A Trip to the Local Bath House
When I got the invite from friends asking if I wanted to go to the bath house I was a bit taken aback. I immediately thought about how my straight identifying friends would attempt to navigate a bath house filled with nude gay men lurking in the shadows of the dimly lit sex hideout. Watching these men on the prowl with lustful gazes amidst their eyes. However this (unfortunately) wasn’t going to be the bath house that I remembered from my burgeoning gay youth. In fact, I was in store for an evening of relaxation and rejuvenation instead of the evening of questionable nudity and risque sex I dreamt up.
We decided to start out the evening at a nearby eatery for happy hour which is always fun! I mean, who doesn’t want to get a good buzz going before sitting in a sweat box! After a couple of drinks – I had water, thank you – we made our way to Asha Urban Baths in Oak Park, one of Sacramento’s up and coming inner-city areas. When first arriving, I quickly realized that this wouldn’t be a quick stop sort of thing but I was in store for a complete wellness moment. As we entered the charming lobby we were greeted by a Zen like atmosphere including soft music, oil diffusers and the friendliest attendant (with the most amazing skin) who – by the way he was dressed – looked as if he could wave a magic stress wand and immediately cure us of our woes. After a brief registration process we were on our way to relaxation heaven.
My anxiety was already on high considering I don’t like seeing myself nude let alone having to burden the general population by exposing my portliness. And on top of that, this was a co-ed establishment! However, my fears were put to rest as I opted to change into my bathing suit in a single restroom instead of the curtain drawn makeshift locker room that would have sufficed, but would have resonated more profoundly in my mind as a negative experience, instead of the anxiety relieving encounter it was designed to be in the first place. A quick shower to get rid of excess body oils, dirt and the like and I was off; t-shirt to cover the moobs included!
Make no mistake about it, this was a legit spa-like experience! All that was missing was a masseur and a fierce bentonite clay mask to serve as icing on the cake. The quiet music – zen like vibe continued throughout the bath house eliciting relaxation and the need to just slow down. My friends made their way to the soaking pool which was a bit too crowded for my taste, so I headed for the steam room first. The bath house was equipped with a dry sauna, cold plunge pool, a few different lounging areas in addition to the soaking pool and steam room. So anyone looking to unwind could do so at their leisure and with a little sense of privacy depending on the area you are in. The steam room was fantastic! It was empty so I could relax without judgement and it really felt good to just sweat it all out. But then the automatic lights went out on me and I got scared and left. I mean, how much steam can a person really take anyway? Help hint: get yourself pair of contacts so that you don’t have to deal with eye glasses during your visit. After the steam room, I attempted the dry sauna which was ridiculously hot. It was so hot you almost needed a towel to sit on the wooden tiered decks and you certainly wouldn’t lay out without a towel down to protect your skin. But the heat felt wonderful. Almost like a million tiny hot fingertips massaging into the skin and it did wonders for my asthmatic lungs.
Ten minutes or so is all I could stand before I finally made my way into the soaking pool, which was clear of the judgmental eyes I was previously worried about, albeit a completely irrational worry. The soaking pool was about as warm as you’d expect a relaxing bubble bath at home to be. In fact, that’s what the soaking pool reminded me of…a bath. One large bath with multiple people all sitting in the same bath water. It wasn’t my favorite part of the evening, but it was relaxing nonetheless. The pool itself is no deeper than three feet and could comfortably fit a dozen people or so. We were all randomly spread the length of the pool, floating and enjoying the weightlessness of the water. It was good! There were a mixed group of people when the pool started to get busy again and I wasn’t the only person to where a fat boy shirt so all was good. Although I’m not sure the soaking pool is for me, I’d recommend anyone try it. If you can be chill with the sporadic pieces of hair (I rebuke the thought that these could be pubic) or the random pieces of calluses floating by, then you’re good!
The night turned out to be quite the perfect end to a long work week. I got to spend a quiet relaxing evening with colleagues. In retrospect, we were all probably a little stress considering we have stressful jobs, but the night at the bath house provided a solution to that within just about 3 hours. It was a perfect mini spa night and all for less than $30. I would recommend anyone taking a night out of your work week, invite friends and take a trip to your local bath house!
