Wednesday, July 15, 2009. The first day our barhopping trip that we had been planning for almost a year in celebration of B’s graduation. (Plus, we never really took any long trips in 2008 and they have become kind of a tradition.)

We hit the highway at 8am on a drizzly Wednesday morning, heading north on I-29 towards Lincoln, Nebraska.

Our first stop was in the town of Dearborn, MO (pop 529) where we prepped our systems with breakfast at…
Cook’s Corner Cafe
214 Main St
Dearborn, MO 64439-9212
(816) 450-3600
[map]

Once our bellies had a nice base layer of food in them, it was time to go get a drink.

Mound City, MO

(pop 1193)
Named for its location at the southern end of the Loess Hills area.

1. Quackers Bar & Grill

1012 State St
Mound City, MO 64470-1163
(660) 442-5502
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

The bar area was fairly small, and while several tables were occupied we were obviously the first bar customers of the day. The room (and much of the town, for that matter) was all decked out with a duck hunting motif. Down to the shotgun shells embedded into the bar top.

2. Terri’s Place Bar & Grill

520 State St
Mound City, MO 64470-1145
(660) 442-5516
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

It only took our second stop to find our first bar with nothing on tap. We popped open a couple of cans of Coors while a table of old regulars chatted about the results of some sort of tournament.

Rock Port, MO

(pop 1395)
Dotted with wind turbines, Rock Port is the first city in America to generate 100% of its own electricity from wind power.

Our first stop in Rock Port was to have been…
Downtowner Tavern
314 S Main St
Rock Port, MO 64482-1534
(660) 744-6500
[map]

…but we found it to be closed. So we headed across the interstate to…

Black Iron Grill Steakhouse and Saloon
1300 Us Highway 136 W
Rock Port, MO 64482
(660) 744-2447
[map]
We were glad to find it open, but that quickly turned to disappointment when we found that only the restaurant was open — the bar would not be open for a few more hours. At least we got a chuckle out of the “Hippies must use rear entrance” sign next to the door to the lounge.

Hamburg, IA

(pop 1240)
A major producer of Orville Redenbacher popcorn.

3. Blue Moon Bar

908 Main St
Hamburg, IA 51640-1230
(712) 382-1323
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

It was pretty busy inside, with a smell of burgers and fries permeating the air. There was nothing on tap so we got some bottles of Bud Light.

Nebraska City, NE

(pop 7228)
The home of Arbor Day and a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Our drive to Nebraska City began with some confusion. We had intended to enter the city from the east by way of Business Highway 2, with our first stop being a bar called Geno’s. We reached Business 2 and followed it into town, passing a golf course and a displayed military tank but never seeing Geno’s.

We reached US-75 and made a left turn. Within 2 blocks we realized the street numbers were getting smaller when they should have been getting larger. Huh? Was our map somehow upside-down and backwards???

Acting under the assumption that our map was somehow inverted and flipped, we extrapolated a new course and went in search of a drink.

The first bar we came to was…
Linemen
416 Central Ave
Nebraska City, NE 68410-2536
(402) 873-7997
[map]

It was closed. But another bar nearby got our business instead.

4. Wagon Wheel Bar

612 Central Ave
Nebraska City, NE 68410-2449
(402) 873-9827
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

To our right, an old man with a very, very large nose. To our left, a child shot pool while his dad was getting himself drunk. A good bar!

Our next attempt was…

Good Times At Stanleys
704 Central Ave
Nebraska City, NE 68410
[map]
According to the hours we saw it should have been open, but it wasn’t. So we headed a little further down the road.

5. Ron’s Bar & Grill

1219 Central Ave
Nebraska City, NE 68410-2309
(402) 873-9926
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

This was a pretty big place, and the bar had kind of a lunch counter feel to it. The older couple that was running the bar told us about various sights to see in Nebraska City.

On a whim we asked them about our map confusion and at first they were was puzzled as we were. But when we mentioned the golf course, something clicked and they figured it. We had actually entered Nebraska City from the west. How? We missed the first turnoff onto Business 2, which was immediately across the river into Nebraska, and followed the slow curve of the bypass around the city, taking instead the second Business 2 exit back into town.

6. Paul Tavern-Kats Place

5996 N Rd
Nebraska City, NE 68410-6552
(402) 873-4501
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

Located in the unincorporated community of Paul, one of approximately 6 buildings in the village. The inside of the bar was a dingy white and fairly bright. We talked with a former truck driver (possibly the owner), whose beard merged perfectly with his chest hair, about the time several years ago that he spent 14 weeks driving loads of bagels to the Cold Storage building in the River Market back in Kansas City.

