Regarding the need to be a member of a club to dring, I was traveling from Ohio to Texas in 1982 and made a stop in Little Rock AR for the night. My traveling buddy and I went to a local bar and had to pay $1 to be a member of the club in order to drink there. I found that odd.
Perhaps that was common in the south? It wasn't a weekend either, it was a Tuesday night. I know this because we (my traveling buddy) and I graduated High School Sunday and left late Monday headed to Texas, stopping in Illinois that evening before heading out Tuesday morning making it to Little Rock.