The Highlander

The tiny plastic bag was beyond empty: all residue had been licked from the interior surface, then it had been turned inside out and licked again. The bar had been scraped with a razor blade, and the truth of the matter was that the cocaine was gone, it was an indecent hour to attempt to acquire more, and it was time to go home.

Dwight locked up and asked if we’d give him a ride home. The sun assaulted us through our sunglasses as we ascended the stairs to the ground.

There used to be a saying in Augusta: if you haven’t needed sunglasses when leaving and if you haven’t given Dwight a ride home from the bar in the morning, you haven’t really been to The Highlander.

The Highlander is an underground bar just over the Savannah in North Augusta, SC. The Highlander serves food and drinks, opening at a respectable 3pm every day except Sunday, when it’s closed. It’s peak hours, especially on Thursday and Friday nights, were 2-5 am. It now closes at 2am, but South Carolina liquor laws were a lot different during my roaring twenties.