Welcome to the Twilight Zone!

Decided to check out this club for the first time with my cousin, who is a huge fan. Parking was easy to find and we headed inside. My first impression was “wow, this club is really big!” I quickly noticed the spacious and open floor plan. A very large stage is located in the center of the club, which is flanked by ample seating of various sized tables/booths. There are plenty of large screen TV’s for those patrons who might be interested in watching sports or the news. We headed to the very large main bar and ordered drinks. A shot of Jameson with a Yuenling chaser for my cousin, and a water for myself. I gave the bartender a $20 and didn’t get any change back. I truly didn’t pay attention to the cost of the drinks. So, I have no idea if I gave her a good tip, bad tip or no tip. My cousin introduced me to the bartender. He is on a first name basis with all SC bartenders in SoFl. She proceeded with pleasantries and commented on my personal selection of beverage. Suddenly, I heard a giggle over my left shoulder and turned to see a pair of lovely dancers standing to next to me. I asked why they were laughing and they also commented on my glass of water. “Your’e a party animal, huh?” One of them said. I smiled back and told them that I wasn’t in the mood for alcohol. To this, they had no reply. The four of us began to chat and exchanged names. I have no recollection of their names. Let’s just call them A and B for purposes of this review. Dancer A was tall (over 5’10” with heels) had a slender/athletic build, dark shoulder length hair, and was actually quite stunning. Dancer B was short (maybe 5’5” with heels) with a average build and had dirty blonde hair. She was attractive, but the taler dancer had my full attention. Both of them were Caucasian by the way and I didn’t notice any accents. After a few minutes they sauntered away to some other customers. The club was pretty empty and I was a little surprised by the lack of customers. Maybe it’s because I’m used to Diamond Dolls and Booby Trap, which are smaller clubs and feel a bit cramped.

At this point, I left the bar area and strolled around the club to get used to the layout. I typically like to get a feel for a club early on in the visit. By this, I mean I like to figure out the location of the important areas (bar, stages, bathroom, VIP area). The club was well laid out and the music wasn’t too loud. I hate when the music is so loud that you can’t communicate. I approached the main stage and noticed a cute Latina dancer who had big bolt-ons. I slipped her a few bucks and headed to the bathroom. When I returned to the bar, my cousin handed me a beer and said “you can’t drink water in a strip club. Just hold the bottle if you really don’t feel like drinking.” The bartender smirked at his comment. I sat in a chair and turned to face the main stage while my cousin kept his focus on his drink and the bartender. After a few minutes of observing (another thing I like to do early on in any SC visit, my cousin told me that Dancer A and Dancer B had asked him if I was a cop, while I was in the bathroom. This made me chuckle, tbh. I continued to hold my beer and drink my water when Dancers A and B came for another visit. I said something smarmy to them about thinking I was LE. They both said that I looked like a cop and acted like one too. I asked them to explain. They said that since I was drinking water, not getting any dances and observing, that they were suspicious of me. I asked what would change their mind. They both shrugged shoulders and looked at each other. I focused my attention on the tall and athletic dancer, as she was quite the beauty. We chatted for a few minutes and then I asked if going to the VIP area with her would change her mind about me being a cop. To this she smiled wide as she took my hand and led me to the VIP area.

The VIP area was fairly hidden in a part of the club that I really hadn’t noticed during my “surveillance” earlier in the night. There wasn’t a soul around and she looked quite confused by this. We entered a small narrow room that had a large leather couch and a plasma screen on the wall. She sat me on the couch and asked me to hold on for a minute. She left the room and said that she would return shortly. I was extremely confused by all of this, because this hadn’t been my experience at any of the other local clubs. After a few minutes I was tempted to just walk back to the bar, just then she returned. I asked her what was going on and she said she was looking for the hostess (wtf?). I asked her what was on the menu in the VIP lounge to which she replied “ whatever you want.” To this she led me out of the room to the hostess stand which was now staffed. The hostess turned my attention to a computer screen and pulled up a menu of sorts. I was throughly confused by this and it must have been obvious. I told her that this was a strange way to handle business and unlike anything I had experienced. I told her that I assumed I negotiated things with the dancer, maybe paid a room/booth fee and then headed to a private area with the dancer. This process felt like I was ordering pizza from a cashier. She punched a couple of buttons on the touchscreen and pointed to something. “How much time do you want?”, she asked. I told her that I didn’t know what my options were. “Is 30 mins ok?”, she replied. I said that would work. She then told me it would be $750. I laughed out loud and asked her if she was serious. She asked me what I wanted to spend. Again, I found this entire encounter to be bizarre and began to wonder if my cousin slipped something into my glass of water. I replied that her quote was almost 2.5 to 3 times greater than other clubs. To this she rolled her eyes and walked away. I popped my head into the room and told Dancer A, who was waiting for me to finish placing my order with the hostess, that I was going to pass and apologized for wasting her time. She jumped off the couch and led me back to the bar. I gave her $20 for her troubles and she quickly walked away, never to be seen again. Has anyone else had an encounter like this or was I in an alternate universe?! This was so strange, uncomfortable and unlike any VIP process that I’ve had in the pass. My cousin asked why I was back so fast and I gave him the rundown. He spit out his beer with laughter and said exclaimed “What? They must have thought you were a sucker!” I shrugged and said let’s go to Diamond Dolls, where I know exactly what I’m getting for $225! At this point we did exactly that and headed out.