Ellise Huston
Features Editor
Through Pardall tunnel and up the street just before the corner of Embarcadero del Norte, music echoes softly from the door that leads into Dublin’s bar at Isla Vista (I.V.). Upon entering, this music couples with the joyous chatter of I.V. residents. In one corner, people surround a pool table, cheering as another solid falls into the hole. Straight ahead is the bar, consumed by people ordering their drinks. And to the left, sitting in a booth with her friends, is Caeley Hickson Long, a senior at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), looking at the numerous plaques engraved with names of previous Dub’s Club members on the walls.
Hickson Long has officially begun her quest to be a 2024 Dub’s Club member: an exclusive title earned by stopping by and getting a drink at Dublin’s bar once a day for 40 days over the course of the 70-day UCSB spring quarter. With her Dub’s Club stamp card stamped 17 times by week five of the spring quarter, she is well on her way.
“We’re about to graduate and it’s fun to do things you can never do again,” Hickson Long said in an interview with The Bottom Line (TBL). “I want my name on the plaque and I want to be able to say that I did it.”
With the time to achieve this Dub’s Club membership ending on the last Friday of week 10, there are only five weeks left. Many I.V. patrons are still fully committed, sitting in with friends after a day of classes or after nightfall.
Kelsey Works, another UCSB senior who has been working at Dublin’s for about a year, has acquired 14 stamps on her Dub’s Club card. While talking to TBL, Works explained that she agrees that it is a fun idea and something that Dublin’s has been doing for years. According to Works, not only are the names of the members “immortalized on annual plaques lining the walls of past bargoers,” but members will also receive hats to commemorate their membership as well as a party at the end of the school year.
The goal of achieving this exclusive membership is not the only thing that attracts people to Dublin’s. On Tuesdays, the bar puts on karaoke events for their patrons starting at 8 p.m. As the night progresses, people arrive to get their daily drinks and start to prepare their best voices, ready to sing whatever crowd-pleasing song they can think of. (My personal favorite is when someone sings “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Each time it happens, I’ve never been disappointed, especially when the rest of the bar joins in.)
The quest for the Dub’s Club membership is exclusively open during the spring quarter, and this is a conscious choice. “It adds a novelty to it,” said Hickson. “It’s our last quarter and most people’s first time being over 21 during the spring. It is the only chance in all of [your college experience that] you get to do it.”
This is a sentiment that Works agreed with wholeheartedly, saying that it “makes for a fun spring event right before graduation.”
Dublin’s is a fun place to stop by regardless of if you’re attempting to be a part of Dub’s Club. They offer a wide variety of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, as well as a selection of food options. However, to be a part of Dub’s Club, one must buy at least one drink from the bar each time they attend. Whether or not you desire to be a part of Dub’s Club, Dublin’s is sure to be a fun time for everyone who goes!