[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;70929]there was the Arctic Bar in Ketchikan[/QUOTE]
The Tongass and the Marine Bars were my haunts. Am I mistaken but wasn’t the Marine Bar a titty bar way back when?
My God, if they had only had a topless bar in Dutch Harbor the money those girls could have made! 1 year of stripping and retire for life but the advances of some unbelievably horny fishermen would have had to be fought off unless that is what a “lady” might have sought? Some damned wealthy fishermen up there.
Effing Sig Hansen…Dutch Harbor blond pretty boy! Real Alaskan fishermen have bushy beards, boisterous body odor and bloated bank accounts.
Thanks Jolly Tar for reminding me of the Florida Club in Mombassa! Let’s see now. Adelia’s in Recife, Brazil was a good one. Owned by the wife of the chief Pilot of the port. The Sand Bar in Bayonne, NJ. A guy started to pick a fight with me one fine evening and he took a step back and stepped through a hole in the floor which was covered with a floormat. That was so funny we both were laughing so hard we forgot to fight! The big Apple was another good spot in Bayonne with live music a few times per week.
Lisboa baby! Lisbon, Portugal has (or had) a great gut on the Rua dos nova carvalhoes (pardon my poor Portuguese). Texas Bar, Kentucky Bar, bar Europa, Sanfransisco Bar, etc etc…Palma de Majorca, Spain is another place with a great gut. Cartegena, Spain had the Kentucky Bar. Singapore used to have the Jockey Club which wasn’t really a dive but was a hell of a lot of fun. Kaddy corner across the street was the Tropicana where any type of disease could be had. I like the Terror Club in Sembawang on the base. Cheapest beer in Singapore, swimming pool, good food.
If you ever get up to Tromso, Norway don’t miss the Gjoa Haven. there’s a dive for ya. Dark, dingy and dirty with morose, depressed, drunk Norwegians.
Cleveland, Ohio has the Harbor Inn. good greasy burger and beer from all over the world. Detroit has a titty bar on Dix Street called Chix on Dix. I haven’t checked it out but have heard horror stories so I will have to get in there some night!
Damn, what a stroll down vague memory lane!
At the risk of showing my age and my memory loss, here are a few of my favorite.
Port Arthur, TX Proctor Street Something Wheel (memory loss) ----------Gloucester, MA Old Timers
Homer Spit, AK Salty Dog -----------Long Beach, CA All at Ports of Call
Valdez, AK Hole in the Wall
[QUOTE=c.captain;70939]Really, port for port more hard core sailors pounding them up north than anywhere on the planet I believe. Makes me miss Alaska even tho the weather sucks most of the year.[/QUOTE]
I worked Cartwright Labrador, St John , and Halifax in the early '70s. No shortage of heavy hitters there. Then over to the North Sea. Lerwick, Kirkwall, Peterhead and Aberdeen had great bars. Back then they opened from 1000 to 1400 and 1600 to 2200. Lines waiting for the bars to open.
Mentioned a while back in a different thread was the great bar on the Houston Ship Canal at Barbours Cut Terminal. I guess it was called the “Goat Ranch”. Loved that place with all the life rings hanging from the overhead. Right there on the Ship Channel with the garage doors that rolled up and you could sit there at night and watch the running lights of the boats and ships passing by so close you could spit and drop a loogey on their decks!
I also remember a place called “Joe Biffs” on Terminal Island right by SW Marine Shipyard and the Bumblebee catfood plant that stunk to high heaven. The place had a cement floor with a big drain right in the center of it…simply perfect!
Also, while not really a “sailor’s dive” was the bar on the Coast Guard Air Station at Barbour’s Point that had the helicopter cockpit for the DJ to spin tunes in. Of course, that was before 9-11 when you could just drive onto the base. Used to go there all the time when at West Loch for a few weeks loading ammo.
One more on the memory list were some great dives at Crockett Street in Beaumont just next to the port there. A bit uppified but very fun none the less and stumbling distance back to the ship. Of course, lots and lots of dumps all over the greater Port Arthur, Port Neches, Groves metroplex. One that we hung out at for many afternoons doing tank testing was the “Boudain Hut”!
Trying now to think of watering holes in Houma. A remember a couple on the south side of the twin bridges but to be honest they were a little too rough to hang out in lest one was handy with a blade. Up in Houma proper were some places that got jumping on a weekend evening. There was a place upstairs with a balcony that I remember hanging out at from time to time. Occasionally an attractive South Louisiana gal would stop in who even had all her teeth!
