SO MANY BARS..SO LITTLE TIME...

Somewhere along the line here, because of my time spent in many bars and clubs throughout Europe and America, I must speak of the favorites or most memorable and there were a few. This may take a while!
For somewhere to start I will pick a Bar in, I think Los Angeles or nearby, that had an large open Bar-B-Q pit in the middle of the floor. This was in the 60’s. You could go up to the bar and buy a 1 inch thick raw steak for a dollar and take it to the grill and cook it yourself. There was a bean salad bar which was free with the steak. This would never be allowed today because of the health department laws, I’m pretty sure but back then it was quite a place to hangout. I could eat 2 of them some nights. It was a good sized bar and was always full. They had live music on Friday nights. I spent a fair amount of time there. Met a lot of people. Drank a couple beers.

When I was close to being discharged I was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Worcester whose home port was Boston, Mass. My favorite bar there was Eddies Western Bar. There was an Eddie and he ran the place pretty much himself save for a couple bar maids. He was exactly as you might picture him. Short stocky with a cigar constantly between his lips. I have never felt more at home in any bar anywhere as I did there. It was a typical sailors bar and mostly the Worcester’s bar. It was here where I saw and was involved in my first and only ‘bar-room fight’. It all started when a bunch of bikers came in. Not pretty but an experience.
There were the usual girl hanger-ons that would be there when their ‘boyfriends’ ship was in port and more than likely when it wasn’t, also. It was where I spent my discharge party on October 27th, 1954. Eddie done it up right for me. Before the night was over I had been dancing on the bar, so they told me. He was one of my most memorable people. I left for home in Illinois the next morning.

In Naples, Italy in 1952 there was the ‘Kit Kat Club. It was located down some stairs just below the Galleria Umberto. It was a typical smoke filled club that was awash with Marines, Sailors and prostitutes. You could have just about anything you wanted simply by asking. It was, understandably, frequently patrolled by the MP’s for the protection of everyone. What I really liked about it was the music. There was an accordionist and a violinist that played all the old Italian music. I can close my eyes at times and smell the smoke and the Peroni beer and hear the music and the smells of the cheap perfume and feel the camaraderie we had with friends. Life was not to be taken serious in those days. Just enjoy the moments.

Another bar in, 1952, was a very small but memorable place called ‘Boston Blackie’s’. What was memorable was Boston Blackie himself. A Huge man with the constant cigar and a tremendous stomach but carried himself well enough that you knew better to give him his berth. He was a money changer and a black market dealer. I’m sure he was connected with the Mafia in those days. The bar was located just off the port entry. The first bar the sailors saw when they entered Naples from the ship. They would generally have American dollars or ‘script’ which was what the navy paid us in. It was pretty much accepted most places in Naples but they preferred the American dollars. Blackie would convert your money however you needed. He always made money no matter which direction you traded your money or script or Lire.. Back then the Italian currency was the Lira. You could sell cigarettes on the black market. We could buy a carton for ninety cents at the ships store and sell them for 1500 or 2000 lire which was 2.40 or 3.20 American dollars. We were allowed 3 cartons every two weeks so it gave us some extra spending money. You had to go to Boston Blackie’s at least once in your stay while berthed in Naples. I was stationed there so I knew what I was getting into.
In Toulon, France there was a place that I visited while on Liberty from the U.S.S. Worcester in 1954. I was alone for some reason, which was rare. I remember hearing some beautiful French music and singing and decided to go in. It was right out of a French movie or a painting. There were other sailors there scattered around. A short bar and many small round tables that were mostly full. In the corner was a small stage area where a girl was singing. No mike was needed as it was a fairly small place. Within minutes I was talking with a older gentleman on one side and a ‘girl of the night’ on the other side at the bar. I had my first Absinthe there followed by a few more. Not too many as I was savoring the night. Smoke in the air along with the songs like ‘Lili Marlene’ and many other French songs I didn’t know. The whole crowd would join in spontaneously with the singing. A beautiful long moment in time and I never have forgotten it.

In 1953 or 1954, while still in the Navy and stationed in Italy, my friend Larry S. and I went to the Isle of Ischia, just off the Bay of Naples. It was an Island less travelled by tourists unlike The Isle of Capri. We rented a hotel room on the beach where we spent 5 days laying on the beach and eating good food and kayaking in the clear blue water most every day. That was the only time in my life that I ever wore an Hawaiian shirt. We met a couple girls on the second day in town. We kayaked alone but spent most of the other time with them.
On the 4th evening they wanted to go to a club called the “Monkey Bars”. I expected a typical bar like most of Ischia had but We were taken aback by the sheer beauty of the place from the entrance clear through the entire club. The entrance was an opening similar to walking into a cave. An actual tunnel that led into a huge open room that had a tree in the center of the room that poked up thru an opening in the ceiling. It would closely resemble being in a volcano and looking up thru the opening. In fact, It was shaped as a volcano in the inside. Around the Tree was a circular marble platform about15 or 20 ft in diameter. That was the dance floor. Behind it was an Italian orchestra that played dance music thru the night. They were really good and played mostly the old Napolitano music that I love so well. I danced a couple times but rather wanted to sit and soak up the atmosphere and people watch. It was too classy for my taste to drink beer so I drank Black Russians. Actually way too many. Larry and his girl went back to the Hotel but I really couldn’t pull myself away. All the tables were full and it was a people watchers dream. I soaked it all up. We were in Uniform so it served as a suit which was the dress code form what I could gather.
I have searched the internet for that place since but I can not find it or any reference to it. I had a lot of black Russians but that was early on so it was not an imagination. I know I was there. I can find no one that has heard of it.
There were more places but I will have to return as I remember them.