Story's Of Bernie's Bourbon

Howdy Pardner, Welcome to the Bourbon

For more than 35 years the welcome at the entrance of the Bourbon was legendary. Bernie didn't just create a bar, he created a home away from home. A welcoming smile was folowed by the sound of the band, because Bernies Bourbon was above all else about music and dancing and people coming together in the dance of life. Bernie was an artist, and the Bourbon was his canvas. There were times he could be seen in the corner, bourbon in hand, watching the growth of friendships and love as a father might watch his children, or an artist admire his painting.

This blog remembers some of the story's so they might live on as the living tradition that they became. This is our heritage, the Bourbon was our special home, and the patrons our friends. Thank you, Bernie.

Please feel welcome to share your own story's and photographs of the Bourbon, or put us in contact with others with great Bourbon story's. We would love to hear and see them. Contact us by e-mail by clicking here.

Thank you, pardner.

A Bourbon Romance

Adèle and Colin recently celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary with a special toast to Bernie and his bar. The Bourbon has seen many romances over the years but Colin and Adèle have a unique Bourbon story to tell since they met at the Bourbon and then were married upstairs.

Picture this: a handsome Berwicker (someone from the border between Scotland and England, see below) arrives in Australia. Just 3 days later he is in the best home away from home in Sydney, Bernies Bourbon and Beefsteak Bar.

He spies a beautiful lassie, their eyes meet, they fall in love and they marry upstairs from that magical place where first their eyes met.

His name is Colin Blackhall, her name Adèle Dreifuss. Their photo Album, including 2 photos from their wedding is in the album in the right sidebar. We wish them many many 5 year anniversaries, and many toasts to Bernie for making a place where love blossomed for this special couple.

Bernie's Bourbon was like Bernie himself, larger than life, and tended to be a place where extraordinary things were expected. This may be because it attracted the most extraordinary people. Adèle and Colin prove the theory.

Adèle was the organiser of the famous Bourbon Melbourne Cup party's for many years. She has many stories of those times. She has promised to share some of those stories here in this blog, so watch out for the Melbourne Cup post coming soon to this page.

Colin is no stranger to the extaordinary either. His home town is Berwick-Upon-Tweed. Thats pronounced 'Berrick' by the way. It has the distinction of being the most fought over settlement in Europe, changing hands between Scotland and England no fewer than 13 times. So significant a place back at the time of William Wallace, also known as BraveHeart, that when BraveHeart was hung drawn and quartered, one of the quarters was sent to Berwick-Upon-Tweed as a reminder of who was boss at that time. His remains were buried there. Officially it has remained English since 1482, but I suspect that few there are jumping to conclusions that thats the final word, so they have a bet both ways and call themselves the Border People.

We know that Colins large extended family back in Berwick-Upon-Tweed will be reading this and the rest of the stories about the only Australian Bar that is famous in their town. So hello to all the Border People from Kings Cross. If anyone wants to leave a comment or 2 or say hello, we would love that.

Any one else with special stories of romance at the Bourbon please contact the author via the comment link below.

Melbourne Cup At The Bourbon

For several years Adéle was hostess for the Bernie's Melbourne Cup party's. The first photo shows Adéle and Colin with Mike Connors with some of the Melbourne Cup decorations. The second photo shows Adéle presenting a prize in the hat competition. We suspect however that the prize in this case was awarded as much for the outrageous moustache as the black hat.

The Bourbon Melbourne Cup party's were always large affairs with large tables booked each year by various businesses. The biggest was usually the Kings Cross Parking Station table.

We would love to publish more photos from these fun days if anyone out there has any they would like to share. You can contact us by email by clicking here.