Nellie E Saloon Desert Bar, Parker AZ

Sunday, January 15th, with the scheduled forecast to be warm and sunny it's time to go to the Desert Bar in Parker we've heard so much about from Steve and Dianne. As we had not been there before, we had Steve drive us in our car, with Jim and Barb following taking new friends Sue and Les with them. Vicki and Harry, 2 more friends of Steve and Dianne's, had just arrived in Q and came along as well. Unfortunately Vicki and Harry had just arrived in Quartzsite from Parker and now had to turn around and go back!

The road in was a long dusty 5 miles. Slow going crawling into the mountains. Steve mentioned it was much better than last year! 

Jim following Harry up the rough and dusty road (from Jim's blog)

Here is an excerpt from the Desert Bar's website:

The "Nellie E Saloon" (DESERT BAR) 

is situated in the Buckskin Mountains, 

in Parker, Arizona, on land that was 

an old mining camp. The camp was 

located on the portion of land that is 

now the parking lot. When Ken 

acquired the land in 1975, there was 

nothing left of the old mining camp. 

With the land and a liquor license from 

an old business on leased river land, 

Ken decided to give the "bar in the 

desert" idea a try. In 1983, Ken 

opened for business in the temporary 

three-sided structure which is across 

from the outdoor restroom's. He 

operated there for the next five years, 

until the current saloon was 

constructed. The name "Nellie E" 

originates from the old mining claim. 

They used to mine copper and then 

take it to the smelter and get gold.

Here is a picture of the original bar:

The new bar:

(Picture from their website)

The bar opens at noon and we got there about 11:45 a.m. and were able to take our pick of tables. Once the band started by 12:15 there was a steady stream of people coming in. What a great way to spend a few hours listening to great music and drinking our $3 beers. They have several food stations upstairs and downstairs where the band was playing ... not inexpensive but hey, they have to haul all the stuff down that bumpy dusty road every week. Food was good though.

Deb, Dianne, Steve, Vicki, Harry, Barb, Jim, Sue and Les
(Picture by Jim and Barb)(l-r) Sue, Les, Ray, Deb, Dianne, Steve, Vicki, Harry and Barb

Ray walked around and took a few pictures of the "relics".

Notice the solar panels.  The whole bar is run by solar and propane with a well for water.

This shows the covered walkway from the parking lot to the upstairs bar.

 View from the walkway

 See me waving at Ray ... the two guys walking toward us think I'm calling them over!

Downstairs bar with the band.

 Upstairs seating area and bar.

Steve walking higher up to get better pictures. Ray had to decline ... no climbing for him!

The church facade for photo opportunities. They even have weddings here.

As you can see this is a "happening place". People just kept streaming in filling every available chair. By 2 pm we were on our way back home to Quartzsite and to Steve and Dianne's informal Happy Hour at 4 pm. It was so loud with the Band it was nice to be able to talk around the "campfire in the can". Ray's back was too sore so he stayed home and watched his Sunday taped football games.

Thanks Dianne and Steve for the great Desert Bar experience!

Continuing to enjoy the warm sunny day.