Last Cruise ship of season; a tough farewell for a Floozie & Brothel Inspector
Tourists love taking photos of Floozies and Friends as they depart cruise ships on their way to a tour of The Dalles. Here a gentleman gets a quick shot of Dennis and Mary Davis who greeted their last boat on Nov. 23.
By Tom Peterson
Victoria Davis
Some 150 cruise ships docked in The Dalles during the past season, March - November, according to The Dalles Main Street Exec. Dir. Victoria Davis.
And Mary Davis and The Dalles Floozies & Friends were there to meet them all.
Mary Davis and a friend
Not always an easy gig - sometimes it rained; sometimes the wind blew. Sometimes the boats docked at The Dalles Marina and the Floozies had to find wheels.
It has been a moveable feast since the boat dock opened at the Union Street underpass in 2012.
And most of the time, tourists disembarking from the ships appreciate the flirting.
Better halves did not seem to mind, either.
Here’s the classic schtick.
A guy wearing his nametag “George” comes walking up the gangplank.
Floozie: “George? His name is George? His name was Jon, last night.”
“One guy said BIG Jon,” said Mary Davis.
She started laughing.
Does this upset the wives, I asked.
“A lot of times, the wives want to give them away,” she said still laughing.
But, doggone it, this is serious stuff.
It’s not all jokes and brothel inspections. On this day it was Nov. 23. It was the last boat of the season. And it was Mary and her husband Dennis’ last hurrah as they plan to retire from the Floozies & Friends service after this year.
But Dennis said all the laughs have made it worthwhile.
“You can see how much the people like the Floozies,” said David Benko, owner of the National Neon Sign Museum in downtown The Dalles. “I’ve come to appreciate what they do, and I think about it; I realize Mary and Dennis have been doing this forever. How many people have they greeted? That is a pretty amazing volunteer on their part.”
Floozies and Friends on Nov. 23. Left to All Right! - Myron Eggbert, Donna Seibel, Peggy Rowland, Mary Davis, Corliss Marsh, Sandy Haechrel and Dennis Davis.
The couple have easily, gripped and grinned with more than 100,000 as they disembarked.
Seminally, Mary and Dennis started dressing up for living history at the Fort Dalles Museum and it just grew from there. For years they have helped the tourism trade by providing some living history with a bit of lipstick.
The antics of the Floozies and Friends combined with museum Fort Dalles, Discovery and Neon Sign tours and now a fresh set of history-based murals is getting tourists walking and shopping.
Benko said the numbers were encouraging, noting the season ratcheted up through the summer and fall months.
David Benko
“It was a great season. Better than I expected,” he said.
Main Streets’ Victoria Davis estimated the ships put some 23,000 tourists on the streets of The Dalles during this past year, and they were dropping some coin. An estimated $700,000 this season, she said.
“It was exciting,” Victoria said. “To see tourists in our area and some saying they would be coming back because they enjoyed their time here.”
Every tourist that walks off the ship is handed a tote bag from Main Street greeters, and the tote contains a map featuring local businesses.
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Victoria Davis said “the tourists liked to see the murals and places like The Dalles Iron Works noticed tourists looking through their windows. Their favorite places are Neon Signs Museum, Shannon’s Ice Cream, Last Stop Saloon, and The Workshop.”
Davis said there is no celebration after the last cruise ship pulls away from the dock.
“When the tourist season ended it was like, dang, I wish it could be able to continue,” she said. “It’s hard to have that lull.”
