‘EVERYTHING’S CLOSED’

North Carolina Bar That ‘Never Closes’ Boards Up Ahead of Hurricane Florence

“This is the worst one I’ve ever heard coming in my life,” the Tackle Box Tavern owner said.

The Tackle Box Tavern, a bar in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, that prides itself on never closing, shut its doors in preparation for Hurricane Florence. The News & Observer reports that in the 11 years Janice Bynum has owned the bar, it has stayed open through Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other hurricanes. Now, the bar is boarded up and sandbagged. “I’ve lived here 34 years,” said Bynum. “This is the worst one I’ve ever heard coming in my life.” Bynum says it’s not uncommon for locals to come to the Tackle Box and wait out the storm in the dive bar. She claims the bar only closed for half a day during 2014’s Category 2 Hurricane Arthur, but now she doesn’t want her patrons “drinking and partying” when they should be evacuating. “We would be, but nobody else is open,” she said. “I mean, the grocery stores. Everything’s closed. And, you know, it looks bad to be encouraging people not leaving.” Bynum says she’ll be open as soon as the powerful hurricane passes—as long as “the building’s here, and in place, and the beer boxes aren’t underwater.”