Of course all work and no play makes any OAE no fun to be around. These are the places to party in McMurdo, Willy Field, and Scott Base. Some places no longer exist except in the beer addled minds of the OAE's...
1992-1996
#1 The Acey-Ducey Club (RIP 1995)
# 2 The Officers Club. (The Coffee House)
Picture courtesy of our friends at http://penguincentral.com/
The "Officers Club" is located by the bowling
ally and bld 155. By the time I was in the squadron the Officers Club had been made
into a "Coffee House" that served espresso and "Starchuck's" types of
drinks. Irish Coffee was one of the best drinks served. It was a nice place to
hang out and be mellow, play cards or pool. On Sunday afternoons the "local
talent" would perform, which was pretty cool.
#3 The Chief's Club (Southern Exposure)
The "Chief's Club" is located next to bld 155
and in front of the Erebus Club. In 1992 the Chief's Club was still the Chief's
Club. It was an open bar after 10 PM on the weekends, but it was "off
limits" to us poor non-Chiefs. In 1993 the NSF took the Chief's Club away, and
it was renamed the Southern Exposure Club. We (VXE-6er's) avoided this
club on weekdays after it was taken away from the Chief's........
#4 The Erebus Club (Gallaghers)
The Erebus Club is located behind bld 155 and Medical.
This was the "Enlisted Club" and the "open bar" for everyone.
This was the party bar as it has a dance floor, pool tables, a hamburger grill, and a
sports bar. This was the place to be for "Saturday Night Live" in
McMurdo. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow is another day... After the
Acey-Ducey club closed the Erebus Club became the Day Bar. Now you could get off
work, have a few beers, walk to bld 155 and eat breakfast, back to the bar, and then to
your home. Of course day check would get to check you out.....In 1997 Master Chief
Galleger (ret) died in McMurdo a few weeks after the winter over season started. He
had retired from the US Navy and was working for ASA as the Housing Officer. The
club was renamed in his honor.
#5 The Officers Wardroom
The Officers Wardroom was located on the second deck of
bld 155. This is where "Officer's Country" was located. They had the
"good deal" up there as the Officers of VXE-6 and NSFA had their own mess.
It was stocked up with the best New Zealand beers and the prices were right.
How did I know? C'mon, I was a an LC-130 Loadmaster..unless it came by ship we
"transported" everything.. Why else would we have 2,000 lbs of "squadron
gear" on every flight... Of course it was "off limits" to the
Enlisted people..... But it "seemed" to be one of the places to be for the
"after hours" parties and where the Herc Crews could get together and debrief
their flights. The downside to it? The CO and XO of NSFA were down the hall,
and the CO and XO of VXE-6 were on the other side of the hall.
#6 The Chief's Club part II
The Chief's Mess was located on the first deck of bld
206. The majority of the Chiefs lived on the first deck of bld 206. Each deck had a
tv lounge, so the first deck tv lounge was turned into the Chiefs Club, or more accurately
the Chief's Mess. They had a nice tv, radio, and pool table, along with a very
nicely stocked bar. How did I know? See the Officers Wardroom above. The
Chiefs Mess was another place to go after hours to have a beer or two and a great place to
get that "special training" only a US Navy Chief can give. If you were not
a Chief you had to be an invited guest to have a cold one.
Scott Base Pub
The Scott Base pub is located at the New Zealand base
about halfway down the Willy road. This was one of the best bars in Antarctica,
although it was kind of small. It was an "invitation only" type of pub for
all non Kiwi's. Of course that never stopped me...
Willy Field Tavern
The Willy Field Tavern was located (of course) at Willy
Field. If you lived or worked at Willy Field then this was the place to be.
None of that sissy Mac Town foo foo bars for the real men of VXE-6!! If you
were a FNGY looking to be packed then this was the place to be. The Willy Field
Tavern always reminded me of that country bar in the movie "The Blues Brothers".
All it needed was chicken wire.... The Willy Field Tavern was where the
"King and Queen" contest was held...until PC'ness reared it's ugly head.
The Willy Field tavern was closed down in 1994 when the housing at Willy was
condemned. Of course, the following season due to a housing shortage the housing at
Willy Field was reopened. The Tavern and the chow hall were not reopened though.
A couple of AE's liberated some of the decorations from the Tavern and the
barbershop chair and opened up Willy Field South in the lounge of their dorm. It was
the place to be when Herbies blew in at Willy....
Icestock
Icestock is the local talent concert from McMurdo, Willy
Field, and Scott Base getting together and having an outdoor concert and hippie happening.
It was a great time to play Frisee-Bee, drink, and have fun. The Chili
Cook-Off was at the same time if I remember correctly.
Halloween
The Halloween party is the first major blow-out of the
summer season. It was held in the Helo Hanger, and was the way to start off the
season!! Of course there was a Halloween Costume Contest. It was a
requirement!!
Thanksgiving
There is no actual party for Thanksgiving, but the
chowhall went all out for Thanksgiving Dinner. You had to select a time when
you wanted to eat, so you would get with a bunch of friends and get a time block of
tickets. It was the first dress-up event of the year.
Christmas
The Christmas party is held in the ASA Heavy Shop.
This was the best party of the year. They had BBQ'd steaks with all of the
BBQ fixings. People were on their best behavior, plus the fact that the close of the
summer season was coming.
New Years eve!!
The New Years eve party is held in the Gym, and was the
biggest party of the year!! This was the party where actual kegs of beer from New
Zealand were brought down, and the one night where everyone checked their brains at the
door!! The party only ended when all of the kegs were floating and the last of the
bottles were in the recycling bin.
No comments:
Post a Comment