Spar Cafe & Bar aka: The Spar

I went to The Spar today and got a shock.
Evidently, it was purchased by the Mcmenamin brothers from Oregon in November of last year and they redecorated a bit. The cigar counter was moved from the front to the back. The Highclimber room is gone and the old logging pictures were moved up high. In their place were paintings of pub scenes and some character studies of long time Spar employees.
I’ve been to several Mcmenamin’s restaurants and this was a pretty tasteful remodel. Nothing too radical. I did sort of miss the old, very non-PC style of The Spar. The huge smoking section, the not-exactly-friendly waitresses and the guy at the register who NEVER smiled (not to mention the Hangtown Fry!).
Things move on I guess.

I have only been to The Spar once or twice. One time particularly stands out in my memory. I was around 16 and preparing to take my driver’s exam for my license. For some reason my Dad felt our family car wouldn’t pass muster for use in the driver test. So a family friend took me driving in his car.

I had a few practice sessions to become familiar with the car because I was going to use it for my driving test. On one of the last practice sessions John (friend of my folks) took me to The Spar. It was one of his favorite places to go. I practiced parallel parking on the street nearby. He bought me hot chocolate and we had a nice break before driving back to my house.

(Yes, I aced the driving test.)