If People Want to Take a Chance, Its Their Prerogative: Inside One Bar on the First Day of Reopening – Texas Monthly

Monica Pahkala was still applying her makeup behind the bar of the Poop Deck, her nautical-themed spot on Galveston Island, on Friday morning when the first patrons walked in. The bar was roped off so guests couldnt approach it, and the bartenders told those who showed up to use hand sanitizer as they entered. Patrons couldnt order unless they were seated at a table.

The Poop Deck, which has an unobstructed view of the beach and is adorned by ropes and netting, had been closed for 65 days prior, due to city and state restrictions meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus. When Governor Greg Abbott announced last Monday that Texas bars could reopen at 25 percent capacity on Friday, Pahkala and her husband knew theyd open back up. They were concerned about their health, but had been relying on unemployment benefits while the establishment was shuttered. And Memorial Day weekend has long marked the unofficial start of the summer season in Texas, and is one of the busiest on the island.

The Pahkalas had fewer than four days to replace and replenish their alcohol, clean and sanitize every surface, and figure out the best way to configure the tables and chairs to keep guests at least somewhat separated. Inside, they limited capacity to 75 people. Outdoors, where there is no capacity limit per Abbotts order, they converted the small parking lot in front of the bar into a seating space. On the bars upper deck, which has a bronze-painted replica of the Statue of Liberty standing like Jack on the bow of the Titanic, they spaced chairs out, though not quite six feet apart.

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The phone has been ringing nonstop, Pahkala said Friday morning. Are yall opened? When are yall gonna open?

The interior of the Poop Deck on Friday, May 22, 2020, in Galveston.

Photograph by Brittney Martin

While several Galveston bars reopened before the city and state restrictions were lifted, Pahkala wasnt willing to risk it. She was worried she could receive a fine or the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission could revoke the bars license to sell alcohol if it opened early. I wasnt taking the chance, she said.

But visitors started filtering in immediately upon open Friday. Victor Garcia, 61, whos been coming to the bar for years, drove in from Houston that morning. By 10:30 a.m., he had already downed a bowl of seafood gumbo at the nearby Gumbo Diner and was on his third beer at the Poop Deck. Im not Republican or Democrat, but I believe that [bars] should be open, he told me. And if people want to take a chance on their lives or not take a chance, I think its their prerogative.

Garcia sat down next to Jim Massey, 59, on the bars upper deck, where the two quickly discovered they attended the same high school in Baytown.

This is my place to come and decompress, man, Garcia told Massey. Its so unpretentious. You can let your hair down and feel the breeze.

Garcia, who is bald, was wearing a black bandana around his neck, which he couldve used as a mask but didnt. He said he wants the bar to be his final resting place and that hes given his brother strict instructions for how to carry out his last wishes.

I said take my ashes, go to the Poop Deck, and just throw them off the balcony, Garcia said.

When a couple near Garcia and Massey got up and left, a bartender in a white sailors hat sprayed down the bar and chairs with disinfectant and wiped them with paper towels. Garcia said it was cool that the bar was taking steps to make people feel safer. He mused that it shouldve had these practices in place before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Massey, whos been spending most of his time at home over the past few months to avoid getting the virus, said he didnt mind having to use hand sanitizer upon entering. He also thinks he mightve already gotten COVID-19, after attending the Galveston Mardi Gras celebration in February and coming down with flu-like symptoms.

We recovered in like two weeks so hopefully Ive got the immunity, Massey said, laughing. I got over it, so yall dont have to worry. Im not still contagious.

Twelve hours later, at 10 p.m., more than 100 people had flocked to the bar. A local cover band, Nite Wave, played on the bottom floor, about six feet from the nearest table. The majority of people gathered out front in the parking lot-turned-patio space.

Monica Marshall, 50, who was the first ones in the door when the Poop Deck opened that morning, was still there.

Everybody here is so friendly, Marshall said, a can of Bud Light in her hand. Pre-quarantine, she would come to the bar three or four times a week. She didnt think it was fair that bars were one of the last businesses allowed to reopen.

Its hypocritical. They let everybody go to Bolivar [Peninsula] during Jeep weekend, you can be up each others butts in the grocery store, she said. But then [bars] have to mind their ps and qs, or they get fined.

Marshall, a veteran who served in the Navy and Coast Guard, said she wasnt bothered by the extra steps the Poop Deck had taken to comply with social distancing requirements, but she didnt totally agree with them.

Its Memorial Day weekend, Marshall said. Were supposed to remember the ones who gave their lives for the very freedom that theyre taking away.

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If People Want to Take a Chance, Its Their Prerogative: Inside One Bar on the First Day of Reopening - Texas Monthly