Hippy Stores of Chapel Hill

mpaer said:
Related to Watts Motel folks I wonder??
Click to expand...

I believe that I recall that from some of the conversations that we had. Like I posted above about George, I also hung out in Richard's Carrboro store a good bit and we talked about a lot of things.
 
finesse said:
Let's see. I was the first bartender Jim hired outside of his brother Bobby. I knew Steve Nash when he (and his silent partner Wheaties Richardson) bought it from Jim. My wife started working there when Steve was running it. Bo bought Steve's part later. My wife, Maureen Chieffet and Meg, I think were the main bartenders then. When Wheaties sold his part, my wife got offered it first but when they would only sell her 49%, her dad, a business professor at Sandhills advised against it. Meg and Mary Sue Roach (She and Annie who started bartending at this time were married to brothers) bought that part instead. That's when it became called the Billy Arthur room. Meg, Mary Sue, her husband, my wife and I were all avid bridge players. Since The Cave was getting more popular, we cleared out enough of the storage to move the bridge table in there and the joke was, only Billy would be comfortable moving around. So, that means Bo, Meg, Mary Sue and Annie were the bartenders. Mary Sue lost interest and sold out fairly quickly so she could go play in duplicate tournaments on weekends. That's probably more than what you wanted to know but I misunderstood the question and rambled on before I really noticed what you asked.
Click to expand...

Love the information brother. I knew most of those people or at least was acquainted with them at some time. I miss Annie. She died far too soon.
 
Carrboro use to be "politically diverse" Lloyds and Riggsbees etc
Back then folks of different political persuasions got along lol
 
IMG_2615.jpeg

Something I wrote (and altered slightly for posting here and now) about the Annie that @finesse mentioned.

&&&&&&&&&&

Annie Freeman Roach, who passed away suddenly six years ago (Late June 2020), gave a good deal of her life to serving her friends. She did it with a smile or a snarl, whichever was most warranted. I worked with her at The Hardback Cafe & she served me & our community there & at The Cave. If you knew those places then you understand just how far this small-in-stature Little Giant could stretch herself. Having her around meant that you also got to meet John, the ‘other half of her Orange,” and that was a great thing.



A Diminutive Colossus who brimmed over with Uncompromisingly Sweet Attention/Intention. According to a story she related to me years later, she literally may have saved my life on one typically Chapel Hill night down in the Triangle of Tijuana Fats-The Cave-Pyewacket when an ex-girlfriend came looking for me with a pistol in her pocket. She probably saved a lot of folks’ lives. For a good while she was right in the very thick of everything that happened in a world of crazy music, art, poetry, prose, and the skirting the edge of reality on the periphery of ‘polite society’ that accompanied that life. She told me once that we were all fortunate to have made it through, that she had loved it, but wouldn’t likely push her luck again.



I hadn’t laid eyes on her in years but we had back channel communicated via social media a bit. It was good to know she was ‘out there’ listening to good tunes. She had dedicated most of her time to caring for her husband John who had become a paraplegic. We’ll all miss the outside chance we might encounter you again dear Annie. You were key.
 
donbosco said:
IMG_2615.jpeg

Something I wrote (and altered slightly for posting here and now) about the Annie that @finesse mentioned.

&&&&&&&&&&

Annie Freeman Roach, who passed away suddenly six years ago (Late June 2020), gave a good deal of her life to serving her friends. She did it with a smile or a snarl, whichever was most warranted. I worked with her at The Hardback Cafe & she served me & our community there & at The Cave. If you knew those places then you understand just how far this small-in-stature Little Giant could stretch herself. Having her around meant that you also got to meet John, the ‘other half of her Orange,” and that was a great thing.



A Diminutive Colossus who brimmed over with Uncompromisingly Sweet Attention/Intention. According to a story she related to me years later, she literally may have saved my life on one typically Chapel Hill night down in the Triangle of Tijuana Fats-The Cave-Pyewacket when an ex-girlfriend came looking for me with a pistol in her pocket. She probably saved a lot of folks’ lives. For a good while she was right in the very thick of everything that happened in a world of crazy music, art, poetry, prose, and the skirting the edge of reality on the periphery of ‘polite society’ that accompanied that life. She told me once that we were all fortunate to have made it through, that she had loved it, but wouldn’t likely push her luck again.



I hadn’t laid eyes on her in years but we had back channel communicated via social media a bit. It was good to know she was ‘out there’ listening to good tunes. She had dedicated most of her time to caring for her husband John who had become a paraplegic. We’ll all miss the outside chance we might encounter you again dear Annie. You were key.
Click to expand...
John's brother has been one of my closest friends for over 50 years. John and I were friends as well. He worked for the same architects, with he and his partner generally doing larger jobs, and hung out some. I helped upfit his place for handicapped living after the accident. Annie was a sweet woman and tough as nails.
 
donbosco said:
@finesse and @heelinhell -- did y'all know that the bartenders at The Cave have for years referred to the storage room as "The Billy Arthur Ballroom?" It has a 5 foot ceiling and a door to match.

Billy Jr. once spent a goodly amount of time in The Cave (I tended there but also hung out over the years...Meg is one of my best friends...I knoew Beau and met Jim Rideout). I remember him hanging out with Big Richard -- who ran a antique/junk store in a free-standing building in the parking lot where, last I looked, was a Gold's Gym in Carrboro (near the Town Hall).
Click to expand...
I spent many a night in the cave, but I never knew about the "ballroom "

Now did you tend bar back in the early- mid 70s ? If so, then I'm sure we crossed paths :)
 
heelinhell said:
I spent many a night in the cave, but I never knew about the "ballroom "

Now did you tend bar back in the early- mid 70s ? If so, then I'm sure we crossed paths :)
Click to expand...
My tending days at The Cave must have been around 92-94.

I think I first haunted the place beginning around 1979 or so.
 
heelinhell said:
Am I right in thinking that Jim Rideout was the owner and/or tended bar back in the 70s ?
Click to expand...
Jim reopened The Cave sometime ,I think, in October of 1973 after it spent a short time as the Pegasus, which, iirc, was Chapel Hill's first gay bar. It had originally been opened as the Cave in 67 by, I believe, one of the Sparrows. He had it for about five years. That's when Steve Nash had it briefly.
 
finesse said:
Jim reopened The Cave sometime ,I think, in October of 1973 after it spent a short time as the Pegasus, which, iirc, was Chapel Hill's first gay bar. It had originally been opened as the Cave in 67 by, I believe, one of the Sparrows. He had it for about five years. That's when Steve Nash had it briefly.
Click to expand...
I frequented the Cave back in 1973-1977 so I'm glad to know that at least my long term memory hasn't deteriorated too much
 
heelinhell said:
I frequented the Cave back in 1973-1977 so I'm glad to know that at least my long term memory hasn't deteriorated too much
Click to expand...
If a sketchy looking country boy ever served you a beer there during that time, then we met. Theoretically Jim and Bobby did all the bartending but I filled in anytime Jim had a date (often) or Bobby was too high (more often). Fwiw, I probably was as well but as long as too much alcohol wasn't involved, I stayed fairly functional.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top