Fantasy's on 5th, Anchorage

Anchorage Alaska conjures up visions of snowdrifts, and moose…but a lush flowering paradise with a kicking strip club? I do think so! While the first is true of the winter months, summer is alive with wildlife, fresh flowers, fresh seafood, and a really awesome nightspot called Fantasy’s and Elixir on 5th ave.
Upon arriving, after a very long flight, Mando picks me up in his very cool vintage car and tomorrow will be my first full day in the city. I wake up jet-lagged and need to run errands. D.C., manager and my helper for the week, comes to pick me up and the first order of business is coffee! We pull into the parking lot of the club and this is my first glimpse of the 3-story mac daddy building, little did I know it also had retro pin-up themed coffee shop in the parking lot. You order the delicious drinks by cup size, A-D cup. I’m in heaven! Later, when I arrive for my shows I am greeted by gorgeous girls, I mean breathtaking! Some originally from Alaska and a lot of transplants from the lower 48, not to mention the hotties from Russia! (And yes, it really is THAT close to Alaska).
D.C. and DJ Kima give me the grand tour and I learn the second floor is actually a regular nightclub that is packed! There is a full bar on both the first (Fantasy’s) level and second (Elixir) levels. Elixir is probably one of the most progressive nightspots in the city with brushed steel furniture, a roomy dance floor and an outdoor smoking lounge. They also have salsa and rockabilly themed nights, and the patrons can take the elevator down to Fantasy’s for naughtier fun. And they did. Downstairs is done but not overdone in red and black with 2 stages, 2 spinning poles and a runway connecting them. There is seating (much like the dancers breasts) is ample and the bar area and VIP lounge is full. Yes it’s packed and not just with the men folk, quit frequently groups of hot, fun loving and big tipping women would come down from Elixir to see my shows too. Any time a lady want to get on stage with me during a show, I don’t argue. The crowd at Fantasy’s is high energy and receptive yet the most respectful I have seen in a while! When I pulled out the grinder for one of my acts, the crowd’s anticipation rose and the spark flew. The reactions ranged from clapping and cheering to a table that was giving me the “metal horns” ( \,,,/ ) yelling that’s wicked! At that moment I did feel quite wicked…
Erin, who does a lot of the clubs P.R. and booking, is fully tattooed and fully hot, I like her instantly! We decide to go sight seeing one day before work and she’s in charge. She takes me to Girdwood, a small, green town 30 minutes outside of Anchorage. The seafood is killer, and so is the view! Atlanta is wonderful, but we don’t have foggy snow capped mountains with Paleolithic sized flowers at the base. I feel like I’m in the stripper version of “The Sound of Music”. Of course we (and by we I mean I) have to do cheesy tourist stuff like buying moose hats, post cards and salmon jerky, and take a pictures of everything!
When I arrive at the club Saturday, I get to meet Carol Hartman, the owner and grand poobah of all of the above. She is quite an accomplished lady with a sense of humor much like mine, and we also click. Her gumption to own and operate a strip club, nightclub and coffee shop is very impressive. Her lipstick also matches her outfit and I decide I might want to be her when I grow up. The entire crew of Fantasy’s, Elixir and the little Pin-up Coffee Shop made me feel so at home, I think I have a second family. If you ever find yourself in Anchorage, it’s a must to order the Ava Gardner at the coffee joint and head inside Fantasy’s for top VIP treatment. Ask for a lap dance from Naomi, rumor has it she’s crème of the crop…Not that I would know or anything…Stop smiling!

My Tampa Trip 06/09

My story takes place in the magical land of Tampa. The drive from Atlanta to Tampa is a piece of cake and I lived in St. Pete for seven years as adolescent so I know certain areas like the back of my hand. A lot of people ask me, “What do you do during the day?” The simple answer is “what ever I want”, but the unabridged answer is what follows…With 7 weeks until Expo in Vegas (the biggest event in the industry, where I am also nominated Club Favorite) a good part of my days are filled with music editing, working out and costume design (do these shoes match my boobs?).
But on my second day…oh the second day! I decide to go to the vegan restaurant Leafy Greens Café in St. Petersburg. Why, you ask? One reason is that I am pretty much a veg-head, and that I thought with traveling so much I would do vegetarian restaurant reviews. Well, that is going to have to wait for another story because what happens next needs its own space. When I try to park at the eatery, I realize that the space is actually occupied, not by a compact car or motorcycle, but by a 4-foot leather camel on wheels. Guess I will park up the street! As soon as I get out of my van, a homeless fellow comes up to me mumbling some thing about 37 cents and geese…I pick up the pace and so does he. I turn and give him a dirty look. He returned the stank eye and moved faster. Three things went through my head. My elementary school teacher preaching the buddy system, how I hate being wrong, and that I could take him.
I get to the café and learn there are no seats inside only patio, and he was out side sticking his tongue out at me. I explain my predicament to the hostess when I hear a boisterous punk rock lesbian couple say, “Honey, you can sit with us, we’re not scared!” To which I reply “me neither!” Bet they weren’t expecting that one! I sit and we talk. I start explaining what I do for a living, from featuring to Playboy to my start at a fetish club. This is the point where the pink mohawked gal announces she is also a fetish model and pushes away from the table to reveal she is in a wheelchair. She tells me that she models latex clothing and has a prothstetic leg, which that alone is fethized by many!
I immediately think about the odd series of event has just happened in such a short time frame and can’t what to write about them, how much my bill will be (whoa!) and how freak’n radical my new friends are.
After Lunch I’m off to St. Pete Beach, where the water reminds me of green sea glass, the sand is like baby powder. This is exactly what I need. I wear my thing bikini, which I love but instantly regret when I see the large amount of small children on the beach. I receive a few scowls but a lot of smiles, mostly from the gentlemen. I’m sure it was because these large, hairy men in Speedos felt a comradery of too small bikini-ness. Or it could just be because they saw my butt. After such a rollercoaster of a day, I can’t wait to see what the next booking holds. Over the next month I will criss-cross the United states from Wisconsin to Alaska. Tampa (again, this time for a fetish event) to North Carolina. With that being said, I’m sure I will eat, meet, see and do some interesting stuff!