Update January 19, 2009: This past weekend we finally decided to drive down to Galveston. This was our 1st trip back to the Island since Hurricane Ike. It was a very humbling trip for us.

The Balinese Room Pre-Hurricane Ike

What Remains of the Balinese Room 1-17-09

Update September 16, 2008: I would have never imagined that this beautiful place would be gone not even a month after I posted this. Unbelievable!

This pile of rubble is actually the Balinese Room on the Galveston Seawall

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The Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas

“Deep in the South of Texas
not so long ago,
there on a crowded island
in the Gulf of Mexico

it didn’t take too much money,
man, but it sure was nice.
You could dance all night if you felt all right,
drinking whiskey and throwing dice.

And everybody knows
it was hard to leave.
And everybody knows
it was down at the Balinese.”

“Balinese” – ZZ Top – Fandango – 1975
 

The history of The Balinese Room can be found on Wikipedia.

On a personal note: I have been to the Balinese Room a number of times. We started hanging out there on the weekends when they were doing renovations on it. There are Ghost Stories to go along with the building and I for one believe them, as do my kids. On one of our visits we went into the women’s restroom and when I turned around to flush the toilet the toilet paper was thrown at my back. Another time we were in the old casino part when the jukebox started playing “old music” when we checked out the jukebox for the name of the song we found that it was unplugged. I just hope the ghosts are having as much fun now as they did when the place was in it’s prime!