly gave the Ramod the Edge over the newer 'leather' joint.

I remember having a conversation with this skinny black dude, whom I think I remember worked for some airline or by the airport, who was wearing a black leather harness and a jock strap and the whole interaction evolved into a very public S&M session where I was the M. He made me suck his toes toes and then his dick and after slapping me around and roughing me up a bit he ended up fucking me by the pool table. That's what I used to go to the Ramrod, that's what I miss. 

[ellentonboy]

I'm dating myself here, but I used to go to the Ramrod in the late 90s and early 2000s, usually Thursday nights.  Now outside, there was sex, in the dark, usually in one corner.  No one said a word, I believe even talking was discouraged.   I was friendly with a red headed bartender, who used to give me the key to use the private bathroom if I wanted to suck some dick or get fucked very quickly, but not more than ten minutes.  But I never had the good fortune of being there when there was open sex, or as it is affectionally called by hntnhole a "fuck joint".    They had the old pool table, but I used it as a jumping start, to usually pick someone up there for my first trick of the evening, and there was a business next door (back in that day) where guys went to have sex behind that building.   I also managed to get laid in the parking lot across the street as well, or talk with someone and follow him back to his place.

I believe the last time I stepped in the door of that establishment was maybe 2005 or 2006.  I am really bummed as I never experienced it at the "height" of it's sexual activity.  Sure the bartenders were great to me, allowing me to use that private bathroom, and the men had no attitude.  No posing, they were totally approachable and looking for sex.  Sucking dick out back, or getting fuck in the open was not ideal for me (though the back of an SUV, or as I mentioned on here before, a UPS truck) worked fine.  I never had trouble with police or people patrolling the parking lot.

I am sorry they have cracked down on the sex that seems to have been rampant in the past years, I just wonder if they are pressured by local authorities. I feel bad for the locals that were used to patronizing it for not only the great music (which was the case on Thursday nights when I went) but also the available dick and ass.  I am going to follow this thread, as I was just in Lauderdale in October and if it does return to it's "wicked" days I may decide to spend my evening going down memory lane before I get on my cruise ship or flight.

[hntnhole]

1 hour ago, ellentonboy said:

there was a business next door (back in that day) where guys went to have sex behind that building

That's still there.  An "upscale" used furniture store called Decades. and the parking area directly in front is where the cruisers park,  I'm up early, and usually walk a mile before getting on with the day.  I know the cars by heart:  The Buick convertible is always there ... the little black VW is almost always there.  The ratty old Chev pickup is often there, and some guy has a Ferrari that's often there.  That lot is full by 6am, and mostly empty by 6:30.  I'm assuming they're mostly guys on their way to work, stopping off for a quickie first.  They still go behind the building, and remnants of the fence behind Decades is still standing, but guys that don't want to walk around the corner for sex just leave RR, cross directly to that fence,   "step-through" the holes in that wooden fence, and fuck.  So, it's a direct route from the front door of RR, across the vacant lot,  over to the back of Decades.  At one time, there was a private home there, but that's long gone now.  

The business (on the corner) across the street became a "Zen" business for a while, and they had gates across their parking lot which they closed and locked at night.  The parking lot immediately N of that is now very exposed to the street, and I haven't seen guys fuck over there for quite a while - there's simply no "cover" anymore.  

1 hour ago, ellentonboy said:

Sucking dick out back

I'm assuming you mean the "Patio" bar, and the far end of RR, affectionately known as Pig Alley these days.  The name sticks, but the action has disappeared - only very gradually beginning to resurface:  a guy sucking Cock in a corner, maybe another one in a different corner, but nothing like when you couldn't even walk through for all the guys fucking/sucking back there.  Up until recently, a guy simply couldn't worm his way through - now, it's an easy stroll.  I used to see the Mayor over there occasionally ... 

Now, there's a food-truck in the parking lot of the next business N of RR (it's a framing shop) - little tables & chairs, guys eating, talking, hooting & hollering.  

The architect's building on the SW corner of 4th & 15th used to have a very active parking lot, but that's been shut down too.  I knew a lady who worked in an adjacent business, she would always complain about guys shitting behind a clump of palm trees next to the parking lot, and the detritus left by the guys fucking in that parking lot was really nasty; no wonder the owner closed down that parking lot - really short-sighted by the guys that fucked there.  Who did they think would come pick up after them, if they couldn't be bothered?  That lady would arrive for work around 6:30, and more often than not there would still be guys in that parking lot.  

You may remember an old gas station across the street from Decades:  For a while it was a garden shop, now it's a tarted up Lawn-art supply shop.  High fences, locked gates, and the late-night crowd breaks in to fuck over there (lots of 'cover') anyway.  So, other than inside RR, guys are fucking themselves by being so careless about their "detritus".  No one wants to pick all that shit up every morning.  

There's one more quotient:  The housing prices have gone through the roof in the immediate area.  Houses that sold a few years ago for 80, 90K have been selling for 450, 500K recently.  That means the newbies aren't going to put up with the noise, traffic, and particularly the mess, late night traffic, all of that.  I'm not all that hopeful that RR will ever return to the old ways.  

[ellentonboy]

@hntnholeI agree guys need to consider where they are playing and take care of anything that may be have left behind.  It's unfair to the business owner to clean up what should have been taken care of the night before.