One of the saddest realities of all in the modern maritime world is that Fourchon is a pathetic wasteland for any seaman working offshore. The truck stop is all there is but with the Nazi zero tolerance of the offshore companies even that is forbidden turf to tread upon. You have to drive to Grand Isle to get a real beer and burger but don’t get caught. Effing ROV and dive crews all bail to the bars up in Golden Meadow as soon as the lines are on but the boat slaves have to stay aboard and suffer the indignity of being treated like teenagers under curfew! I mean that it’s just not natural for a ship to be in port and the hands not be able to have at least a couple to quench a powerful thirst. GOD, HOW I HATE PORT FLUSHOON!
This is NOT a wine bar. This is NOT a brew pub. This is NOT a fancy restaurant. This is NOT a trendy cafe…
The bottles of wine behind the bar have probably been open for a year, and taste like it.
Your have your choice of tap beers. Bud and Bud Light. I’m pretty sure that’s what is in all the bottles as well.
The locals are LOCAL, and they know you aren’t. So don’t try to own the place or attempt to tell them how to make it better. You’ll probably end up getting your butt kicked. The name actually says what it is. It’s a worker’s bar and grill.
What you will get:
Cheap drinks, a friendly bartender and ONE HELL OF A CUT OF PRIME RIB.
That’s all there is to the place, unless you want to read the bar graffiti.
Nothing else to say!
Thinking of “old school” seaport towns…what was the dive that used to be on 11th Street in Tacoma right by the old Blair Waterway bridge? Still there by any chance? A true longshore and seaman’s dump if there ever was one. What a great place!
Speaking of Tacoma…there is a two fisted workingman’s town to drink in! So is Everett! Portland, Oregon down by the docks too but not as much as the old daze…Great brewpubs tho!
Wow! The Big Apple in Bayonne and the Florida Club in Mombasa I hit both of those in the same trip. USNS Denebola 92-93, I can’t think of the club right on the beach in Durban SA I fell out of a few times that same trip… What about Hubba Hubba on Hotel St in Honolulu? When I was on the SS Independence us and the guys from the Constitution used to hold court in there for long “lunches” on Saturdays.
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;70952]What about Hubba Hubba on Hotel St in Honolulu? When I was on the SS Independence us and the guys from the Constitution used to hold court in there for long “lunches” on Saturdays.[/QUOTE]
What the Bikini Cantina upstairs in the Aloha Tower too close to watching eyes? When I worked for that lousy punk Gordon Smith, that was the place to go when tied up on pier 14 for days on end when not at Dukes at Waikiki. Of course, Gordon Biersh is on the ground floor but I always liked the views of the harbor from the Cantina. Regardless, any locale offered the company of many lovely ladies longing for attention. Indeed, many fine afternoons spend enjoying the Honoruru female buffet fare!
Pu’u pu’u platter for anyone?
DAMN! Now I want to go back to my little grass shack in Hawaii!
ok, ok…I’ll admit that the Aloha Tower isn’t really a sailor’s dive bar kind of venue but as the lady once said “it’s location, location, location!”
Doula, Cameroon.
the fine hilltop German Seamans Mission: views, pool, bar, library, jiggy-jiggy girls, food, live music, wifi & telephone, hotel, city center location, chapel & drinking priest, free pick up & drop off right at the dock (every night 7 pm shuttle bus comes down the pier) and CHEAP AS HELL.
[QUOTE=capnfab;70933]Florida Bar in Rio…swarms of street urchins tugging at you from every angle while you’re trying to enjoy your Brahma Chop at room temperature. (an open air bar on street level)
Red’s Java House on the San Francisco Embarcadero. A short walk from the SUP hall on Harrison Street for a double cheeseburger and a beer/soda for three bucks. (well, that was back in 98…prices have come up as I discovered on my last visit this past April)
Montero’s Bar on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
The Cat’s Eye, Helen’s Hollywood, Chios, Sherry’s Showbar…all in my homeport of Fells Point, Baltimore. Or as I knew it as a kid, The Foot of Broadway.[/QUOTE]
There was a bar in the SUP hall on Harrison, Rusty’s Chain Locker or something like that. Those of us at the MEBA hall would wander there between the morning and afternoon job calls. Beer was a buck as were the hot dogs. I had many a lunch of an Oly and a dog. The joint was a time machine; straight out of the late 40s/early 50s. Behind the bar was a mural of the San Francisco waterfront, as if you were looking at it onboard a ship in the bay. Since it was in the basement, there were no windows. Instead, there were port holes above the booths that lined the walls, and there were paitings of ships at sea, lighted inside. It was a pretty good place to run into old shipmates, too.
