Parkway COVID response

I saw that along with a few other West Michigan clubs, Parkway Tropics was opening back up Monday 6/15, so after almost 4 months of not doing anything I thought I'd risk it to see how they were handling things and whether I'd feel comfortable in a club at all. Pre-pandemic, I'd been going occasionally on Sunday nights, so I went then for comparison and also the prior Wednesday afternoon. Hours are slightly different than their prior noon-2am Mon-Sat, 6pm-2am Sunday; now they're open 2pm-2am Mon-Fri and 6pm-2am Sat/Sun. Old cover structure still applies - free before 7pm, $5 afterwards; maybe $10 on Fri/Sat. They encourage you to wear a mask and take your temperature upon entry, either by the door guy if cover is in effect or by the bartender if it's not. Hand sanitizer locations are scattered throughout the club.

Wednesday I went in, went through the procedure at the bar and ordered a drink (still $4.50 for a bottle of Bud). The club was mostly empty at around 5:30, just a couple patrons and dancers, one of whom I recognized from pre-pandemic. The bartender was wearing a mask, although some patrons and a couple dancers sharing a table were not. Eventually, the dancer I recognized came over, wearing a mask, and offered a dollar dance, which I accepted. Dollar dances are now basically air dances, whereas before, they were actually a pretty decent mini-lapper. The dancer offered a private dance, which I accepted, so we went back to the private booths, both wearing masks, and I got what was basically the same kind of dance that I would get before COVID, which is nothing special by the standards of most places in the country, but decent contact with the restrictions of the club and Grand Rapids laws. After a few songs I left.

Sunday was a bit more crowded, and the only people wearing masks were the bartender and door guy. It got full enough that I was totally comfortable with the situation, although most people were 6' apart. There were 5 dancers working, only one of which I'd seen before COVID. One of the other dancers made her way over to me and I got an unmasked dollar air dance, which was the only action I got on this visit. I felt like the risk factor was a bit too much and took off shortly after.