First visit to Washington Park
Just thought I'd add my 2 cents as a frecent irst timer to the Washington Park clubs. Nothing you old pros don't already know but this report might be helpful to the virgin visitor.
Based on what I've heard elsewhere, I was a bit apprehensive about the neighborhood and car security but after taking a drive down Kings Highway from I-55\I-70 to I-64 earlier during the day to check out the scene beforehand (always a good strategy), I could see that it was simply a very modest, semi-rural neighborhood that appeared about as threatening as Ward & June Cleaver's street, assuming, of course, that Eddie Haskel's house was actually an abandoned warehouse as seems to be the case with a lot of buildings in the area, especially between Forest Blvd. And I-55. If you been to as many clubs as I have in as many cities where things are in near anarchy mode, you'll find this stretch to be a welcome change.common sense is nevertheless required and you probably don't want to have your car break down in some of the creepily deserted areas near I-55 or hit a kid on a bike in the tiny residential area down towards I-64. I also wondered about how much of a law enforcement presence is there to ticket patrons for exceeding the 30 MPH speed limit. This would be easy money if the town council wanted a little income stream.
My first stop later that night around 10: 45 was at C-Mowes and my first impression was not very favorable. It wasn't that the club itself is anything bad or dangerous; quite the contrary, everyone was very friendly and the atmosphere was relaxed. Parking is in a fenced lot that looks like a tow truck company used to be there but there was no security so leave the I-Phones back at the hotel room. Beers were about $5, I think, a shot of tequila was about $7, and the bar maid (can I say that in 2008? ) was of the no-nonsense but efficient raspy voiced "whaddayaneed hun? " variety. Cover to the friendly bouncer was a buck. Crowd (maybe ten customers and five dancers? ) was mellow and mixed in demographics. The insides looked like an old VFW club that had seen better days but again, I've been in far worse joints. Not a bad place for a cool one if you, like me, are tired of these hyper-upscale "gentlemen's clubs" where everything is too perfect. One design flaw is that if you sit at the bar you can't see the stage but as described below, this might not be a bad thing.
The problem was that when I walked in, I was absolutely stunned to see a white woman of indeterminable age climb onto the stage and stagger back and forth in what appeared to be a grandmother's flannel nightgown. She won my Olympic gold metal for the oldest (at least appearing), least desirable "stripper" I've ever seen anywhere. She'd clearly been rode hard for a number of years and the Good Lord answered my prayers to make sure she kept the nightgown on while I was trying to drink. When she got off the stage, she collected tips from the folks sitting around the bar and when I gave her a buck, she favored me by pulling down her nightgown for a shot at her breasts. I'm still trying to get the image out of my mind. I should note that this lady was friendly and that the other regulars at the bar didn't seem to think it was odd for her to be up there shaking her social security-collecting tush on stage. Maybe I'm just an insensitive jerk.
The other dancer wasn't much better. She was skinny black woman, not much younger than Grandma, and seemed to be in a haze all evening long. About a 2 in the face and a 3 in the body and that's me being charitable. She was ignored by the regulars and I felt sorry for her and bought her a beer as she clearly didn't have any money nor did she have the tools to acquire anything from the crowd.
I was approached by one not bad looking dancer done up in pink who seemed to be ready to have a good time but I was hoping for a little legitimate entertainment before the illegitimate version and I demurred for the moment. She busied herself with people sitting around the bar. At that point, a thick blond who had to be deep into her 40s got up on the stage and began to bump and grind. This might have been good during the early Reagan Administration but she was just a bit much and reminded me of a suburban housewife who had had 18 too many drinks and then decided to strip at the office Christmas party. A guy I was sitting next to told me that she had been there "before the fire" though I could more readily believe that she had been there "before the Invasion of Granada". Yikes.
I thought about heading back down towards the I-64 intersection where I had seen a number of glitzy and packed clubs on my way in. But I wasn't in the mood for running around so I drove about 50 yards to the north and went to Wise Guys. This was a much cleaner and far more upscale club, clearly one that wanted to be a place where bachelor parties and businessmen outings could go without a second thought. No outside security when I pulled up to the front door but it looked like some sort of college kid who was assigned to watch the cars was just going off duty. Maybe. There wasn't a cover, the place had maybe five dancers sitting at the bar for me and four other guys. There wasn't much of any dancing going on (only two sessions while I was there) but it was a mellow place to drink. Ironically, beer and tequila prices were less than the far more humble C-Mowes.
