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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Nebraska Brewing Company Tap Room & Brewery
14 October 2023(La Vista, NE) Scooter’s 1720th bar, first visited in 2023. I’ve been wanting to come here for many, many years, so this was definitely the highlight of the day for...
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Berts Pub & Grub
09 August 2006(Afton, IA) Scooter’s 109th bar, first visited in 2006. Afton, Iowa is the former county seat of Union County, and has a nice town square to prove it. While people...
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Deep Eddy Cabaret
27 August 2022(Westfield, Austin, TX) Scooter’s 1568th bar, first visited in 2022. On the way back in to drop off the rental car we decided to take in one last must-see dive...
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Iowa Archive
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#303: Front Runners
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 303rd bar, first visited in 2007. B: Old Milwaukee 12oz draw – $1.25 S: Old Milwaukee 12oz draw – $1.25 The change to Old Milwaukee was a... -
#302: Ned’s Place
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Batavia, IA) Scooter’s 302nd bar, first visited in 2007. Batavia was on the way back to Ottumwa and we stopped despite the fact that it was getting late, so we... -
#301: George’s
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Fairfield, IA) Scooter’s 301st bar, first visited in 2007. B: Coors Light bottle S: Coors Light bottle Now, my notes call this place “Taso’s Pizza & Pub”, but my photo... -
#300: VFW Post 2271
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Fairfield, IA) Scooter’s 300th bar, first visited in 2007. For years I have known of the statue of a distance ancestor in the town square at Fairfield but never had... -
#299: Primavera Club
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Formerly Harley’s Scooter’s 299th bar, first visited in 2007. Our intention was to pass through Ottumwa for now because we had some business to attend to in Fairfield,... -
#298: Alpine Inn
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 298th bar, first visited in 2007. We circled around this place twice trying to determine if it was actually a bar or not. Finally we went inside... -
#297: American Legion #136
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Albia, IA) Scooter’s 297th bar, first visited in 2007. We chatted with a guy named Bob who used to own a hardware store and would come to KC (technically to... -
#296: Brick Street Pub & Eatery
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Albia, IA) Scooter’s 296th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Bud Lite 10oz draw – $0.75 S: Bud Lite 10oz draw – $0.75 (Our tips were more than the cost... -
#295: Tennessee Owl Tap
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Albia, IA) Scooter’s 295th bar, first visited in 2007. We asked for the smallest draws available, and got the smallest draws we’ve ever had! They were almost embarassing. This guy... -
#294: Murph’s Sports Bar
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Albia, IA) Scooter’s 294th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Bud Lite 8oz draw – $1 S: Bud Lite 8oz draw – $1 17 S Clinton St Albia, IA 52531US... -
#293: Fat Annie’s
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Moravia, IA) Scooter’s 293rd bar, first visited in 2007. Either Annie wasn’t working today or she’s lost a lot of weight. The thing that most caught our attention was the... -
#292: The Alibi
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Centerville, IA) Scooter’s 292nd bar, first visited in 2007. Address unknown, placement approximate. Located behind the Ben Franklin on the west side of the town square, on State Street. There... -
#291: Gordie’s Bar & Grill
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Centerville, IA) Scooter’s 291st bar, first visited in 2007. The bartender here was who told us about this town having the largest town square. This bar was on a one-way... -
#290: The Silver Spur
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Centerville, IA) Scooter’s 290th bar, first visited in 2007. While I tried 3 times to close the men’s room door before giving up and peeing with it wide open, B... -
#289: Neighborhood Tap
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Seymour, IA) Scooter’s 289th bar, first visited in 2007. This was the first of many bars we’d visit this weekend on the town squares of small towns. We love those!... -
#288: Fibbin Fisherman Lounge
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Corydon, IA) Scooter’s 288th bar, first visited in 2007. I forgot to get a photo of this sign that was hanging behind the bar, I also forgot to buy one... -
#287: American Legion #379
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Allerton, IA) Scooter’s 287th bar, first visited in 2007. This town was a fairly significant detour off the main highways and had only one bar, so we had already called... -
#175: River Bar
Posted on August 2006 | No Comments(Dows, IA) Scooter’s 175th bar, first visited in 2006. This was another unexpectedly nice place. One thing we had noticed throughout the trip was that we never came across anyplace... -
#138: Sportsmans Lounge
Posted on August 2006 | No Comments(Mason City, IA) Scooter’s 138th bar, first visited in 2006. The bartender was a tall blond-haired guy who talked about Mason City in its night-life heyday (complete with strip clubs)... -
#137: Candy Bar Nite Club
Posted on August 2006 | No Comments(Mason City, IA) Formerly The Poodle Scooter’s 137th bar, first visited in 2006. I don’t remember much about this place other than approximately where it was. 116 N Federal Ave... -
#136: South Federal Reserve
Posted on August 2006 | No Comments(Mason City, IA) Formerly Sallee’s Closed, but a new bar has opened in the same location. Is back to its original name: Sallee’s. Scooter’s 136th bar, first visited in 2006....