Johnny’s Bar and Grill calls seductively to motorcycle
enthusiasts across the country
– and a lone biker from South Carolina answered.
Clint
”
Bubba
”
Chandler, 57, a motorcycle fanatic for the past 45 years,
decided one Friday in late July he was going to hop on his 100th
Anniversary Heritage Softail Classic Harley-Davidson and go for a
ride.
Johnny’s Bar and Grill calls seductively to motorcycle enthusiasts across the country – and a lone biker from South Carolina answered.
Clint “Bubba” Chandler, 57, a motorcycle fanatic for the past 45 years, decided one Friday in late July he was going to hop on his 100th Anniversary Heritage Softail Classic Harley-Davidson and go for a ride.
“It’s been a dream of mine to get on a motorcycle and ramble around the country,” he said Monday.
That ride has taken him many miles from his home in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
It imbibed him with a taste of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Tennessee, invigorated him with a tour through Harley-Davidson’s birthplace in Milwaukee, and stimulated his senses at the site of the huge motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., all before arriving at his first stop in the Golden State – Johnny’s.
“Ever since I was a kid I knew about Johnny’s Bar in Hollister, California,” Chandler said. “For people who ride like I do, it’s one of those important places.”
After seeing Marlon Brando’s classic movie “The Wild One” in 1954, which he bought and still occasionally watches, Johnny’s Bar has been an oasis of biker magic and mayhem for Chandler.
“In biker culture, this place ranks around the top,” he said.
Chandler’s love of motorcycles began when he was 8 years old, while he was riding in the back seat of his parents’ car in South Carolina.
“A guy on a motorcycle passed by, and I thought to myself, that must be what God looks like,” he said. “He was bigger than life to me.”
When he was growing up he would spend all day at the local motorcycle shop, and 45 years later, he still does the same thing, he said.
Chandler has taken countless trips on his motorcycle, but none have come close to the magnitude of this one. When he finally rolls back into South Carolina, this will be the longest journey on a bike he’s ever taken – almost 15,000 miles.
Booze and bikers weren’t the only things drawing Chandler to Hollister. As usual, there was a woman involved.
Karole Candlen, lifelong Hollister resident, met Chandler over the Internet about two months ago. After conversing over the Web and phone, Chandler informed Candlen he was coming to meet her.
“I was a little hesitant at first, because I was raised very old-fashioned,” Candlen said. “But I decided to take a shot in the dark, and I’m very happy – I wouldn’t go back.”
Chandler’s free spirit has shown him so many scenic sites in the United States. It makes him wonder why anyone would want to take a vacation in other countries when this one has so much to offer.
“I’ve been in search of America,” Chandler said. “I’ve found it in the beauty of the land and the friendliness of the people.”
He said California has been one of the prettiest states yet.
And as for Johnny’s, well, it more than surpassed his expectations, except for one small detail.
“It’s what I thought it would be, a typical biker bar,” he said, “minus the brassieres and panties hanging from the walls.”
