Bob's Place

I live up in the North West corner of South Carolina in Oconee County on Lake Keowee near a little rural community called Salem which I wrote about in my last blog. Its name may remind you of history of long ago and bad things that happen to people back in those days in Massachusetts. Well this is not about witches although with Halloween just last month, might not be a bad time to bring them up.

No, I am taking you on a Saturday afternoon drive in my H2 Hummer up in an area which is referred to as the 'Dark Corner' of South Carolina. The name Dark Corner most likely got its name from law abiding citizens back in the eighteenth century when mountain folks (mostly Scot Irish) produced corn whiskey to make a living. There were not many lawmen that ventured up in these mountains for fear of catching a bullet, so for most of the time, moon shine making was prosperous in an area that had been the ancestral home of the Cherokee Indians. Even today, if you know the right person, you can still get a quart or two.

As I drive up on the back roads, there are deep dark shadows in the hollows between the steep hills as the sun drops low,  little dirt roads or drive-ways disappear back into interesting places, but you would not want to venture off the hard surface road. The folks that live at the end are nice people, but very private and don't like trespassers. It's just in their dark corner genes.

There is a quiet spot where I like to pull off the back road this time of year along the Big East Etoie Creek and look to see if I can spot some good trout holes and look at the fall leaves of color floating down the stream. The quietness of the late afternoon is all of a sudden interrupted by the roaring echoes of most likely Harley motorcycles. It sounds like maybe ten or so of them making the curves up on the mountain sides as fast as they dare.

The place where I am headed is up on the side of the mountain that lies in the forks of the road. It is not a place that most of you would ever want to stop. Most likely it would give you the creeps just thinking about the kind of people that might be inside.

This is not the first time I have been to 'Bob's Place'. Years ago it was called 'Scatter Brains'.  Actually, I have been there enough to be recognized by the owner or her daughter. As I drive up and park the Hummer down on the lower road to make room for the bikers, I get out and walk across the road and up the crooked stone steps to the little covered porch that runs along two sides of the building.  Across the road,  near where I parked, is shed where if you want to do your own cook-out you can for free. You are just expected to sweep it out, etc. when you are through and carry off your own trash. There is a sign across the top above the grill that says 'Road Kill Grill'. Yauk !!

There are bikers big and small, some good looking in their leather pants while some others must have had a tough time getting in theirs. Everybody for the most part this afternoon is out on the porch seated on old couches or seats made from sawed off logs and drinking beer because that's all you can get at 'Bob's Place' . The beer is ice cold and only two bucks a can including tax. No bottles, just cans of about five or six brands. You cannot even get potato chips or pickled sausage as a snack or anything else for that matter.

The place is owned and run by Romaine Johnson who is a very colorful elderly lady who doesn’t take any crap off anybody, but nobody would even think about misbehaving around Romaine.  Who knows, she could be fast on the draw if necessary.   I am just kidding.  I love to go to this very little known spot in the hills.

I asked one of the bikers one day, “I noticed that you guys seem to only drink one beer. How come is that?" He said, and it makes sense,  "We are going to make maybe three more stops before heading back to Greenville , so we just drink one beer per stop." I later found out that most of the bikers that I have met at 'Bob's Place' are for the most part professional people that have good jobs and biking is a weekend hobby.

When you are on the inside, it’s a little dark, but with the doors and a couple of windows open, it’s light enough.   One of the first things you notice after saying howdy to everybody are the hundreds of autographed dollar bills stapled to the sealing. I'm thinking that this is Romaine's 401K plan. Her daughter Mona is there some afternoons to give her mom a little relief.  If it’s hot during the summer, and there is no air conditioning, Romaine likes to just sit out on the porch and jaw with the rest of us. If you want another beer, she says just go in there and get it yourself and leave the money on the counter. Most of the regulars know to do that anyway.

The building for the most part is fairly narrow with a low ceiling , but goes back a ways and has a long unused counter that is there for anybody's use in case they want to take a party up there and of course take their own food. Romaine says "don't care what you drink as long as you buy your beer from me".

There are two wall plugins. One is for the beer coolers, and the other one is for a sound box in case there is live music. A month or so there was a blue grass bunch from Hendersonville. They were good and worked for tips.

Oh, did I mention that there are some cracks in between the floor boards and you can actually see the ground underneath on a sunny afternoon. There is no underpinning. There is a flock of chickens running around the place and sometimes a few come in to check out the bar.

Now for you ladies reading this, no, there is no plumbing as in restrooms. However, for those who grew up in the country or ever went back packing in the woods, it comes as no surprise that what is offered are two out houses. Over the door for the ladies,  hand painted with a shaky brush, says ' Seaters'. ( I recommend you take your own paper. LOL )  For the guys, the sign above the door says, 'Shakers'.

Now for the surprise. Back in 2002 when George Bush was running for president and made a campaign stop in Greenville, SC, there were reporters from all over looking for stories to print about the Upstate. Such a journalist looking for something to write about stumbled on 'Bob's Place.' He was with Time Magazine and guess what? A story about the oldest bar in the Upstate was written up and made to sound like this was the in place to go for a cold beer in the Upstate.

There are many photos of most likely anybody and everybody pinned to the walls. I was looking at a life-size poster of John Wayne and then discovered some movie posters of a movie that had been shot in the mountains around 'Bob's Place'. That's right, Bob's Place was used as one of the sets for a Big Foot film called “The Long Way Home: A Bigfoot Story” and the opening scenes starred Romaine Johnson and her daughter Mona. A picture of Romaine with the producer can be seen here:

http://www.independentmail.com/photos/2007/oct/13/10575/

Now 'Bob's Place' might not be your kind of place to spend a few hours for a good ole cold beer on a Saturday afternoon , but for the adventurous , take a buddy and try it out. It's a hoot.

The address is: 1490 Moorefield Memorial Hwy., Sunset, South Carolina 29685

Larry