It was not a smart idea for Tom to be running a bar when he had an alcohol problem, but I had not yet admitted to myself that he had one. When we first took it over, most nights after work, I would drive the 20 miles from Kent to Seattle to work at the tavern, then home to Tacoma, about 30 miles to sleep etc. Tom was to manage the bar and I would still work my job at PNB. Tom and my aim was to turn it into a popular gay bar. There was a shuffle board table along the back half of the left wall. When you walked in the door, the bar was on your right lined with bar stools. At the time it was a semi-gay wino bar that set maybe 20 people. While still living in Tacoma, with the help of my parents, we bought out the owner of the “Silver Star” Tavern on the SW corner of 2nd Avenue South and Washington in the Pioneer District of Seattle.