What I find sad is your post in the last paragraph, which mentioned the cost of housing prices going through the roof in that area.  For me, that immediate vicinity had always been somewhat of a "safe" zone, I never had any issues with law enforcement or business owners.  Granted, I was aware of my surroundings and even though I am guilty of using some of those areas for sex while patronizing the Ramrod, I didn't feel I was either causing the business owners any aggravation or causing customers not to shop there.  Giving head on a Thursday night behind a building is not exactly the crime of the century, but still I was running the risk of getting arrested.  

I ask myself the question, so where to now?  I've heard it mentioned that when gays move into an area, they generally upgrade the homes and property values go up.  I remember my grandfather owned land in the Florida Keys in the early 70s, and sold it at an incredibly low dollar amount.  According to my father, he had made that decision after being told it was difficult to build homes on the type of soil in that area. I don't know anything about building homes, but my Dad confided in me in his later years that my grandfather "chuckled" at the fact that the new owners of his land were gay men.  Little did they know......

But I have to agree, if homes are now going for $500,000 in that area, I don't care how "progressive" the new owners may be, they won't want the added traffic and "activities" going on at 2 am.  I worry about my fellow "ho's" who don't want to drive home with someone when they can take care of "business" behind a building.  Sounds like the "end of  an era".

[TrippStarr]

I had a friend who was a bartender at RR for many years, many of you probably know him as John the Bartender, I called him Sir, he called me boy, it worked well for us. I lost touch with him several years ago...

Anyone know if he’s still around?

[dickluva]

I was at Ramrod for NYE '24. I had a great time, no fucking on the pool table, butt I fucked a few dudes. It was my night to top.

[hntnhole]

On 1/24/2024 at 10:20 AM, ellentonboy said:

I ask myself the question, so where to now?

Well, there are substantial numbers of both gays & hets buying properties West of Powerline, thus raising prices in that depressed area.  If you're not familiar with that area, it is substantially inhabited by minorities, probably not well-paid, and not considered a "safe" area.  The (formerly) more affordable areas (for instance, the 'hood West of where Cubby Hole used to be) has all been torn down, with new mid-rise condo's everywhere, and it's adjacent to Federal Highway, which runs directly into downtown.  

There are 4 gay households in my little 'hood that have sold, and the guys moved to Asheville.  Also, there have been "investors" buying up properties around here to turn into Air B&B's, along with short-term rentals.  When ownership by residents in the area diminishes, and absentee-ownership increases, the "neighborly" quotient tends to dissolve too,  When long-term owners/residents begin leaving, and rentals increase, it seems that renters come and go so quickly, it's hardly worth the time it takes to cultivate new neighbors. 

All that said, demographics never remain static (except in rather wealthy areas); so it's either buckle up and sit it out or try to figure out something else and just start over - again.

 

 

[cumbottom4use]

Wish I would have been at Ramrod NYE, would have loved to have you fuck me dickluva 🍆💦☣️🍑!!

[hntnhole]

11 hours ago, dickluva said:

I was at Ramrod for NYE '24. I had a great time, no fucking on the pool table, butt I fucked a few dudes. It was my night to top.

Cool !!   So was I - went over there for a beer before heading to Slammer ... maybe we rutted in Holes next to each other and didn't even know it .... 

btw, the pool table has been off-limits (except for playing pool, I mean) for a long time now.  

[ellentonboy]

13 hours ago, TrippStarr said:

I had a friend who was a bartender at RR for many years, many of you probably know him as John the Bartender, I called him Sir, he called me boy, it worked well for us. I lost touch with him several years ago...

Anyone know if he’s still around?

Did he have red hair?  If he did, the answer is yes, then he's no longer there.  Where he went to, and why he left, remains a mystery to me.  I knew him well, we got along great  and when I asked other employees about him I got the impression they were not at liberty to discuss the matter.  

[hntnhole]

So that vacant middle lot between Ramrod and Decades has wrapped up some excavation work (maybe a new hookup to the sewer lines?), so at least something is happening over there (and t.y., A.O.).  

The framing shop on the other (N) side of RR is kaput. 

How about this for a "pipe-dream" ....  RR picks off the next door north (ex-framing shop), already owns the vacant lot next door south, and they're going to build a new bar - and include a nice, big, darkroom with space for dozens and dozens of hungry men !! 

[50latinos]

On 3/15/2024 at 11:44 AM, hntnhole said:

So that vacant middle lot between Ramrod and Decades has wrapped up some excavation work (maybe a new hookup to the sewer lines?), so at least something is happening over there (and t.y., A.O.).  

The framing shop on the other (N) side of RR is kaput. 

How about this for a "pipe-dream" ....  RR picks off the next door north (ex-framing shop), already owns the vacant lot next door south, and they're going to build a new bar - and include a nice, big, darkroom with space for dozens and dozens of hungry men !! 

 . . . and some more much needed parking. 

[hntnhole]

21 hours ago, 50latinos said:

 . . . and some more much needed parking. 

You're not just kidding !!! 

They used to rent (off and on, through the years) the parking lot across the street - but since the "Zen" joint flunked out, the owners have kept that parking lot chained shut.  The architect on the other corner won't allow parking in that lot anymore either, since guys were throwing their trash everywhere, and the (lady) employees were afraid to come to work when they were supposed to ... but somehow, a drunk driver managed to smash into the gate, so now the owner just gets the cops to patrol it.  Foot-traffic still happens occasionally though.  Guys do park in the Wings restaurant, but sometimes get towed.  

Perfect "business plan" would be:  1)  get the old original fuckjoint back to it's former glory, 2)  get more parking, and 3) expand into that former framing shop (which already has some parking), where the food-truck usually parks on weekend nights.