Reply To: George's Pool Hall, San Rafael (from original forum archive)
Oh Yea I remember Georges Pool Hall. We would shot pool on Fridays & Saturday Nights and on some Sundays if we did not have to work or go to school the next day. I think the guy behind the bar was a guy named Tim or Jim.
Any body have any stories about Bermuda Palms. Was a great place in the
60's. Had some good acts, he had off duty cops as security and was a place you could take your wife for drinks and dancing. Whitey ran a good place and it had the motel which was OK with a nice swimming pool.
By the time the 70's rolled in the place was going downhill and then it crashed.
I used to work for Bekins van & storage in 1964. My co-workers and me used to go to Georges on fridays sfter work to cash our checks. I don't remember a window but we cashed our checks at the bar and the bartender would keep the small change for the sernice.
Of course we would stay for a few hours and buy lots of beer. They did have fights there amongst the patrons quite regular. It was some times a pretty wild crowd but we all enjoyed it.
I did drink a lot of beer there it was loud, crowded and cheap.
I really liked that place. It was what it was ,
nothing phoney about it in those times.was a real working mans place.
memories are a little faded maybe because of all the beer I did drink.
You know it only closed for a few hours and re opened again at 6AM.
I remember seeing the drunks waiting in front to get back in after it opened at 6am.
I remember Juanita's Galley well, at least the version on the old ferry boat the at Gate 5. The floor was sloping because the boat was melting into the dirt it was sitting on. My parents used to take us there for dinner. Ever go up to her place in Boyse Hot Springs (think I got the location right, she moved up there after gate 5) ? And yes I remember Georges as well, I was a bellhop at San Rafael Military Academy, so when we could sneak away we went down and checked out Fourth Street, including George's. It was kinda scary to an eigth grader.
My boyfriend used to cash his check at George's. I was afraid to go in there - dark and smoky. So I'd hang out front, waiting, until I realized I was standing around with the hookers (one with a baby on her hip). And that pool table! There was a worn out circle in the carpet around that pool table.
As a young musician in Marin during the 60s I remember going to George's Pool Hall early in the morning along with the band leader, or promoter to cash a check so all the band members could get paid. As I remember it was kind of an exciting and thrilling place to be late at night or early in the morning. At least to this 16 year old.Speaking of thrilling places to be late at night does anyone remember Juanita's Gally in Sausalito. Looking back to the 50s and 60s Marin was a great place to be.
Rick, I thought the long narrow hall on the left going back to the pool hall was for under 21's so we could legally play pool without going into the bar.
If I'm wrong, I didn't realize I was getting away with something !
An excellent spot George's. We used to sneak down the long hall on the left of the building, past the card room to the pool tables in back. We were 18 or 19. Since there were 6 to 8 tables in use we could blend into the crowd. The person who was old enough went up to the counter to get the balls ( no feeding quarters into these tables ) and a pitcher of beer. Good times.
Ah yes...George's. Shootin' pool and Drinkin'. The silver dollar ploy also worked on me, but then it didn't take too much arm twisting to get me to sit down and have a cold draft on a hot afternoon. A friend of mine loves to tell the story about his grandfather riding into the barroom on his horse, and ordering a whiskey for himself, and some cool water for his four-legged pal. The barkeep would always oblige. This was probably in the '40's.
I remember when you could go in there & cash a paycheck at a booth situated about half way down the bar, they would take your photograph, look at identification, charge a fee & cash your check, always giving you part of it in dollar coins so you would be tempted to spend them there just to unload them, it usually worked on me & I would get a draft beer or 2.The wall above the check booth had a big board covered with knots that looked they were tied by an experienced sailor, from simple ones to pretty complex ones. That was in the mid 1970's & you'd still see the occasional Hells Angels chopper out front. It changed hands and became a rock & roll club sometime after that, by the mid 80's it was pretty popular & pulling in some big acts, I managed a band for a while & got them a slot opening for Buddy Holly's old band The Crickets, Jerry Allison the drummer & JB the bass player had teamed up with a guitarist that sang like Holly, it was great meeting the surviving members of a band I always liked. The top brass of the Oakland Hells Angels were on the Crickets guest list that night & arrived on their choppers wearing colors, with prospects & women in tow, hadn't seen that many Angels choppers in front of George's for quite some time, SRPD took note I'm sure.
