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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#1385: The Gallows
Posted on October 2019 | No Comments(Lamar, MO) Scooter’s 1385th bar, first visited in 2019. Stopped here on the way to Joplin because I loved the name. It was pretty quiet in there at the time... -
#1379: Crazy Woman Saloon
Posted on September 2019 | No Comments(Dayton, WY) Scooter’s 1379th bar, first visited in 2019. We stopped in here specifically because we liked the name. A name that is also shared with a creek, a hiking... -
#1378: Fort Rockvale
Posted on September 2019 | No Comments(Rockvale, MT) Scooter’s 1378th bar, first visited in 2019. This was not an intended stop, but after two attempts in a row to stop at gas stations to use the... -
#1377: Sip ‘n Dip Lounge
Posted on September 2019 | No Comments(Great Falls, MT) Scooter’s 1377th bar, first visited in 2019. Who would ever think that the bar in a borderline shady motel would be a tourist attraction? But that’s exactly... -
#1366: Sully’s Pub
Posted on August 2019 | No Comments(Mission, KS) Scooter’s 1366th bar, first visited in 2019. In all my years of trying to visit every dive bar in the KC area, I do’t know how I’ve managed... -
#1365: Dick Weed’s Bar
Posted on August 2019 | No Comments(Mt Clemens, MI) Scooter’s 1365th bar, first visited in 2019. We wanted to get a nice dive bar in on our afternoon, and we picked this one based partly on... -
#1355: Cumming Tap
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Cumming, IA) Scooter’s 1355th bar, first visited in 2019. Because it’s adjacent to a trailhead for a major bike path (in fact there’s a path blazed from the trailhead directly... -
#1349: Buddy’s Corral
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1349th bar, first visited in 2019. This is a gay bar, but we got here too early in the day. We kind of felt like... -
#1348: Ernie’s Boondock
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1348th bar, first visited in 2019. This is an odd duck in that it is a new-build dive bar. That’s really hard to do, you... -
#1346: Carl’s Place
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Sherman Hill, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1346th bar, first visited in 2019. After breakfast we had an uber take us to what Yelp calls the best dive bar in all... -
#1342: The High Life Lounge
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1342nd bar, first visited in 2019. When we stepped in the door there were only a couple of seats at the bar but there was... -
#1343: Shorty’s Somewhat Fancy Bar
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1343rd bar, first visited in 2019. We tried to go to El Bait Shop next but it was wasn’t happening — far too crowded. So... -
#1339: L D’s Corner Bar
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(McKinley School/ Columbus Park, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1339th bar, first visited in 2019. Originally we had made the difficult decision of cutting this place from our itinerary. But after... -
#1337: Mugsley’s Pub
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Bethany, MO) Scooter’s 1337th bar, first visited in 2019. My friend Brandon and I tried to visit here over a decade ago when it was a placed called Right... -
#1327: Holler House
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Forest Home Hills, Milwaukee, WI) Scooter’s 1327th bar, first visited in 2019. I have been to a ton of dive bars. Up to the point of this writing, I had... -
#1326: Wolski’s Tavern
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Lower East Side, Milwaukee, WI) Scooter’s 1326th bar, first visited in 2019. We had been having such a good time at At Random that we were in serious danger of... -
#1324: The Bubbler
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Bay View, Milwaukee, WI) Scooter’s 1324th bar, first visited in 2019. The other neighborhood bar near our AirBNB, this was just a few minutes walk east from Sam’s Tap and... -
#1320: George’s Pub
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Harbor View, Milwaukee, WI) Scooter’s 1320th bar, first visited in 2019. Back last November, a couple of Canadians came into Zoo Bar on a Saturday. They liked to travel, and... -
#1317: Scaffidi’s Hideout
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Lower East Side, Milwaukee, WI) Scooter’s 1317th bar, first visited in 2019. At the other end of the block from Fink’s was arrived at the bar we were originally heading... -
#1316: Fink’s
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Lower East Side, Milwaukee, WI) Scooter’s 1316th bar, first visited in 2019. While we were eating at Red Lion we did some googling and found a place called Scaffidi’s Hideout... -
#1314: Fong’s Pizza
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1314th bar, first visited in 2019. An odd fusion of Chinese, Italian, and Polynesian in a borderline dive-bar setiing that somehow comes together and works....
