Dew Drop Inn, Again

As we have seen in a previous post, the Dew Drop Inn was the watering hole for many of the locals in the miniscule mountain outpost of Pinetop, Arizona. A rather curious place, frequented by Apaches, blacks, Latinos and hippie-esque whites in about equal numbers, to come inside during the light of day would expose its shabbiness and decrepitude. But at night all was concealed and rather mysterious. Nevertheless, everybody seemed to get along well there; bar fights and rowdiness were rare, much less so than with a couple of other bars down the road. (Maybe it had something to do with the fact that bar was tended by two young women — and occasionally the owner — who seemed fearless and quite formidable.) And the Dew Drop and its clientele stood in considerable contrast to the cocktail lounge/restaurant that catered to the ski crowd in season. My intention was to create a photographic project around the place, getting down the stories and images of the regulars as I got to know them. We even talked about later on exhibiting on its walls the photographs that I was taking there. But I basically gave up on the project as the shooting conditions were too harsh for consistent quality (the best light was in the bathroom) and as summer came on I wanted to spend more time outside. Anyway, here is a little more evidence of some times and people in and around the place.