C&K, The Golden Bear, Huntington Beach (Part 9)

Before the Golden Bear we travelled to Vail Colorado, Alfie Packers. First time driving in a blizzard slip sliding around...spooky, but we made it. Of course everybody looked at us like we were from outer space, but in no time we were packing The Packers and getting treated like old friends. Crazy crazy times. Funny incident...we got to Vail at 2:30am tired and beat. We had to stop and pick up keys to the condo we were staying in. Well, finding the place was one thing, but we didn’t know which condo was ours and like tired ba-booze’s we bunked in the condo that had a broken window and no heat...yes we were freezing!!! We found out the next day the condo we were supposed to be in was right next door with all the right amenities...heat, heat, heat!!! 

Anyway, everyone there was so nice and everyone was buying us drinks and we got smashed every night. It was fun and thank God we survived it. They taught us to ski, but that’s another story. Made some amazing friends and we kept going back for the next 4-6 years.

Back to California, The Golden Bear!!! Everybody played the Bear. Our first gig was opening up for Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They had a hit on the airwaves and they were getting ready to tour. We became good friends till today. Still keep in touch with drummer, Jim Fadden. They had a place in Aspen and we’d visit them when we played Jakes Abbey. 

A few months later we were headliners. It was amazing three nights, two shows a night, selling out every show. Lines around the block. That went on for a few years. The late Rick Babaracki was the owner and we were his first act that he booked. He was a good man. They served two dishes there. Can’t remember what the other dish was, but the spaghetti was out of this world. It was his brothers recipe and it sure was amazing. We made a lot of good friends during that time, the Buchichio’s, Nancy Lewis, Ilima Kalama (World Champion Surfer), and of course our island brothers and sisters. We had all kinds of movie and music celebrities attending our shows as well as record executives. We were in the scene and having a goooood time!!! The Golden Bear was the place to play and till today I still have people coming up to me and saying, “saw you guys at the Golden Bear.” 
The Golden Bear got torn down and another historic place got lost in time. Who played the The Golden Bear??? You’d be surprised. Check it out.

Have a beautiful Aloha day!!! Henry