Back on the to-visit list

Akron crawl, stop No. 4. I'd been avoiding OGD since my last visit, when I got sucked (not literally) into the Sassy/Sasha whirlpool and couldn't get out. But after hitting Bottoms Up, CW's and Lusty Adventures, I still had money in my wallet and time on my hands. And I hadn't found The Experience that I had been hoping for.

The layout: This part of town feels safe. The bar is off by itself in a neighborhood that's mixed residential and small business. Since the streets were rerouted a couple of years ago, getting to OGD is a little more of a challenge, but that contributes to the feeling of seclusion and security. That's a good thing. I've never felt unsafe here, inside the bar or out.

You walk in to an entry area. The first door on the right is the men's room. The second door on the right is the dressing room for the dancers. Straight ahead is a short extension of the bar that pokes through a wooden panel that separates the entry from the main room. Turn left and you're in the main room. The bar is on your right. Ahead is a pool table and some dead space to the far end of the room. On your left is a group of free-standing tables and chairs. At the far left is a curtained-off VIP room. Standing on your feet so you don't get away is usually Sassy, but I didn't have to face that challenge this time. She had already attached herself like the barnacle she is to some other poor mope.

So I got to sit at the bar unpestered and order myself a $2 Coke. Shortly after, a tall, thin, mixed-race lady of probably 28 to 30 walked up and asked me if I wanted dance. I did, and it was good. No conversation, but a good, sensuous grind and there was nowhere my hands couldn't go. I turned her loose only because I wanted to try out another dancer I had noticed who seemed to be giving a fine performance for a guy in the chair in the far back corner of the room. (That seems to be a prime spot, though I've never used it.) When she came by, I snagged her and she was as good as I'd expected. Smaller, thin, darker skinned and probably younger than the first one, and just as quiet. (Sorry, guys, I didn't get names. And some of the quiet was probably my fault. I was pretty much out of small talk by then.) Again, it was a hands on everything experience.

This visit clicked OGD up several notches on my personal ratings meter. There is still the problem of Sassy, who does not know how to take no for an answer or how to go away if you've been polite enough to spend $5 or $10 on her. I have a hard time being rude. But I'm going to have to get past that problem one way or another because I plan to make OGD a more frequent stop. On a Saturday crawl that had its ups and downs, OGD turned out to be a surprisingly high note to end on.