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A friend of mine just returned from Costa Rica, where stray dogs act as sherpas & if you want to get your drink on in a Fairchild C-123 cargo plane–a vestige from the Iran-Contra affair–you can do so at a place called El Avion. It’s a bar, it’s a coffee shop, it’s a store, and it is, my friend reports back, amazing! The Hotel Costa Verde acquired the plane for $3k in 2000, and details the journey here:
We then disassembled and shipped the pieces of the Iran-Contra relic to Quepos. From San Jose, the fuselage was shipped via ocean ferry (from Caldera to Quepos) because it was 10 inches too wide for the antiquated Chiquita Banana railroad bridges! After hauling all seven aircraft sections up the Manuel Antonio hill, the C-123 finally found its current cliff-side resting-place.
Bars in places that used to be totally-not-bars are always fun. Barmacy, the NYC staple of yesteryear’s bar culture, was named after the equally beloved 14th Street pharmacy that once occupied its space. LA’s Bordello used to be, yep, just that. Has anyone ever been to El Avion, or otherwise patronized a place that was formerly a very different kind of establishment?
I’m going to Costa Rica this summer… where exactly is this place? I’m sure my friends would love to check it out.
posted by Amy on 1-23-2008 at 9:31 pm
I´ve been at El Avión, drinking Imperial beer and looking for bulletholes on the fuselage we expected to be there. It´s on the road between Quepos and Manuel Antonio National park. It´s hard to miss, on the righthand side of the road.
posted by medea on 1-23-2008 at 11:20 pm
I’ve been to El Avion, on my way to Manuel Antonio park.. it seems like if you want a great mountain top view of the Pacific ocean drinking a beer, this is probably your place! But don’t spend too much time there, Manuel Antonio park is spectacular!
posted by bo on 1-24-2008 at 1:30 am
In 1992, I went to a night club in New York City called “Limelight” that used to be a church. They had gutted the place and put catwalks up on the walls and across the top and had GO-GO cages hanging from the ceilings. They even opened up the catacombs and made then into “social rooms” with sofas and chairs. Very cool and don’t know if it’s still there.
posted by Carlos on 1-24-2008 at 4:17 am
We used to party on 6th St. in Austin during our college years. I’m not sure if any of the bars took the place of something totally not a bar, but they do have some pretty cool themes. I love The Library (I think that’s the name), where it really feels like you’re drinking in some old-timey study.
We also have the Liberty Bar here in San Antonio, which is rumored to have once been a brothel, and was definitely a residence/grocery store when it was first built. The most interesting thing about this building, though, is that it leans (due to a flood in the early part of the 20th century) but has been declared to be “structurally sound.”
posted by nutmeag on 1-24-2008 at 8:03 am
Carney’s here in L.A. on Sunset was once a train, well a part of a train which is now a wonderful place to stop and get a chili dog. mmmm :-P
posted by allyson on 1-24-2008 at 10:59 am
The Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh used to be a Catholic church. Now they brew beer in the nave and give it names like “Celestial Pale Ale” and “Pious Monk Dunkel”.
posted by Mary on 1-24-2008 at 3:54 pm
There’s a fusion food restaurant/bar in town that used to be a pharmacy. It’s a big hangout for a lot of the local college kids, and the seem to find it funny that the word “drugs” is spelled out in tiles on the inside floor.
posted by Ed on 1-24-2008 at 4:01 pm
There´s a club in Miami that has different “environmnets” including:
- an airplane complete with seats and buckles as well as baggage storage bins
- a bus
- a trailer
All in one club. It´s great.
posted by GTT on 1-24-2008 at 4:39 pm