An Unusual Club -- And I Liked It.

In order for a review to actually be useful, I feel like sometimes you need to clarify your perspective or attitude first. Strip clubs are an only-when-I-travel thing, so my visits tend to be infrequent. I think that usually builds up certain expectations, i.e., "I better get some serious mileage this time." That said, there are times when nearly the opposite vibe kicks in, and I realize once I'm there that I would prefer making a little bit of a flirtatious human connection, and one that doesn't fail the BS test right out of the gate.

I think I arrived at Billy Dean's in the former state of mind. Others have written about the basics (the girls dance with pasties on, etc.), so I'll skip most of that. I arrived too early (9:50pm on a Thursday, not really aware that they had just opened at 9:30), and I was the only one there. The bartender, who behaved like -- and probably is -- the manager, was really friendly. I should have gotten his name. He reassured me that seven girls were still arriving and/or getting ready. I mentioned to him that there were no paper towels in the mens room, and he was genuinely grateful that I'd let him know before it got busy. I liked him.

But what followed was a lengthy period of time that had me convinced I would be leaving soon and pretty cranky about it. They have an arrangement (it was literally too complicated for me to follow or remember) of having the girls do a 20-minute or so stage/pole work in a certain order. The music was really unusual for a club, some odd spoken-word mixes that seemed to go in circles for a long time. The first girl happened to be too heavy to be within my zone of attraction, so I sort of watched TV and waited to see if anyone else (dancers or customers) would ever show up. Girls began to appear, in the darkness, and they waited on the other side of the very narrow stage/pole area. I was trying to see what they looked like, but it was so dark I couldn't tell. The stage work by both of the first two girls ended up being very low-energy, more like what they might do while on the phone at home trying to stretch and get ready for a Zoomba class.