Well you know, Baker's may indeed have had the best hot dogs in North Carolina but after all, a hot dog is still just a hot dog. Baker's, of course, is now long gone.
The old-style pool room you mention was probably Recreation Billiards on fourth Street. It's still there and has been remodeled to try and attract a new, trendy crowd (good luck with that). No more rack boys I'm afraid. I wish they'd just left it alone.
There was also Trade Street Billiards next to the main Post Office. The late great Ervin "Bill" Lawson used to hang their looking for action. What a great stroke and what a great guy he was, even when he was on the "sauce". It got pretty seedy in there before it closed, perhaps 20 years ago.
The other possibility, although it is a remote one since it had probably closed by the time you got to Winston-Salem, was Forsyth Billiards on Fifth Street. This was my favorite of the three, my ultimate example of an old-style pool room; dark as a cavern, lit only by the table lights, great equipment including dead straight house cues with properly maintained tips, good if not constant action and super cold draft beer served in a thick glass goblet by a fat, jolly Greek houseman named Pete.
This might be the place. When you walked in, the bar was on the left, an old-fashioned wood bar with a long mirror on the wall. The front table was the Challenge Table where anybody could get in the ring game, as long as they played for what the othesr were playing for.
Funny thing is that I remember that the bathroom was up on a second level, one stall only for men and women both. Anybody who went to the bathroom stall, everybody below could in the bar and pool table area could see their feet while they were in the stall. There was like a one-foot space between the bottom of the stall and the floor. I remember I had to go to use it and felt very uncomfortable that everybody could see my feet while I was in there.
2v12 said:I also remember Suzie's Diner in Kernersville. In fact, it may still be open. You're absolutely correct, 30+ fresh vegetables. Just what the doctor ordered for the weary roadie after far too much (in my case at least) of the normal, less than healthy, road food. There was also a little game room nearby that offered the possibility of a medium-sized score courtesy of a local shortstop named David Hinshaw. Those were the days!
Oh, man, Suzie's Dinner. I loved that place. They used to fill your iced tea or soda for free, and the baked potatoes were the size of footballs. My favorite veggie was the fried okra. It was truly Southern cuisine at its finest.
We stayed a weekend up at Pilot Mountain during autumn. I will never forget the colors of the trees from that view. It was so gorgeous. North Carolina is one of the best States of the Union. If I ever retire, that's where I'm heading. :smile:
Pilot Mountain was dry county, as I recall. We ended up playing pool in town somewhere nearby at a private club, like the Eagles or Lions Club, something like that. They had a pool table, and we got action! :wink:
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