The wages of sin pay well

'Cut 'em out! Ride 'em in!' in Cody

CODY, Wyo. (RWN) - Every city seems to have its own spirit embodied in its Christian Quarter, in its Zone. Just miles away from the presidential palace, Seattle's Zone channels the spirit of late-regime grunge. Los Angeles' Zone gives a feeling of the swinging 1950s. And the zone in Cody, Wyo.? Well, let's just say that you better bring your six-shooter.

"It's an absolute blast," said Gino Correvile, a visitor from New Detroit, Mich. "Every bar has this cowboy theme going, at least on the outside. You go to the whorehouse and the women are all in those 1870s corsets and stuff. It's like going back in time."

The Western motif was a deliberate decision by Cody business owners. When the central government reluctantly granted permissions for the Zones - moral-free zones that resembled the last days of the late regime - to exist, Cody's business community got together.

"We wanted to draw people here," said Fran Garland, the owner of Garland's Grub n' Grab, an old-style dance hall. "People aren't going to come to Cody for no reason, and we wanted to give them a reason. We knew our Zone couldn't compete with the ones in Seattle or California. We're realistic. We figured a themed area would be the best way to go."

The merchants in the Zone put a voluntary tax on them selves and began renovating.

"I wouldn't call this family fun," said Sam Spears, the owner of the Gilded Feather Bar. "But it appeals to a certain demographic, and it really helps out the greater city's convention business."

In fact, the Zone has been credited with increasing Cody's convention business more than 500 percent in the last four years.

"We've got a pretty aggressive marketing campaign, 'Get wild in the Wild West,'" Garland said, "and I think that's really helped. You've got a lot of modern Muslims who have to plan conventions and doing it in Las Vegas is looked upon badly. At least if you come to Cody, you're in the good ol' I.S. of A."

What to do in Cody's Zone:

Eating
Bustler's Steak and Smokehouse: Try the ribeye or the mesquite-smoked brisket

Grub : Upscale, reinterpreted Western food served by a wait stuff in cowboy boots and shorts

Morlin's Knife: Another steakhouse, far less refined than Bustler's, with a real rough-hewn character to it.

Drinking
Garland's Brub n' Grab: An old-style dance hall, with the best margaritas in town

The Meat Market: Not subtle, but the Zone's premier pickup place.

Kehoe Boys Brewery: A microbrewery with the best live music in Cody.

Sleeping
Hotel Mockingbird: A splurge, but worth it for the auto-sensing beds and the marble floors

Ka-Pow's Sleep-it-off: Part of the popular Zone franchise; small, dark rooms perfect for sleeping off the night before and getting ready for the night ahead



Comments | Tell A Friend | Run for President