Part 2 of SoCal 2020, A Trip for the Soul

Mike and Annie Moore were married in the late 1950s, shortly after the hotel part ceased operation. They purchased the property in 1999 after moving from Eureka. Upon his first visit to the town, Mike said “Why the hell would anyone want to live out here?”

But, for the betterment of travelers like me, he followed Annie’s vision of having a bar full of pennies. It started with her own collection, minus the “wheat backs” (pennies manufactured before 1959). Using Elmer’s glue, he installed her collection over about a third of the bar top.

“I told him, ‘Why are you stopping? I want them everywhere,’” says Annie.

Over the course of the next six years, that’s just what happened, thanks largely to customer donations. Over a million pennies cover virtually the entire bar, from floor to ceiling, from the bathrooms to the pool table. A variety of colorfully phrased signs, mounted animal heads, and nick-knacks share the space.

It’s been a bit of a rough road for the bar lately. Annie says the local industry has been hit hard in the last five or six years. Mike died in early 2019. In the spring of 2020, she had to shut down entirely due to the virus, and in September of that year the wildfires made outdoor dining untenable. She’s somewhat comforted by the thought that at least Mike was spared the pandemic.

I can’t vouch for the food as I only have a drink, but a drink and an engaging conversation amongst the glitter of over a million pennies makes for a memorable roadside stop.