A marvelous Sunday at the Raider’s Reef

After two decidedly mediocre evening visits in Phoenix last month, I perused the reviews of the area reviewers (including the comments of one Desertscrub!) and couldn’t find anything that really struck my fancy in the greater Phoenix metro area. But I did have a car and time, and so I made the 90 minute trip down to Tucson — and am I glad that I did. Bottom line: this Sunday afternoon was great fun for an out-of-town visitor.

Parking: huge lot. There is a row of VIP parking (that was totally empty) that cost $5 dollars right next to the entrance but then there were 4 or 5 rows of additional free parking beginning 10 feet or so further away. There were about 15-20 cars in the lot when I arrived (at about 12:30 pm) and big spender that I am, I parked in the free section. Entering the club, I got “wanded” but there was no pat down nor a cover charge.

Physical club: it was quite dark and it took a awhile for my eyes to get used to it after driving in the bright Arizona sun. There is a large room with a main stage with a pole right in the center of the room upon which the show dances occurred. There were two smaller stages on either side of the room also with poles that were never used during my visit. The bar is to the right side of the room. There were chairs surrounding the main stages, chairs along the back wall, and then a number of small round tables with two-four chairs around them scattered about the room. The men’s room is to the left and down stairs. It is large, clean, well lit, and there was no attendant when I was there.