There’s nothing terribly unique about two young men meeting on a beach. There’s nothing unusual about one of them offering the other a drink. What makes the story of Charles “Chuck” Cotton and Henry “Bud” Metzger remarkable is that 50 years after meeting under the warm sun of a Provincetown, Mass., beach, they still toast that day.

It was 11 a.m. on July 16, 1957, when“strikingly handsome” Cotton, then 33, caught the eye of Metzger, 29, on that Provincetown beach.

“I offered him a glass of my iced tea and he fell for it,” Metzger quips.

While Cotton says the tea “wasn’t that great,” Metzger is quick to point out that the pair “had wild passionate sex for two whole weeks. Our lives were forever changed by that ‘not-so-innocent’ gesture,” he says.

Both military veterans (Cotton served in the Navy in World War II and Metzger was in the Army during the Korean War), each was leaving 11-year relationships in which they were no longer happy when their lives collided.

“We were in Provincetown looking for ‘Mr. Right,’ and we found him in each other,” Metzger says.

After eight years together, they moved from New York to Los Angeles. A few years later, Cotton landed work as a senior executive with McDonalds Corporation in San Jose, and Metzger, a manufacturer’s representative, followed.

Just a short jaunt from San Francisco’s playground, the pair talks of staying in their friend Harvey Milk’s home on trips to the city, and about reading of the events at Stonewall in the newspaper.

They were in the Bay Area when AIDS surfaced.

“We were fortunate that it skipped us, as we were already established. But we watched it as it unfolded,” Cotton says.

The couple is a walking and breathing GLBT history book.

After making their way down the California coast, living in Santa Barbara and Santa Monica for a short time, when Cotton retired in 1985, the couple finally made their home permanently in San Diego.

“It was then that we really became politically active,” Cotton says. “We’re ‘good Democrats,’” Metzger chimes in, adding they’re most proud of being “Yellow Dog” liberal Democrats. “That means we’d rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican,” he quips.

Members of the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC) since 1985, both have been actively involved with many political campaigns. With the leadership of Herb King, Cotton and Metzger established the North County Democratic Club in the 1990s, and are also currently members of the Democratic Club in Rancho Bernardo.

Last fall, the SDDC awarded the couple special recognition in honor of their “golden anniversary” and for their continued support and contribution to the San Diego Democratic community.

One of their enduring legacies will be the Cotton-Metzger Gay and Lesbian Scholarship Fund they established in 1997 at San Diego State University, which was the first GLBT scholarship established at the school. Cotton and Metzger have continued to give to the endowment, contributing more than $100,000 to the gift annuity fund.

Asked the secret to their relationship’s long-term success, Cotton admits: “It hasn’t been easy. We have had our problems.” He says that there came a point when he thought living together was a mistake. “Bud told me he didn’t want to be without me, and we lived through the tougher times. There were many times he’s been stronger than I have. It has been for the better.”

The couple says that they have never opened the relationship or invited others into their bedroom like so many people in long-term relationships.

Cotton and Metzger attribute their ability to work through the ebbs and flows of the relationship to communication, understanding and respect. And they say they have only gotten better at it as time has passed.

“My advice to someone just starting a relationship and to the entire community is to simply respect each other,” Cotton says. Metzger, nodding his head, agrees.

The marriage equality issues that many in the GLBT community fight for today skipped them, according to Cotton.

“I think that there is a generation gap, because we never thought that it was an issue for us. We don’t get the excitement or longing for marriage,” Cotton says, explaining it was not a possibility, so they simply built their life together based on true love and respect without labels.

As members of Seniors Active in a Gay Environment (SAGE), the couple, often in Hillcrest, says they are very lucky to have many friends.

Their advice to older members of the community? Buy a computer.

“It’s great to do research and learn about health-related topics, and Broadway.com is fabulous,” Metzger says.

What is the highlight of their 50 years together? All of the traveling that they have done and the memories built visiting places around the world together.

The two have lived into their “golden years” traveling on more than 80 cruises. The walls of their Rancho Bernardo home are filled with artwork collected from their travels. Each one tells a story, they say.

“We ask ourselves where the years have gone to, but we look back and have some wonderful memories,” Metzger says. “Places we’ve been to, friends who have come and gone, some who are no longer with us.”

Theirs is a journey that is an inspiration many people long for and gay men dream of.

“The relationship Chuck and Bud have with each other is one to be commended,” says Fentress Ott, the couple’s friend of 17 years. “They have a great amount of respect for each other, and have a great concern for each others’ care and well-being. To be together as long as they have, they are obviously very compatible,” Ott said, noting the two are always looking after each other.

Wheelchair-bound Metzger, now 79, seems downcast that he will not be able to join Cotton, 83, at this year’s Pride parade as Cotton holds a sign commemorating their 50 years together. But he perks up at the possibility of viewing it when he learns that the celebration will be televised for the first time.

Councilmember Toni Atkins presented the couple with a special commendation and declared July 16, 2007, “Chuck Cotton and Bud Metzger Day” in District 3. The couple celebrated the weekend of their 50th anniversary with a dinner party with close friends.

“We often sit and wonder what life would be like had we not met that day,” Metzger says. “But I couldn’t imagine my life without him,” Cotton interjects.

These days, the two complete each others’ thoughts and sentences. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed over the years. Bud still “makes the worst iced tea,” Cotton grins.