[QUOTE=c.captain;70940]eff that…as the years pass, I am only remembering the good times! Thankfully, all the shit is fading into the distant gauzy vague memory. A one grows older it’s like we create a past for ourselves that soothes us the pain of all the ugly wounds suffered over the years.
Much as I am not a fan of the bloated version of Jimmy Buffet that continues to be marketed long after the brand should have been retired, I still have a deep affinity for the man who sang “Changes in Latitudes”. A song that today still mean something to this seaman’s soul.[/QUOTE]
You know, I have Margaritaville Radio keyed on my Sirius/XM in the truck. I find that I am only really interested in listening to his older stuff. “One Particular Harbor” is the only one of his “newer” stuff that I like, and really only a couple of lines in it.
[QUOTE=c.captain;70947]Mentioned a while back in a different thread was the great bar on the Houston Ship Canal at Barbours Cut Terminal. I guess it was called the “Goat Ranch”. Loved that place with all the life rings hanging from the overhead. Right there on the Ship Channel with the garage doors that rolled up and you could sit there at night and watch the running lights of the boats and ships passing by so close you could spit and drop a loogey on their decks!
<snip>
.[/QUOTE]
Sadly, the Goat Ranch is no more. It’s real name was “The Point”; but I never heard anyone call it that. It was right there at the Fireboat dock and behine the LASH dock at Barbours Cut. My understanding is that Morgan’s Point went dry and that killed the joint. It was a favorite for some locals and especially for any of the crews of the ships at the LASH docks undergoing repairs. It is still a GREAT location to take ship pictures as they pass by, and folks still fish from the docks. The building has been torn down and hauled away. Here is a shot from the location that I took a few years back. The location makes for some great tricks to play with the camera.
[QUOTE=cmakin;70975]I certainly recall spending time in the Boudin Hut. Crockett Street, too; but the names of the joints there fade from memory for some reason.[/QUOTE]
Boudin Hut in Port Arthur was great.
In Houston, Charlie’s House on Broadway was the best. Several “ice houses” in the area also. One across from the MEBA hall and one at the Washburn Tunnel had the coldest beer.
[QUOTE=injunear;70982]Boudin Hut in Port Arthur was great.
In Houston, Charlie’s House on Broadway was the best. Several “ice houses” in the area also. One across from the MEBA hall and one at the Washburn Tunnel had the coldest beer.[/QUOTE]
Charley’s House. Wow, I hadn’t thought of that one in years. I didn’t know that it was a nautical haunt of sorts. When I was sailing, I didn’t make too many calls in Houston. I became familiar with Charley’s once a came ashore and was with ABS. Not a bad place for lunch. Not a bad place to spend the afternoon, either. Lots of what are called Cougars now did frequent the joint then; although a cocktail or two aided in their attraction. . . . .
[QUOTE=cmakin;70983]Charley’s House. Wow, I hadn’t thought of that one in years. I didn’t know that it was a nautical haunt of sorts. When I was sailing, I didn’t make too many calls in Houston. I became familiar with Charley’s once a came ashore and was with ABS. Not a bad place for lunch. Not a bad place to spend the afternoon, either. Lots of what are called Cougars now did frequent the joint then; although a cocktail or two aided in their attraction. . . . .[/QUOTE]
I knew Charlie Carter RIP when he had the yellow house across the street. A couple of companies I worked for around '80 drydocked many vessels at Bludworth, Bludworth-Bond and Newpark. One of my many chores was taking CG and ABS to lunch. The horror…
There was a rundown dirty place in Sabine Pass, Texas, back in the late 80’s and early 90’s that was right next to where my supply boat would tie up. It had a long steel pole w a red ambulance light on top - when lit the bar was open and serving; the light was high enough so all us boat guys could see it from our pilot house.
As I recall they only served canned beer. Many oil & gas baseball hats nailed to the wall.
This was before the D & A testing was so widespread: work all day loading cargo, have a few beers, head offshore that night!
[QUOTE=c.captain;70947]… I also remember a place called “Joe Biffs” on Terminal Island right by SW Marine Shipyard and the Bumblebee catfood plant that stunk to high heaven. The place had a cement floor with a big drain right in the center of it…simply perfect!.[/QUOTE]
I was going to add Joe Biffs but you beat me to it. And the tuina smell just adds to the ambience. I have gagged at the smell of canned tuna after too many visits to berth 239 on terminal island.
What was the diner in Long Beach, or was it Terminal Island, that had the staff all wearing negligee; even the behind the counter staff. Pegasus, or something? I recall going there in 79 or 80.
