Visiting a Strip Club
Now, this is one of those items where several people said, “Let’s go right now, why wait?” I didn’t quite know why I was waiting on this one, but the timing and situation was never quite right. A few months ago, I found out why!
Laura Bradley, the creator of the Tampa Bay 100 route, owns Florida Running Tours and floated the idea of hosting a strip club running tour in Tampa. I was instantly game and asked her if she had a date in mind. Not too long after, she finalized the plans and set it for Mother’s Day weekend (you know, to raise money for the single moms out there!). This! This is what I was waiting for when it came to visiting a strip club. I would be visiting more than one club, have the luxury of a tour and etiquette guide, going with likeminded folk, and running!!
Before we left for Tampa, we stopped by my bank because I needed to get some cash. I got $200 in singles and $100 in fives. The teller asked me if I was holding a yard sale and I told her, “Nope, I’m going to a strip club for the first time tonight!” We got to Tampa around 11:30am because we still had our long run to do. Kevin and I got 16 miles on the Courtney Campbell Causeway, which was nice because when he did Tampa 100 it was closed due to damage from the hurricane, so now he’s experienced what he missed due to the reroute.
After a quick shower and a meal at our hotel, we headed to Thee Dollhouse, where we met the other runners on the tour; two other ladies were also strip club virgins, so that was good for me to not be the only one. We did a short warm up, including stretching our ‘make it rain’ muscles, before heading out for our 5ish mile tour. Our first stop was Mons Venus where Laura told us about its founder and the “father of the nude lap dance” Joe Redner, who was once arrested five times in one day for running his establishment. I won’t go fully into the history on this one, but it was super interesting and I hope people reading this go on the tour and get to learn it for themselves! We didn’t go into Mons (there were two club entrances included in the tour and apparently most of them don’t even start waking up until 10pm).
The next stop would be my very first visit to a strip club: Odyssey 2001. This club is a fully nude club, meaning they show it ALL and don’t serve any alcohol whatsoever. Laura told us about the Futuro Home that is connected to the club. It is a UFO looking building that houses the private room for big spenders. There are less than 100 of them left in the world after being built in the 60s and 70s, and one just happens to be for stripping!
We got into the club and it was a ghost town. Being just after 6pm meant that the club wasn’t really going to be popping, but one dancer did come on after we’d been there for about 10 minutes. She did three songs and by the third was fully naked. I will say it wasn’t necessarily sexy in any way, but I did appreciate her physicality on the pole! She took a photo of us in the club and we left, having heard that it may be another 45-60 minutes before another dancer was planning on coming out.
From there we went to Winghouse, which I had no idea was a thing. I knew of Hooters, of course, where they have the shorty shorts and tight tank tops, but Winghouse is apparently a place where the servers wear thongs and bras and sometimes they have lingerie nights. Since Kevin and I had already had dinner, we weren’t hungry and didn’t know there was going to be a full food stop. As everyone ate (and we had a drink), Laura gave us the history and then we trotted down to the next stop. We didn’t go inside The Penthouse, but we got to hear some amazing stories of their genius during covid (curtains and outdoor poles!), officer misconduct during official duty, and more!
The final stop was back at Thee Dollhouse, where we would be going in for the full experience. As it was still “early” at 9pm, there was only one dancer at a time on the platform pole, no one was on the main stage. As someone who is not good at staying up late, I am proud of the fact I rallied, but I was definitely fighting the sleepies at a few points.
I really enjoyed the variety in appearance of the dancers. Some were very adorable, some were tattooed, some had a lot of plastic surgery, and some had none. Kevin pointed out to me that I had a method in my tipping. Apparently as soon as a dancer did a great athletic feat on the pole, I would unzip my fanny pack to grab out a couple of dollars to tip. Also, I couldn’t help but compliment them by telling them they were doing a great job, that they looked awesome, etc.
One of the most interesting things I found is that the men in the club were basically ignoring the dancers? They were there at tables and at the bar, but weren’t really paying attention? They paid the cover charge to get into the club but weren’t enjoying the sights. I really didn’t get it. Oh!! I do have to mention the chairs! There is a “type” of chair that I guess strip clubs use? They’re super comfy and they have wheels and I hate that more establishments don’t have this type of chair. I need more strip club chairs in my life!
Laura got a lap dance from one of the ladies and not too long after, everyone trickled out. It was just Kevin and me in the strip club, trying to hang. I had money burning in my pocket that I was still needed to spend, so Kevin reminded me that I needed to pick someone to get a dance from. As I have analysis paralysis and don’t want to make anyone feel bad, I had a lot of trouble choosing.
I saw a lady that had a lot of really cool tattoos, so we chose her. Rather than get an individual dance, Kevin mentioned doing a couples thing, so I got us a private room for thirty minutes. If I was going to go to a strip club, I was going to do the damn thing! I think we spent most of the time just talking to her and admiring her tattoos. Kevin got the full motorboat from her and a bit of aggression, while she was super sweet to me.
When she asked where we were from and we said Ocala, she mentioned the strip club that we have (Body Shots II) and that we should go and compare that club to this one. No thank you. I wanted a GOOD experience, not the awkward chance of seeing someone I know either as a dancer or a customer.
All in all, it was a really fun experience! I can’t thank Laura and Florida Running Tours enough for giving me such an amazing way to check off this 40 Before 40 item. As far as strip clubs go, I don’t quite understand the appeal, but I fully support the amazing women who put so much work into their bodies, their dancing skills, and conversation abilities. If the tour happens again next year, I will be going for the fun of it! It was truly a great time!
