There are nights when I just can't inhale smoke.
No matter how bad I might want to scorch my lungs with second-hand leftovers, there are times when I just don't want to deal.You see, I come home and my clothes just smell terrible.
Everything seems to ooze Camel Lights.
I have to wash my hair twice to get that special kind of perfume out, so when I go to sleep I won't get dizzy and nauseated.
It's worse when there are clove smokers at the bars.
Then I smell like bad potpourri.
What's a lady to do?
I just can't not go out. That's absolutely asinine.
I'm the Out and About girl.
It's my calling.
Other than those supposed no-smoking concerts, I have to find clubs that don't give me a lung problem.
I know it sounds so totally lame to go to a place where you can dance and breathe, but work with me, it can be fun.
Not every place where alcohol isn't available is the Bay. (Stay as far away from that place as you can.)
Down, way down State, at 7980 South, is the Tropicana.
I've only been there once, but I had a great time and didn't feel like I was going to be taken over by some cheezy, drippy-light-of-love swing kids from Provo.
Though the diner/dance club is for the 18-and-over crowd, it manages to stay away from the awful Club Omni image.
Well, it does when you catch it on a Saturday night.
That's Latin night, and all the mambo, cha-cha, merengue, salsa dancers are out in full force.
Owned and run by John and Elizabeth Franco, the Tropicana has become one of three or four dance clubs that offers serious Latin dancing.
Real Latin dancing, with authentic bands from Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
Here the dancers are wall to wall; you couldn't find a place on the floor if you tried.
There are the regulars.
Older couples who come and move to beats they've known their entire lives.
And young kids who have memorized the steps so well, they're like second nature.
And students.
Friday is BYU student night. They get in free with some sort of ad.
This made me feel very left out.
What about University of Utah kids? What if they wanted to strut their stuff, too?
Are they not as good?
I took ballroom dance!
I can do this!
Really, I couldn't.
I tried, and looked like a complete moron with no balance, no skill and not enough hip action to even throw something out of joint.
The BYU dancers however, floated as if they had wings. And I'm sure some probably did.
Anyway, the Tropicana does offer dance instruction. Of course it's not free . . . but cheaper than you might think.
Mambo Jumbo, an up-and-coming Latin band plays some nights, as does Salsa Brava.
Both are quite good and definitely worth the $6 cover charge.
By the way, men, there's a dress code. Women don't seem to have one.
There were women there in tight little dresses and high heels that made their legs seem a mile long.
I think that's all part of the look.
Thanks again, possums . . . it's been lovely.