Surprise Party to Mourn the Closing of BC’s Beach Bar

BC’s Beach Bar is one of the best in town and one of the last classic palapa beach bars in San Pedro center.   Here’s a picture of this palapa gem at sunset last night.

The inside has been signed and decorated for years…

The original sports bar.  Picture from 2011.

And the view, even on a grey day, is always fantastic.

A great place to hang while your kids play in the sea.  I even spotted this crazy octopus in the water right in front one evening.

And this kid trying to feed a stingray.

BC’s has hosted extremely popular and delicious Sunday BBQs…

live music (here is last night)…

charity events like the SAGA Halloween bash…

and Charlene, the owner, even let me bartend there one New Year’s Day in the pouring ran.

It was the spot for employees getting off work to have a few beers.

It even won the only poll I’ve ever done…when I first started my blog.  Your favorite bar in San Pedro.  Just a COMFORTABLE neighborhood bar with one of the greatest owners.

Everyone loves Charlene.  Everyone.  There is an excellent article about her in an older edition of the San Pedro Sun.  Let me give you a few of my favorite bits.

Charlene was born in Belize City and graduated from St. Catherine’s Academy in the city.  She went to Miami for training and worked as a flight attendant for Miami-based Belize Airlines (BAL airlines) flying to the Caribbean and Central America.  COOL.

At the age of 20, as part of a steel drum band (!), she visited Ambergris Caye for a performance.  She loved the island, held various jobs, met a hot Australian dive instructor and they opened BC’s Beach Bar in the late 90s.

Read the full article, Charlene has a very cool background.

LAST NIGHT, there was a surprise party for Charlene to celebrate the closing of BC’s Beach Bar.  January 16th is the very last day.  The lease is up and a huge condo development is moving in.  (More about that in this December 2012 post.)

Charlene was told that they were having a fundraiser for the humane society (she is a big supporter) and arrived to a bar full of supporters…

And one AMAZING cake.

One of the coolest I’ve ever seen.  Super creative.

And the crowd.

Poor Charlene was a bit overwhelmed.  She asked me “What should I do?”.  Sit down!  Let someone buy YOU a drink and enjoy.    Here’s Ana and Charlene last night.

For someone who works as hard as Charlene does, that can be hard to do.

Stop in before January 16th and have a drink, buy Charlene a drink and take lots of pictures.  BC’s is truly an institution.  I’m going to miss walking by it every day…

And to leave it with rumors…they abound OF COURSE…this IS San Pedro.  BC’s is going to be dismantled piece by piece and moved to the Boca Del Rio area or south near Caribbean Villas.

Me?  I wondering if the Museum of Belize has room.

I could go on and on with memories…meeting foreign soldiers there when I first moved down here…the first time I saw handmade, quilted coasters…the Sunday BBQs were the place to see and be seen…chatting with the bartenders who were SO into the Chicago Cubs…

Please feel free to share your best memories of BC’s in the comments!