Faced with a five-hour wait in...

Faced with a five-hour wait in the Detroit airport thanks to a flight cancellation, I cabbed a couple of miles to the Flight Club. It was the cabbie's recommendation. I don't think the driver was getting kickbacks from the club, as in Tijuana. On the other hand, given the number of airport refugees in the club, maybe they should get payola from the airlines. Just a thought. Anyway, I came away with good news and bad.

First the good news. The club is large and gorgeous. Lots of amenities like a good kitchen and a cigar bar. Attentive waitstaff (but see below). Best of all, it is inhabited by a group of consistently slim and gorgeous ladies, who will be as attentive and friendly as your budget dictates. Which leads to . . .

The bad news. This is an expensive diversion. I didn't pay the mandatory valet parking fee, having arrived in a cab, but there was an entrance cover charge of something like ten bucks. Those attentive waitresses will enforce a minimum one-drink-an-hour policy, backed up by attentive bouncers -- I watched it happen. And you won't save any money by going the temperance route; a small bottle of cranberry juice will cost you the same as a beer. And by the way, 9 bucks for a domestic beer is pushing it, never mind that the featured brew is that carbonated urine they make in Detroit. Lap dances are hands on and reasonable at $25, but one of my two girls had trouble counting -- to two. And there was constant pressure to upsell to the VIP. I declined, having a strong suspicion that the only thing I'd gain from it was a lighter wallet. Eventually I went across the street to the less upscale Bogarts -- crossing Michigan Ave. is an adventure all by itself -- and had a much more enjoyable time.