|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When you're visiting beautiful Newport, on the Oregon coast, a visit to Newport's Bayfront district is usually in order, as it's a fun place to visit and there are a lot of fun things to see and do there. However, walking around seeing the sights makes a person rather thirsty, and the Barge Inn is just the place to quench that sort of thirst. The Barge Inn has been serving fine beer and wine continually since 1932. At that time, it was called the "Red and White" bar, and it was located on the seaward side of Newport's famous art-deco bridge. However, after the bridge was completed in 1934, the bar was moved in it's entirety to it's present location, and it has been quenching the thirst of it's patrons ever since.
Left: The Barge Inn, on S.W. Bay Blvd in Newport. Right: Sharlene sits at the bar, as the gent to the left sort of frames himself between the "North" and "South" poles, which are bar boles adjacent to the kitchen. The Barge Inn, on S.W. Bay Blvd in Newport's Historic Bayfront district, is noted for their "World Famous Cheeseburgers," as a sign above the bar proclaims. True, they are a bar, which is their main business, but they also feature limited food service, with delicacies such as cheeseburgers, hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on a range, right at the bar. They are typical of many of the small bars in Oregon in that they don't serve hard liquor. I was thirsty, so I walked in, sat down at the bar, and was immediately served an ice-cold beer by Janice, the friendly bartender, who also was pleased to tell me the history of the place. You could tell that the patrons were all locals, in fact most of them were loggers or fishermen.
Left: I'm seated at the bar doing what I do the best. Right: The restaurant menu in the background is hard to see, but the "North" pole is to the left, and the "South" pole is to the right. Geography 101, at Barge Inn... This is the kind of place where the folks are friendly and make you feel at home. I spent an hour or so chatting with Janice and several of the locals, as others played pool and listened to rock oldies and country and western songs on the jukebox.
Photo: Janice, our friendly bartendress, poses with her ever-present smile. She, and all the staff at Barge Inn, are very friendly and will make you feel like you're family. Of course, in a place like this, everybody knows everybody else. One of the guys was shooting pool and let out a loud belch, and Janice said, "Hey Jimmy, cut it out!" I got a laugh out of that, as did Jimmy's fellow pool players. There are two "poles" attached to the center of the bar that go to the ceiling. They are labeled "North Pole" and "South Pole;" the south pole sign is upside down. I asked Janice the origin of the "poles" and she didn't know. I have to admit that I got a kick out of the poles.
Photo: Jimmy, a local fisherman, ex-Viet Nam vet, takes a shot at the 4-ball, with his blue bandanna on his head. He got a little upset with me as he objected to me taking his photo, and told me that if I took his photo, he'd kick my a**. By golly...? Why Jimmy, as you're so photogenic, as the photo shows....? However, I'm willing to take risks for a good photo, and, by golly, I got his photo against his will... Gee, Jimmy! When you're in Newport, check out the Barge Inn if you want to relax in a fun place, and hang out with a lot of friendly people. The Barge Inn Copyright(c) 2006 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since December 22, 2002. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions...
|
