BUT IF YOU DO DRINK...
GET REAL DRUNK!!!
AKA The Wizard of DILLIGAF, who is the Webmaster of The Boot Hill Saloon.
Click on the logo to visit the web site at: http://www.boothillsaloon.com
THE BOOT HILL SALOON
The official deeds and abstracts go back to the late 1800's. When the property was owned by a church...there is not much written documentation about what the church did with the property while they owned it, however there were some old timers, back in the seventies, who seemed to remember that there used to be a small church and funeral parlor at the location the Boot Hiil now occupies, and it was not unusual to have a service and viewing prior to being laid to rest in the cemetery across the street. If you get a chance take a look at some of the headstones, some really do date back quite a way back in time!
The building, as it stands today, was built sometime in the 1920's. During that incarnation there was no longer a church. Then it had a barber shop at one end, a small bar in the middle and a fussball parlor at the other end. At some point the fussball and barber left and the bar took over the entire building. The name of the joint became the "Kit Kat Club" (Exactly when this happened is not known). The "Kit Kat" was known to be one of the hot spots in Daytona Beach, especially if you were looking for some companionship of the opposite sex...
Now you might be wondering when and how the "Boot Hill" became the "Boot Hill" and how and when did it become a biker saloon...The story goes that the owners of the "Kit Kat" were not especialy thrilled with the motorcycle racing on the beach and around town; there are photos of racers dragging up and down Main Street back in the 40's, 50's and 60's. Remember that in the early years of Bike Week it was actually a racing oriented event...and then disaster hit: Hollywood got the bright idea that "Motorcycle Riders" were all outlaws, misfits and were not the kind of people that normal citizens should be around...You know, "hide your women and children" type of image!...so as the story goes the owners of the "Kit Kat" started closing the bar during Bike Week! Can you imagine that? This continued for a couple of years...then...sometime in the early 70's a young guy named Dennis MaGuire was working for the "Kit Kat" as a bartender. Around this same time Bike Week started to become a real happening with hhousands of Bikers converging on Daytona Beach. And naturally Main Street became the center of all the activities. Dennis was more Biker-friendly than the owners he was working for and in 1974 convinced his "boss" to sell him the bar! The first thing Dennis did was change the name...the name Boot Hill Saloon was a natural, hell there was a cemetery across the street!
Dennis turned the Boot Hill into a place for the Biker crowd both during Bike Week and for the rest of the year as well...The Saloon has a reputation of being a tough place, lots of fights, lots of big bad Bikers...Nothing could be further from the truth...the "Boot" is really a friendly place and a place to go to have a really good time...
Yes, it is true that the "Boot" remains a blue collar local Biker Bar, and if you sit at the bar and order a drink the person next to you just might be a 'biker-type of person, but at the "Boot" everyone is welcome. The Saloon's famous trademark says it all: "Order a drink and hav a seat-you're better off here than across the street".
And when you go inside you will step into a time capsule of memorabilia left behind by Bikers from all over the world over the past thirty years. One thing you will find is hundreds of personal and weird things hung by Boot Hill customers on the ceiling or anywhere else where there was room. The tradition continues! You will also find hundreds of photographs and business cards on the walls...and the walls are floor to ceiling covered in graffiti. A walk around the Saloon is a real window into the Biker lifestyle. The legend of the "Boot Hill Saloon" really started to emerge in the late seventies and early eighties. At that time, as far as "Biker Bars" went, in Daytona Beach, the "Boot" was really the only true example in town. During that time the media did a series of stories about Bike Week and Bikers. They were looking for a tie-in with the Hollywood version of the Biker and so the Boot Hill was featured in many articles in EasyRider Magazine, even in the Smithsonian Magazine. Harley-Davidson used the front of the "Boot" in some of their print advertising, especially when they introduced new models. The "Boot" soon became the place for celebrities to mingle and be seen during Bike Week. To this day the Boot Hill Saloon remains the cornerstone of Bike Week events on Main Street.
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AKA The Wizard of DILLIGAF, who is the Webmaster of The Iron Horse Saloon.
Click on the logo to visit the web site at: http://www.dilligaf.com/ihspage2.htm
THE IRON HORSE SALOON
Over the past 10 years BIKE WEEK on North U.S. 1 has changed dramatically. It is now very similar to Main Street! The bikes line the highway on both sides for as far as the eye can see. Because of the IRON HORSE there are now more bars, vendors, activities and campgrounds in this part of Daytona than ever before. Every year after BIKE WEEK we say that next year will be bigger and better. Last year was no exception. During 1996, the IRON HORSE underwent extensive renovations and made many improvements in the unending effort to bring you a better BIKE WEEK.
First, the vendor areas were completely redone. Each vendor has a fully enclosed stall to set up in and a board walk area for easy shopping and access. For those of you who have visited the IRON HORSE in the past, you will be able to count on the best in quality products and services that have always been here.
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(The Booze is Free Here!!)
This Site Owned By Ms.Harley2000
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