Wise Guys seemed more intimate than C-Mowes (it's much smaller and carpeted) and the girls there were in their 20s and most were decent. I wound up sitting with a fairly heavyset woman who seemed earnest and friendly and I enjoyed our conversation. What I didn't enjoy was the way she mindlessly rubbed herself while we were talking, either because she thought it was sexy or because she had some sort of skin problem. Dunno. I was going to suggest a healthy dose of Quell and Avon Skin-so-Soft but decided to order another tequila for myself. Nice healthy pour by the way and I tipped the bartender accordingly. I declined her offer to go into the back because I was in Washington Park to hook up with someone who pushed my hot button and this one reminded me of the receptionist at my work. Not exactly fantasy material. I didn't talk to anyone else there because of the usual problem when you get immediately pounced on by someone you aren't interested in and then the other women ignore you out of professional courtesy. If I had a group of buddies looking to have a good time, I'd head straight to Wise Guys. As it was, I was by myself without any sort of parental supervision and so decided to return to C-Mowes to see if things had changed. By now it was around midnight.
C-Mowes felt like a comfortable shoe, albeit one that was worn pretty good, and it was nice to walk in like a "regular" and order a beer. There were a few more customers and dancers by this time and one instantly caught my eye. She was a thin (in a good way) pretty black woman who was clearly the best looking one in the house. I could easily describe her with police lineup-like accuracy but I suspect that the folks on this board who frequent C-Mowes already know who I am speaking about and the LEO lurkers don't need the info. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and drinking before deciding to go into one of the two "booths" hidden off the end of the building by the stage. There was no curtain or partition to be found here so everything was in the open if one came into the room where the booths were located. This didn't seem to make any difference to anyone and being a good guest, it didn't make any difference to me either. I should admit that by this time I was getting antsy and was somewhat concerned that my visit to the fabled fleshpots of Washington Park would have unsatisfactory results or that I'd have to head to the other nearby clubs, spend more money without any guarantees, and risk more exposure to the police cruisers. All this is to explain why I agreed to pay the $20 house "visit to the back room" fee and for another $80, get what I came for. So to speak. It turned out to be quite fun despite the risk of exposure (which I had totally forgotten about as we were going to town) and the experience suggested that I'll have to figure out another reason to visit downstate Illinois in the future.
Thanks for all the guidance I've received from your reports. I came armed to the area with full knowledge of what I was getting into. So to speak. By the way, I found that my hotel in Collinsville on I-74 was a perfect spot, just minutes away from Kings Highway and remarkably close to a White Castle where I celebrated the evening's adventure with a bag of cholesterol-laden junk food. Good times.
Zy
Your Visit on Thurs @ Wise Guys
I'm sorry that you didn't seem to have a good time on Thurs at Wise Guys. I was off that day because I was working the weekend instead. I thought I would let you know that I'm planning on working Monday, yes Labor Day, Tues, Wed and Friday 12pm-8pm for sure but don't know about Thurs. yet. I hope that you get a chance to come back into Wise Guys this week and I will do my best to see that you enjoy yourself as much as you would like to.
[QUOTE=Big0008]Decided to visit the east side establishments Thursday and saw some goofy stuff.
Wiseguys was next. Music was very loud. Dancers were interesting. After about five songs, I was approached by a stick woman wko sat down and started rubbing Mr. Happy. He was excited about the attention but the woman had the worst case of "penis/garlic breath" you can imagine. I excused myself and went to the restroom, OMG, I was trying not to expell my diet coke. When I went back out, there was a nice blonde dancer on stage. She had been waving around a 10" rubber dong earlier. She had a blanket and a couple of small towels spread out on the stage. On the towels were four "toys" including the 10 incher, and other various sizes. She had once about twice the size of a lipstick and was, enjoying it. She worked up to the larger sizes, it was amazing how she could pull it out about 2/3 of the way and then draw it back in. I have never seen this at a SC before, in my 30+ years of visits. At one point that little voice inside me, you know Mr. Paranoid, was getting real nervous that Mr. Blue might show up to stop the show. Can't imagine that can pass the community standards. There was another dancer there, tall, slim and had a huge set of bolt ons. Long black curly hair and wore long silky gowns. She was very mechanical, did not like you to to touch the goods. Also noticed she had nipple rings and was pretty well on her way to being drunk. I was there nearly an hour and a half, and got no offers for extras. No Harley.
