Fashioned from a former motel, Private...

Fashioned from a former motel, Private Eyes is nothing to look at, outside or in. Inside, it feels like exactly what it is: a modest little strip club in a small town. But the bottom line is that it's a friendly place. (No cover for entry or for private dances, by the way.)

The March Thursday night I went (my first visit), it felt cavernous--dark, almost empty, and a little creepy. The stack of biker zines--I hesitate to call them 'magazines'--didn't help. But when I asked if they served food, I was taken to a kitchen where an upper-middle-aged man offered me the choice of two dishes, one of the recipes by his Caribbean wife. I ordered that one, and it was actually quite decent: not haute cuisine, but good home cooking.

The stage was quiet for a while after I arrived, and a skinny eastern European woman, probably in her mid thirties, came by and after making a little small talk, I invited her to sit down with me for a bit. We chatted in a friendly way for a while, and then she saw a regular come in and asked to be excused. By this time, I think, another dancer had taken the stage, and I was fairly taken with her: she had a nice full, voluptuous body and a slow, sexy way of moving. She seemed almost shy on stage, not really making eye contact, despite my multiple attempts--but then it seemed like she was avoiding it, so she probably knew I was there and looking at her hungrily.