Thursday – A Little Personal

~ John W. Howell

Thursday is the time for me to post some things about myself or my surroundings and today I thought I would give you an idea of some of the watering holes around our town. The residents describe our city as a drinking village with a fishing problem. This tour will give you some idea of the places folks go to have a couple of drinks and talk about the one that got away.

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This place is called Bernie’s. It is one of the most popular night spots since there is a band on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Inside there are three bars, pool table, and table bowling machine. If you fancy yourself as a pugilist you can always find a partner.

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Shorty’s place is an institution. It was started by a woman named Shorty. Their motto is “Oldest and Friendliest.” They have a sign welcoming spring breakers put there by the Budweiser Blu guy. They don’t mean it.

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Right next door to Shorty’s is The Flats. In the spirit of competition, their motto is “Not the Oldest but the Coldest.” They are referring to the beer, not the people. They also have music on the weekends

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The picture above is the Salty Dog Saloon, which boasts of being the Coolest Honky Tonk on the Texas Rivera (slang for our Island). If you look closely you can see there is Karaoke Wednesday through Sunday. They also want you to know there is no bait here.(this is an important notice since most people don’t want to stray too far from their bait.) Yes, that is a totem pole on the roof.

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This last bar photo is of a place that closed recently. (surprise). It was an institution since it hosted some exciting events. Through the years, most anyone in Texas music played here. Also, there were a number of  sanctioned Chili cook-offs held at Sharky’s. Yes, the trailers were there when the place was open.

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The words on this airplane are hard to see so what it says is Sharky’s Flight School. Open 2AM. The airplane is outside Sharky’s near the driveway and was kept in place in honor of the first student.

There you have just a few of the number of places available. Another time I’ll give you  a look at the restaurants.

 

30 thoughts on “Thursday – A Little Personal”

  1. I love seeing pictures like this John. Over here it is so very different and to see what your life is like over there is really fascinating to me. Thank you for sharing 🙂 Maybe I’ll have to do the same one day. 🙂

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  2. That last picture made me smile. Seems a shame the place closed up since there was a sense of a humor about it. At least from the pictures. Now about that first one: A bar and a deli in the same building? Please tell me there’s a ‘Buy 2 Buds, Get a Pound of Pastrami 1/2 Half Off’ deal. 🙂

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  3. I think I’d rather be in any of those than the well lit, music service pumped in, standard food that was prepared in another state type places that are so easy to find.

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    1. I agree. I was in Bernie’s for a meeting when I took the picture and it was really interesting. People playing cards, shooting pool and drinking pints. Also has three rooms each with it’s own bar. I may have to go back.

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  4. This was a fun tour, John! How large is the population where you live? When I lived in Berkeley, CA, we often went to an Irish bar/cafeteria called Brennan’s. It was a dining area with a bar in the middle of the room and a cafeteria along one wall. Going there on Sunday afternoons, you’d see a lot of families with little kids getting corned beef sandwiches while the “regulars” sat around the bar. it was an interesting environment.

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      1. I have many fond memories of Brennan’s. On St. Patty’s Day, they would open a special line just for Irish coffees with green-colored cream. The line would be so long I drank Guinness instead 😉

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  5. Love this, “…a drinking village with a fishing problem.” 😛 😛
    Fabulous pictures. Thanks for the tour. I love small towns. Yours looks quaint. With only 4000 regular residents, it must be positively bloated in summertime. Where do the visitors stay?

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  6. 2nd try. gmail in snail mode today. So, appears to be a heck of a lot of watering holes for one wee berg. Leave it to Texas to acccommodate, grog, bait, and? any two stepping options or has that become an endangered species? My vote is the last pic: resembling something from Star Wars.

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  7. I love to see pictures like this, John. It is fascinating to experience some of the sights and sounds of your island. It almost looks like you are planning a route for when Ionia and I come visit 🙂

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  8. Love this. These little places are what gives seaside villages their charm. I despise the big commercial enterprises. We had a place called The Big Bamboo for decades. It was a little bamboo watering hole and few miles from Disney in what used to be a pasture for cowboys. The grandkids of the original owner finally sold off to some big hotel chain for 7 million and The Big Bamboo is no more. It came complete with wrecked plane as well. So sorry to see it go. It was the first bar I had ever entered at the age of about four.

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