I hope you are all having a great Labor Day weekend!
I’m sorry I have been MIA lately…there has been a lot going on here. We have had some of our best friends rotating through over the past three weeks and with them have been enjoying concerts, sporting events and great restaurants.
Last weekend we rocked out to Phish at Lakewood’s Amphitheater and two days ago we got watch UT beat NC State at the Georgia Dome! I have tons of pictures and great stories about catching up with good friends over beers, football and music. But since I haven’t been on here in a while I wanted to tell you about an Atlanta gem known as the Clermont Lounge.
You may have heard of it…OutKast has rapped about it, Ashton Kutcher has been spotted leaving here, and the Real Housewives of Atlanta have filmed here. It is an adult entertainment bar with the average dancer aged 50 years old. How did we end up here on a random Saturday night? Well, it is definitely a place you take out of towners for the shock value. However my BFF and her husband used to live in Atlanta, so they wanted to go back for nostalgia. You definitely want to have a few cocktails before you walk into here.
It’s hard to explain the atmosphere in the Clermont Lounge. If you are familiar with Atlanta it is in the part of town called Poncey-Highlands, across the street from MJQ and the Local. The club is in the basement of a closed hotel. The health department shut it down years ago…there were rumors that in its heyday Al Capone rented out the top floor and in its lowest point the running water was charcoal in color and prostitution was rampant. But somehow the “dance club” is the only thing that survived and is still holding the place up.
When you walk through the first door you are hit by a wall of smoke, as soon as you walk through the second door you see the bar the dancers, the only thing missing is a pole. You would not expect what you see your first time there. The crowd is full of former frat boys and attractive young people. Most people do not go here for the reasons they would go to a regular strip club. The music is controlled by a jukebox that only the dancers are allowed to use. It is cash only but beers are cheap, $2.50 a can! The dancers dance behind the bar and they each have their own shtick. The most famous, Blondie, crashes beer cans between her breasts for a mere $5. Portia, my personal favorite, is 64 years old and dances in Little Bo Peep and Red Riding Hood outfits.
It is not somewhere you should start your night, definitely end it here. You probably only need to stay an hour to get the experience, but it is definitely one everyone should have at one point or another. When you walk out of there be prepared to smell like a dirty ashtray, but just this once it is worth it.
Check out their Wikipedia page
Feel free to Google image search the Cleremont to see Blondie
Nicole Guess | Drink. Dine. Discover 