Bordertown opening jammed

By Jack Kintner

“We stopped counting at 250. We were jammed with patrons,” said a happy Walt Bail in the resurrected Bordertown Tavern after their grand opening party last Saturday. Bail and his wife, Karen, re-located to the former Blaine Bayside Grocery after losing their lease last year in the Drayton Professional building next door.

They added five new eight-foot picture windows that overlook Drayton Harbor and the marina, a 16x16 foot parquet dance floor in the middle of the 3,500 square foot bar and have a stairway in place awaiting construction of Blaine’s new boardwalk. “We’re ready when they are,” said Karen Bail.

The new bar at 545 Peace Portal Drive has nearly twice the floor space of their former location. It was gutted and re-modeled in just over two months “by all kinds of wonderful friends pitching in and working long days,” Karen Bail said. She and Walt have owned the tavern for three and a half years.

One of those who helped the Bails transform the grocery store into a tavern, Vicki Barone, 40, said “We wanted our clubhouse back, and we got it. This place is first and foremost a local hangout, and goes back almost 100 years. We couldn’t let it die.”

“It’s a wonderful little place, and has a great view of the harbor with the windows they’ve added. I really hope they do well,” said Heather Cain, 35, of Birch Bay. .

Back to Top