I decided today that I wanted to write about a nightclub I used to frequent in my early twenties when I was living back in Bloomington, IN. I Googled it, to see if I could find a photo or something to include…only to learn that it closed down in 2006! I’m so bummed! I loved that place.
From 1992 to 1994, I worked at a one-hour optical in Bloomington. It is easily the nuttiest place I’ve ever been employed. We were a small office, with maybe 8 or so employees. There was Doc (the optometrist of course), the office manager, assistant manager, a couple of guys in the lab that would grind lenses and put glasses together, and a few of us opticians. We’d do shit like preliminary eye exams, teach people how to put in contact lenses, and sell glasses and frames.
Working there was a little bit like existing in a real-live sitcom. When we had patients in the office, we acted professionally…but whenever there was a lull, we did everything from spitball fights to shopping cart races in the back alley (we were in a strip mall) to playing ridiculous practical jokes on each other.
Everyone was a character. It was the most fun place I’ve ever worked.
There was one employee, D, who was a flaming drag queen. He was fucking hysterical. He had actually worked there a little before my time, but he would still come in to visit and hang out a lot.
D loved to make his own fabulous, sequined, feathered, strappy dresses…Bullwinkle’s often had drag shows where D and his fellow Queens would perform (basically lip-synch) routines. It was a competition. He would always beg us to come to watch.
I had never been to Bullwinkle’s before, but of course I knew it was a gay bar. It was in the basement of the former Loyal Order of Moose Hall…hence the name. :) So, the first time I went, it was to watch D’s show. He was one ugly dude, but when he came out on stage in full showgirl drag, I was stunned. He was totally glamorous…it was hysterical, and a little scary. If I didn’t know it was him, I would have never known it was him.
I sat at a table with a bunch of coworkers, and we had a great time. Back in those days, my hair was really long, long enough for me to sit on it. A gaggle of drag queens descended on me, oooh-ing and ah-ing over my hair. It was pretty funny.
Anyway, that was the night that I found out Bullwinkle’s was the best nightclub/bar in town. They had a great dance floor that lit up just like the one in Saturday Night Fever. I started going there pretty frequently with my friends. Now I can’t dance to save my soul, but I have fun anyway…and when I was drunk (which was pretty much always) I thought that I was *the* Bad-Ass Dancer out there. Bwahaha…thank the good lord that was back in the days before cell phone cameras and Flip videos!
One night in February after a few hours of Bullwinkle’s fun, my friends took my car keys and wouldn’t let me drive home because I was too drunk. It was like two a.m., and they drove me back to my aunt’s house (where I was staying) and dropped me off. Well, it was her car I had driven into town, and in my drunken state I was convinced that someone would steal it or something. So as soon as my friends dropped me off, I went inside, put a leash on my dog, Sundae, and I walked all the way back downtown. It was FUCKING COLD, probably in the ‘teens, temperature wise, and snow everywhere. By the time I got to the parking garage where the car was, I was sober. Trust me.
Another time (it must have been summer) I remember leaving Bullwinkle’s because I was so drunk I thought I was going to be sick. I decided I’d go to my friend’s car, crawl in the back seat, and pass out. Well when I got to the car it was locked (duh). I didn’t have the ability to stagger all the way back to the bar to get the keys (and no cell phones in those days), so I just sat down on the sidewalk and proceeded to vomit into the gutter. Then I must have passed out, because the next thing I remember is waking up on the sidewalk with my friend Sean nudging me in the ribs with his foot. I guess he was checking to see if I was dead or alive.
I was pretty lucky Sean found me first instead of a dirty copper. Haha.
I had way too much fun there. I am stunned that the place closed a few years ago…it was easily one of the most popular nightclubs in town with both gay and straight crowds…and kind of a Bloomington landmark.
Ah well…like Bryan Adams said, nothing lasts forever.
RIP, Bullwinkle’s.
From 1992 to 1994, I worked at a one-hour optical in Bloomington. It is easily the nuttiest place I’ve ever been employed. We were a small office, with maybe 8 or so employees. There was Doc (the optometrist of course), the office manager, assistant manager, a couple of guys in the lab that would grind lenses and put glasses together, and a few of us opticians. We’d do shit like preliminary eye exams, teach people how to put in contact lenses, and sell glasses and frames.
Working there was a little bit like existing in a real-live sitcom. When we had patients in the office, we acted professionally…but whenever there was a lull, we did everything from spitball fights to shopping cart races in the back alley (we were in a strip mall) to playing ridiculous practical jokes on each other.
Everyone was a character. It was the most fun place I’ve ever worked.
There was one employee, D, who was a flaming drag queen. He was fucking hysterical. He had actually worked there a little before my time, but he would still come in to visit and hang out a lot.
D loved to make his own fabulous, sequined, feathered, strappy dresses…Bullwinkle’s often had drag shows where D and his fellow Queens would perform (basically lip-synch) routines. It was a competition. He would always beg us to come to watch.
I had never been to Bullwinkle’s before, but of course I knew it was a gay bar. It was in the basement of the former Loyal Order of Moose Hall…hence the name. :) So, the first time I went, it was to watch D’s show. He was one ugly dude, but when he came out on stage in full showgirl drag, I was stunned. He was totally glamorous…it was hysterical, and a little scary. If I didn’t know it was him, I would have never known it was him.
I sat at a table with a bunch of coworkers, and we had a great time. Back in those days, my hair was really long, long enough for me to sit on it. A gaggle of drag queens descended on me, oooh-ing and ah-ing over my hair. It was pretty funny.
Anyway, that was the night that I found out Bullwinkle’s was the best nightclub/bar in town. They had a great dance floor that lit up just like the one in Saturday Night Fever. I started going there pretty frequently with my friends. Now I can’t dance to save my soul, but I have fun anyway…and when I was drunk (which was pretty much always) I thought that I was *the* Bad-Ass Dancer out there. Bwahaha…thank the good lord that was back in the days before cell phone cameras and Flip videos!
One night in February after a few hours of Bullwinkle’s fun, my friends took my car keys and wouldn’t let me drive home because I was too drunk. It was like two a.m., and they drove me back to my aunt’s house (where I was staying) and dropped me off. Well, it was her car I had driven into town, and in my drunken state I was convinced that someone would steal it or something. So as soon as my friends dropped me off, I went inside, put a leash on my dog, Sundae, and I walked all the way back downtown. It was FUCKING COLD, probably in the ‘teens, temperature wise, and snow everywhere. By the time I got to the parking garage where the car was, I was sober. Trust me.
Another time (it must have been summer) I remember leaving Bullwinkle’s because I was so drunk I thought I was going to be sick. I decided I’d go to my friend’s car, crawl in the back seat, and pass out. Well when I got to the car it was locked (duh). I didn’t have the ability to stagger all the way back to the bar to get the keys (and no cell phones in those days), so I just sat down on the sidewalk and proceeded to vomit into the gutter. Then I must have passed out, because the next thing I remember is waking up on the sidewalk with my friend Sean nudging me in the ribs with his foot. I guess he was checking to see if I was dead or alive.
I was pretty lucky Sean found me first instead of a dirty copper. Haha.
I had way too much fun there. I am stunned that the place closed a few years ago…it was easily one of the most popular nightclubs in town with both gay and straight crowds…and kind of a Bloomington landmark.
Ah well…like Bryan Adams said, nothing lasts forever.
RIP, Bullwinkle’s.
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