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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Holladay Distillery
18 June 2022(Weston, MO) Scooter’s 1533rd bar, first visited in 2022. This was a very cool find that I’ve probably driven past dozens of times and never noticed. The tasting room is...
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The Depot Pub & Grille
03 July 2024(Downtown, Mitchell, SD) Scooter’s 1748th bar, first visited in 2024. We stopped in here for dinner after setting up camp, after checking online menus and determining this looked like our...
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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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Iowa Archive
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#741: Dan’s Village Pump
Posted on July 2010 | No Comments(Knoxville, IA) Scooter’s 741st bar, first visited in 2010. The glare of the sun in this Google Maps Street View image left us with virtually no advance knowledge about this... -
#740: VFW Post 3519
Posted on July 2010 | No Comments(Knoxville, IA) John Myers Post Scooter’s 740th bar, first visited in 2010. From the Google Maps Street View of this place, we were unable to determine in advance if this... -
#739: Columbia Store & Tire
Posted on July 2010 | No Comments(Columbia, IA) Scooter’s 739th bar, first visited in 2010. This is one of the most unusual “bars” I have ever been to. From what I can gather, it was originally... -
#738: Sportsman’s Bar
Posted on July 2010 | No Comments(Downtown, Chariton, IA) Scooter’s 738th bar, first visited in 2010. This was a pretty big venue, though the actual bar was fairly small. Nothing on tap. There were pool tables,... -
#737: The Office
Posted on July 2010 | No Comments(Downtown, Chariton, IA) Scooter’s 737th bar, first visited in 2010. This place was brightly lit from natural lighting and very proudly showed off its Iowa Hawkeyes heritage. There was a... -
#736: Hurribak Club
Posted on July 2010 | No Comments(Downtown, Chariton, IA) Scooter’s 736th bar, first visited in 2010. I settled in here at the MegaTouch machine as I needed to kill about an hour of time. The interior... -
#657: Caddy Shack
Posted on July 2009 | No Comments(Council Bluffs, IA) Scooter’s 657th bar, first visited in 2009. We were the first customers of the day, and the bartender was still cleaning up from previous night’s RAGBRAI crowd... -
#656: Quarthouse Bar
Posted on July 2009 | No Comments(Downtown, Council Bluffs, IA) Scooter’s 656th bar, first visited in 2009. We headed over to Main Street and drove up and down both sides trying to decide what our next... -
#655: Glory Days
Posted on July 2009 | No Comments(Downtown, Council Bluffs, IA) Scooter’s 655th bar, first visited in 2009. This was a pretty nice sports bar. We discussed our plans for the day — would we stop when... -
#654: Barley’s
Posted on July 2009 | No Comments(Downtown, Council Bluffs, IA) Scooter’s 654th bar, first visited in 2009. This was a really nice looking old bar. However, the bartender was MIA. We sat there for about 10... -
#559: Blue Moon Bar
Posted on July 2009 | No Comments(Hamburg, IA) Scooter’s 559th bar, first visited in 2009. It was pretty busy inside, with a smell of burgers and fries permeating the air. There was nothing on tap so... -
#313: Jim’s Silver Dollar
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Bloomfield, IA) Scooter’s 313th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Old Milwaukeee 10oz draw – $1 S: Old Milwaukeee 10oz draw – $1 This place wasn’t bad at all… exactly... -
#312: American Legion Post 78
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Bloomfield, IA) Scooter’s 312th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Coors Light 10oz draw – $1 S: Coors Light 10oz draw – $1 We had trouble figuring out how to... -
#311: Cocanana’s
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 311th bar, first visited in 2007. We got our beers ($1 each for 10oz Bud Light draws) and I began looking through my notebook to see how... -
#310: The Salty Frog
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 310th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Bud Lite 8oz draw – $1.25 S: Bud Lite 8oz draw – $1.25 Right across the street from Scooters, this... -
#309: Scooters
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 309th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Tall Kamikaze – $3.50 S: Tall Kamikaze – $3.50 We entered through the back door and discovered that this was... -
#308: Tom Tom Tap
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 308th bar, first visited in 2007. Hotel bar for the Hotel Ottumwa B: Bud Lite 16oz draw – $2 S: Bud Lite 16oz draw – $2 Our... -
#307: Owl’s Nest
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 307th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Bud Lite 10oz draw – $1.25 S: Bud Lite 10oz draw – $1.25 We were now both feeling it. Not... -
#306: Uncle Buck’s Bar & Grill
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 306th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Bud Lite 16oz draw – $2 S: Bud Lite 16oz draw – $2 And, again, another zig-zag across the street.... -
#305: Dugout
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) OUT OF BUSINESS Shut down in July 2008 after a drug raid. Scooter’s 305th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Miller Light 10oz draw – $1.50 S: Miller... -
#304: The Keg
Posted on June 2007 | No Comments(Ottumwa, IA) Scooter’s 304th bar, first visited in 2007. B: Bud Lite 10oz draw – $1.25 S: Bud Lite 10oz draw – $1.25 A zig-zag across a busy street from...