Welcome!
Some people collect autographs, some collect antiques, others collect stamps. My hobby is a little different, I collect bars. This site represents my collection, documenting each bar I visit.
This is not a review site, there's plenty of those already. Most posts in this bar diary are slice-of-life recaps of the half hour or so I spent having a beer. I hope you enjoy browsing through my collection!
--ScooterJA Few Random Favorites
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Dive bar Archive
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#1785: Ray’s Corner
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Brookings, SD) Scooter’s 1785th bar, first visited in 2024. Before long I needed to break up the monotony again, and my advance research showed this cash-only dive bar to... -
#1784: Doc’s Bar
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Watertown, SD) Scooter’s 1784th bar, first visited in 2024. The drive from Fargo to Sioux Falls seems short on paper, but it’s a mid-numbingly dull drive with about 2... -
#1774: Bismarck Tavern
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1774th bar, first visited in 2024. This is another dive bar that I’d been warned was sketchy but seemed like a pretty normal place to me.... -
#1773: Empire Tavern
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1773rd bar, first visited in 2024. Locals warned me that this place could get stabby, but in the middle of the afternoon it seemed to be... -
#1771: Speck’s
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1771st bar, first visited in 2024. Speck’s is right next door to Rick’s. It’s a bit smaller, and has one pool table and a bank of casino... -
#1770: Rick’s
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1770th bar, first visited in 2024. I have to admit, I was a little nervous getting dropped off here. Not that I was worried about the bar... -
#1769: Dempsey’s Public House
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1769th bar, first visited in 2024. After striking out at two places that were closed for various reasons, I swapped in another place from my “if... -
#1768: Rooters Bar
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1768th bar, first visited in 2024. This cash-only expansive sports dive has multiple rooms and multiple bar counters. There’s darts, at least one pool table, and... -
#1767: Fort Noks Bar of Gold
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1767th bar, first visited in 2024. I’m not going to lie, I visited this bar (located in a historic former bank building) only for its name.... -
#1766: Sports Bar
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1766th bar, first visited in 2024. Resuming my originally-scheduled programming, my next stop was a sports bar named… Sports Bar. This sports dive is bigger than... -
#1762: Chubs
Posted on August 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Fargo, ND) Scooter’s 1762nd bar, first visited in 2024. This dive bar wasn’t originally on my radar but while I was finalizing my travel plans I realized it was... -
#1754: Monowi Tavern
Posted on July 2024 | No Comments(Monowi, NE) Scooter’s 1754th bar, first visited in 2024. On the last day of this vacation we took back roads and dropped down into northeastern Nebraska, specifically to visit the... -
#1750: Wagon Wheel Bar
Posted on July 2024 | No Comments(Interior, SD) Scooter’s 1750th bar, first visited in 2024. While driving through Badlands National Park we accidentally exited the park, and we decided “why not drive on to that little... -
#1749: Big Dummy’s
Posted on July 2024 | No Comments(Downtown, Mitchell, SD) Scooter’s 1749th bar, first visited in 2024. My picture is of the back because from the front it look closed, but when we circled back around the... -
#1740: Friendly Valley Tavern
Posted on December 2023 | No Comments(Peoria, IL) Scooter’s 1740th bar, first visited in 2023. Our last dive bar for this trip opened in an old bunker in 1947. The oddly-shaped building features a low and... -
#1739: Tartan Inn
Posted on December 2023 | No Comments(West Peoria, IL) Scooter’s 1739th bar, first visited in 2023. We decided to visit just one other bar in West Peoria, and it was a choice between Owls Nest and... -
#1738: Mike’s Tavern
Posted on December 2023 | No Comments(West Peoria, IL) Scooter’s 1738th bar, first visited in 2023. The town of West Peoria has a cluster of neighborhood dive bars, and we decided to explore a couple of... -
#1737: West Town Tap
Posted on December 2023 | No Comments(West Bluff, Peoria, IL) Scooter’s 1737th bar, first visited in 2023. This dive bar serves breakfast from 6am-2pm daily, so seemed like a good place to start the day. Most... -
#1736: The Basket Case
Posted on December 2023 | No Comments(West Bluff, Peoria, IL) Scooter’s 1736th bar, first visited in 2023. We hadn’t been to a dive bar yet on this trip and my wife wanted to sing, so after... -
#1729: Fat Boyz Grill & Bar
Posted on December 2023 | No Comments(Downtown, Kearney, MO) Scooter’s 1729th bar, first visited in 2023. We came up here for a big cannabis sale at a nearby dispensary, then decided to check out the local... -
#1719: The Sociable Inn
Posted on October 2023 | No Comments(Millard, Omaha, NE) Scooter’s 1719th bar, first visited in 2023. We decided our next bar was close enough to walk to, so we set out on foot passing a new...
