Rainy and Relaxed

By the looks of recent Tampa reports this week in particular (9/13 to 9/17), business in the clubs - and everywhere else in general - has been pretty sluggish. I think it relates to the tropical storm/hurricane Sally that had parked its ass right by west Florida and the gulf for the entirety of my trip, on top of it still being the start of the week. I swung Tampa for some impromptu work opportunities and the only time I had left to monger was the last day of my trip.

Thankfully, shanny72 took up the offer to show me a few spots I’ve never been in before so I wouldn’t leave totally unentertained. We agreed to meet at Diamond Dolls in Clearwater around the start of happy hour. I pull up around 5:30 PM and the parking lot doesn’t initially look spacious because all the spots in front of the building were filled, but they have a boatload of spots along the side and behind the club. I meet with the ‘mayor’ by the front and we go ahead inside. No valet or parking fees to worry about.

Dayshift was technically still in motion, so there was no cover to enter the club. I imagine Tampa has COVID enforcements that are slightly more enforced compared to Jacksonville, so I put on my mask upon entry to avoid an awkward stop from the bouncer or whoever, but I took it off once we grabbed a seat at the bar. Upon entry, it takes my eyes a second to adjust from bright lighting to dim lighting, but I see right off the bat that it has been a very slow day. Besides Shanny and I, there were probably 6 other custies sitting at the bar and 2 others sitting at the tables near the main stage. Even though this isn’t the biggest club I’ve seen, it wasn’t the smallest either, and the lack of customers and dancers was clearly apparent. I believe dayshift is regulars driven because the bartender and a good portion of the present custies knew who each other were based on my observations of their greetings and conversations.