Quick followup.
I ended up spending an extra day in Nevada, on business. Yesterday (Monday 12/8/14) while heading east along I-80, I stopped at Donnas and Bellas in Wells.
I dropped in to Donna's first. The house was fairly quiet, for a couple of reasons. One, a number of the gals had went home for a bit after the Thanksgiving holiday, and secondly, it's winter and the northern houses are a bit slower during the holiday months (I experienced this at every house I visited this trip). It's been a fairly warm winter in Nevada so far, but people like to spend the holidays around family when they can, so yeah it's a bit slow.
Plus, the mines in the area have wound down for a bit, partially due to the drop in gold prices and also because they are laying the groundwork for some new mines in the area. As I understand, there's a new mine opening east of Wells/Pequop, plus there's another mine in the works south of Carlin, and I'm sure a couple of others as well. Short form is that, while the mines have tapered back for now, it looks like they will be gearing back up very seriously in about six months or so. Of course, if the price of gold keeps falling, that could change things, but that's the scuttlebutt I heard from a few people during my trip.
Anyways, I digress. Back to Donnas. Porsche was available and more than willing to give me a tour of the house. I've toured Donnas a few times in the past, but they've made a few changes here and there recently. She showed me the Jack Dempsey room and another suite, and also the outdoor patio where Donnas throws barbecue parties and such. Of course, Donna's has been in continuous operation since 1869 (I don't think any other house in Nevada can make that claim), so there's a lot of history that comes with Donna's. Porsche told me a story about Jack Dempsey's promoters convincing him to break off the relationship with his then prostitute wife Maxine Cates, whom incidentally is (as Porsche told me) buried in Wells. At one point, Jack Dempsey was an owner of Donna's ranch. Porsche also showed me the room where they have dozens of coffee cups that have been signed by Donna's regulars over the years. Unfortunately, some of those cups were broken during the 2008 Wells earthquake.
For those of you that recognize the name Porsche, that's because she's been in the business for a while. In fact, based on one of the conversations I had with her and the owner, I think she worked at the Old Bridge back in the day, so for you old timers you may have met her a few times over the years. Anyways, in talking to the owner (Wiki says his name is Geoff Arnold, he's the accountant guy that bought Donnas from the previous owner a couple of decades back, incidentally the previous owner is still alive and well at 92!), I found out that Carol(?), the manager lady at Donna's recently passed away (I'm bad for names btw, but I'm pretty sure it was Carol), and that the people at the house have been mourning her loss. I'm pretty sure I met her on a couple of occasions, and if she's the lady I remember she was a pretty cool lady.
Anyways, the owner and Porsche have been working to breathe new life into Donna's. They've hired a few new staffers recently, and I was told that a number of the ladies rooms are booked by some new ladies after the new year. Porsche mentioned the need to have a good mix of girls (younger as well as older, with some variety), and that after the holidays they were looking at getting a new website launched. In short, it sounds like Donna's will be the place to keep tabs on after the new year.
I also dropped in to Bellas. I met Le Le (prounounced Lee Lee) and Camille, as well as the bartender lady of course. I didn't stay long as I was needing to get back on the road, but the house seemed about the same as always. Bellas is Bellas.
