Reset Password
Reset Link Sent
| Blogs > pomonagirl909 > My Blog |
|
Local Weirdness: An Incomplete History of Friar Tucks in Pomona, Or, How to Vet Your Sex Parties blog to follow in first comment. thanks for reading! |
|||
|
This local history blog is inspired by a recent random comment on one of my pictures---some random guy imploring me to "come to his events in Pomona". After checking out his event listings and realizing they are sex parties/swinger parties held at "A Castle on Foothill Blvd", i just cringe and let my BDSM pals have at him and his gross recruitment tactics. It wasn't until a week or two later, idly scrolling and responding to a comment on the thread, that i once again checked recruitment-guy's profile and saw the address of said "Castle". 540 Foothill Blvd. Friar Tucks. WTF? A Pre-History: Route 66: For those that aren't from around here...Foothill Blvd is part of Route 66. For those not old enough to know...Route 66 used to be a famous highway beginning in Chicago and ending at the ocean in Santa Monica, California. Back in the Golden Days of American Automotive Travel...the Route 66 portion of Foothill Blvd was packed with "Roadside Attractions", some of which are still standing, in some form or another. Teepee Motels. Fish Restaurants shaped like Boats. Giant Castles that sold Hamburgers. You get the idea. The Giant Castle in question was originally called "Magic Towers". Built in 1968, it was Medieval-themed and sold "Knightburgers", "Castleburgers" and a "King Arthur Burger" complete with Dragon Sauce. They soon expanded to serve ice cream as well. Magic Towers was open until 1978. Coming of Age: the 90's: Oddly enough, after Magic Towers closed, it became a sushi restaurant, which was when the koi pond in the patio was added. But, if you came of age in the Pomona Valley in the 90's or 00's, you only knew it as Friar Tucks: an infamous dive bar that seemed to exist out of time and space. Whether you were a bar goer or not, the place just exuded a bad vibe. "Which is worse---Friar Tucks or The Hi-Brow?" Was a common question in those days. At least in my friend group. We weren't exactly the dive-bar going crowd, at least not yet. Both places seemed impenetrable, dangerous. Full of smoke, loud, lewd, dirty men, and bathrooms that were so destroyed by vandalism they hardly deserved the name. But yeah. Friar Tucks was worse. Or, maybe it was just bigger. More square footage equals more opportunity for mayhem. Back in those days, i was a local musician and would often be tasked with scouting locations for my band to play. i'll never forget how absolutely DIRTY i felt after going into Friar Tucks on a weekday afternoon to inquire about getting a gig. And not in the good way. Friar Tucks was never a good place to play. But, it was a place to play. If you had enough of a following, you could take over the place for the night and have fun with your friends. As long as you didn't have to use the bathroom, that is. 2015: Taffer to the Rescue: In 2015, the popular TV show "Bar Rescue" did an episode on Friar Tucks, turning it into a place called Stein House. At the time, i was dating a guy who is a big fan of the show, so, after the grand re-opening, we went one night for dinner and drinks. It was...interesting to see a Bar Rescue place in person. Wow, they really slap that shit together using the cheapest materials possible. It's no wonder why most of these TV-Makeover places don't stay open long, and Stien House was no exception. But then again, even if you used the finest linens, Italian marble, and brought in the best chefs from Los Angeles, all these changes will not change the "regulars" of a place. And the "regulars" were still there. Either way, within a year, it was closed, and it stayed closed. Well, kind of. 2016---Present: A Rumored After Life: It was maybe around 2017. One night i was at The Hi-Brow, having a few drinks. i was sitting outside talking to a couple. i remember thinking that maybe i would go home with this couple. The girl and i are chatting and she looks across the street to the old Friar Tucks building. "You know," she begins, drunkenly leaning in close in a conspiratorial way, "that place was bought by The M***. They use it as their clubhouse." i tried to get more information from her but she promptly fell over into her boyfriend's lap. Blacked out drunk. i'll never forget the look on his face. i may have missed out on a threesome, but all in all, this piece of information was much more interesting, memorable and useful. For those of you who don't know, The M*** are known as one of the biggest Motorcycle Clubs in Southern California---possibly the world, if Wikipedia is to be trusted. With my standing as a local yokel who soaked up local history and lore like a sponge, i was already aware that this particular Club owned several other bar/restaurants in and around Pomona. Why not the old Friar Tucks building, too? It certainly explained the constant presence of vehicles in the parking lot and the lights kept burning. Some small, esoteric signs of life. The type of life you wouldn't necessarily want to investigate, but still. As i was researching this blog...most google searches of the address came up with local news articles talking about an illegal gambling ring that was busted in Pomona last year. i'd heard about this bust, indirectly, from another local yokel who is also privy to a fair amount of local news and gossip. But i never looked it up and didn't know that Friar Tucks was one of the locations that was raided. TO BE CLEAR: i could not find any articles that named The M* as part of this gambling operation. Heck, i only heard that they owned the place once, from a drunk gal.** February, 2024: A Random Comment by a Fetlife Sex Party Recruiter Leads Amateur Blogger to, Well, Amateur Blog: Ahhhh. After all that jumpy, rugged time traveling, we are now back in the present. Where everything is smooth and even handed and totally not out of pocket....right? RIGHT? Last month, i'd posted a selfie. A typical pomonagirl hair-done, makeup-done, let's show off my bookshelf before going to a Munch kind of selfie. It got the usual amount of "loves" and comments, both from friends and the random thirsty guys. But one stood out as highly unusual. "Come to my events in Pomona pls" it said. Clickbait, you say? Why, yes please!! i check out his profile and event listings and yeah. There's a reason i hadn't run across them before. God Bless Jon Baku for finally installing that event filter. Not surprisingly, they are sex parties/swinger parties. Couples $120, Ladies Free, Select Single Men type parties. The type of parties you NEED to drop random comments on local women's photos to try and drum up some interest in. The description read, "A sexy hot event and a great new location ,so come join us for our Grand opening ,b.y.o.b and b.y.o.c ,address will be givin upon RSVP". But don't despair, it turns out you didn't need to RSVP to get this exclusive address, after all. 540 E. Foothill Blvd. WTF? AND, if you were too lazy to google it, he even spelled it out. "The Private Castle across the street from the Hi-Brow Bar." Dun-Dun-DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Talk about a trip. A Sex Party at the old Friar Tucks Bar? That had once been a novelty hamburger stand during the great days of American Automotive Travel... That had once been an infamous dive bar with a violent reputation... That had been featured on an episode of Bar Rescue... That is rumored to be a clubhouse for an infamous Motorcycle Club... That had very recently been busted in a citywide illegal gambling sting... Shit. If i hadn't already had my tickets for a certain High Protocol Dinner Party that night, i definitely would have at least cruised by JUST for the morbid curiosity factor. 10/10 Morbidly Curious Local Yokels would agree. ______ Post Script: in my research for this blog, i did come upon further evidence that Friar Tucks is, in fact, still owned and operated as a clubhouse for said Motorcycle Club, as evidenced by a big "Biker Rally" that was observed there very recently. It's not like i would ever attend a "Sex Party/Swinger Party" anyway, but wow. This whole thing just serves as a great reminder to do your best to vet not only potential play partners---but also event organizers, hosts and venues as well. i shudder to think what may happen behind those shuttered doors and blacked out windows, especially on "Sex Party" night!
| ||
|
It sounds pretty scary to me!
| ||
|
What a fantastic bit of research! Great example of taking the time to stay safe.
|
 |
 |
 |
| Become a member to comment on this blog | ||
 |
×
×