H.B. Spokes rises from the ashes

H.B. Spokes Saloon - isn't exactly located on a busy stretch of S.C. 9 in Longs. The Waccamaw River, located a couple hundred yards away, meanders along. A haze of late-spring humidity hangs in the air, fogging up your glasses as soon as you exit the comfort of your air-conditioned ride. Cicadas hum and whirr invisibly in the nearby woods.

That is, until Bike Week getshere.Harley-Davidson engines will throttle and fill the air with equal parts smoke, menace, and aural thunder. Black-and-red-clad camaraderie will take precedent over all the other local social mores. Money will be spent, beer will be quaffed, and fun, above all, will be had.

Just six months ago, the idea that H.B. Spokes Saloon - formerly known as H.D. Spokes, before Harley-Davidson put the kibosh on the name - would even exist again was as fleeting as Harley exhaust smoke. An overnight, three-alarm fire - the cause was never determined - on September 10 burned the main part of the building to a crisp. (The saloon complex includes 10 indoor and outdoor bar areas, a 30,000 square foot outside deck, a burnout pit and retail store.) Coming 23 days before the fall biker rally - The Pilgrimage - the blaze razed the building, originally built in 83 days, to a crisp. Seven fire stations, including some from North Carolina, responded to the blaze.

Half a year later, H.B. Spokes has risen like a phoenix from the proverbial ashes.

A member of management told Weekly Surge that the new bar is more or less exactly the same as before, except that an inside bar has been relocated. The large, churchlike half-oval windows still allow in plenty of light. The décor is clean and uncluttered, but not cold. There's still ample room to mingle and bust balls. The building has a roof done up in Harley orange, and even has an enlarged outdoor patio to take advantage of our coast's temperate climate

In the interim, H.B. Spokes served food and drinks at a makeshift bar in the parking lot.

HB Spokes is located at 1111 S.C. 9 East in Longs. For more information or for a schedule of Bike Week activities, call 399-BIKE or go to www.hbspokes.com.

- Timothy C. Davis, Staff Writer