Homolatte is a monthly, all-ages, queer music and spoken word series, each second Thursday of the month. Urban Eats (3301 Meramec 314-735-0041) $3 admission / pass the hat for the artists.

The "bad boy" of musical theater, the New Line Theatre troupe takes musical theater in a sexy, provocative direction. Their muscular theatre tackles politics, religion, race, sexuality, drugs, art, obscenity, violence, and other contemporary issues. Their production of Evita runs July 8-31 at 3802-A Keokuk St; 314-773-6526.

One of the city's most acclaimed gay attractions is the Coffee Cartel (2 Maryland Plaza), a 24-hour coffee shop located in the Central West End. It has an edgy, sometimes cruisy vibe, with a mixed, generally young crowd and sidewalk seating.

In the Grand South Grand MokaBe's (3606 Arsenal, Tower Grove Park) is a gay cafe with internet access, coffee, sandwiches and baked goodies with an open air patio out front, overlooking Tower Grove Park.

Down South Grand Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (4224 S Grand) is the real thing - with unforgettable old-fashioned cold treats for relief in the sultry heat of Missouri summertime.

From the Central West End Delmar Delmar Blvd runs out to University City. In the area near Washington University a college town vibe prevails, with shops, coffeehouses, restaurants of all kinds, and the Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar), art-house cinema. It's a great place to browse, shop, hang out with your laptop over coffee, or just watch the passing parade.

The Cactus Canyon Resort (Ava, MO) is billed as the largest campground for men in the world, a four-hour drive southeast of St Louis on more than 720 acres; a slice of heaven in the Ozarks. They offer fishing, hiking, volleyball games, sauna, pool and hot tub. Also line-dancing and two-step-intensive cowboy roundups, "leather in the woods" and weekends catered to bears and bear-lovers or silver daddies -- all clothing-optional.

Priapus Pines Campground, (1372 Treefarm Rd, Iuka, IL 62849) is another clothing-optional campground for men. Faeries, bears, cubs, and wolves celebrate Summer Solstice around a blazing bonfire. Other dates include pot luck dinners, August "Youth Days" and the Autumnal Equinox Fest with chili cook-out and bonfire. Balloon Fest in nearby Centralia features hot air balloons, live entertainment, fireworks, and a crafts fair. August 20-22, 2010, in Foundation Park, a 20 minute drive from the campground.

Enjoy the historic beauty of Cape Girardeau. Established on the Mississippi over 200 years ago as a tiny trading post and frontier French-Canadian settlement, this is now a thriving community of 37,000 on the world’s only inland cape half-way between St Louis and Memphis. Stay at Rose Bed Inn, 611 S. Sprigg St, Cape Girardeau, MO 63703.