7. End Zone

703 S 11th St
Nebraska City, NE 68410-3146
(402) 873-9909
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

Looked like a converted Pizza Shoppe. Had a sand volleyball court outside, something we soon found to be common about Nebraska bars. (The other commonality is that nearly all of them have Keno.)

The Silver Strike machine had inadvertently been left in admin mode, so we could easily have had a lot of fun with that.

We were going to to leave Nebraska City after this place, but while talking to the bartender we learned that a place downtown called Dinty Moore, which I thought was a deli, was in fact a tiny dive bar.

8. Dinty Moore’s Lunch Room

108 S 8th St
Nebraska City, NE 68410-2446
(402) 873-5833
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

This was a tiny, tiny bar. Though no one was eating at the moment, the lunch cooking in the kitchen filled the bar with a delicious, beefy smell.

Union, NE

(pop 260)
The “downtown” strip in Union has been rebuilt several times since the village was founded in 1890. It has fallen victim to numerous floods from Weeping Water Creek as well as been destroyed by prairie fire on more than one occasion.

9. Brown Bottle

108 Main St
Union, NE 68455-4716
(402) 263-9755
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

By now it was a little after 3:00 in the afternoon. We walked up to the front door of the bar… and it was locked. We turned to walk away… then noticed the other door we were standing right next to. Open. We had been tricked by a false door.

The bartender was not from Union herself, and told us about how the nearby town of Nehawka is where most of the people around this general area go to school.

Midway through our drinks the back door opened and a thick, tough-looking farm guy entered. He sat down to our left and ordered… a vodka cranberry??? C’mon, dude!

Nehawka, NE

(pop 232)
This was the first town where we notice a tendency of small towns around here to place some sort of vertical object in the center of the town’s main intersection. In this case, a big flagpole in the center of Main & Elm.

10. Ruli’s Pour House

417 Elm
Nehawka, NE 68413
(402) 227-2026
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

This place had a pretty big beer garden to the side. We asked the bartender who Ruli is and we learned it is an amalgamation of the names of the bar’s owners: Ruth and Lisa.

By the way, Ruli’s had been the end point of Bikers for Boobies just a few weeks earlier.

Avoca, NE

(pop 270)
Hosts the annual Quack-Off duck race, where ~150 live ducks race to benefit the volunteer fire department. The tennis court in the city park is flooded and used to host the race.

11. Roadrunner Bar

513 House St
Avoca, NE 68307
(402) 275-3334
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

We played a few games of bartop trivia and set a respectable new high score.

I had some birthday cards I needed to mail but I had no stamps. We headed up the street to the post office but, being 4:18pm, it was already closed.

Weeping Water, NE

(pop 1103)
Best known for its large limestone quarry on the west side of town. The town gets its name from Weeping Water creek. Legend says the creek got its name after two Indian tribes battled in a valley, and the women cried so many tears over the dead that they collected together to form a stream. The reality is considerably more mundane. The creek was given a name meaning “Rustling Water” by the Indians, referring to the sound of the rapids in the area. Early French settlers misunderstood the word and thought it was a similar sounding word that translated as “Weeping” instead.

12. Hopkins Tavern

305 W Eldora Ave
Weeping Water, NE 68463
(402) 267-5232
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

When we first arrived the bar was empty. As we drank our beer we asked the bartender for directions to our next town, Manley. He was new to the area and didn’t know, so called a friend. His friend’s first question to me was if we were riding bikes or driving. “Driving,” I said. He told me he’d come down and hung up.

The bartender told us the story of how he came to be in this area and working at a bar, and within moments his friend arrived and started giving me directions.

The route would take us on dirt roads and the instructions included an important detail: “You’ll see scale houses on each side of the road. As soon as you pass the scales on your right, that’s when you need to turn.”

By the time he finished giving us directions the bar had filled up, and some nearby patrons had overheard and asked where we were heading. We explained that we were going to the bar in Manley, and they wished us well.

After an initial false start we soon got going on the road to Manley. Along the way we saw a cropduster in action, something neither of us had ever seen before (but that both of us would see a few more times on this trip.

After several miles something dawned on me. I turned to B and asked, “By the way, in the agricultural sense, do you have any idea what ’scales’ are?”

“No,” he said, “I was wondering too but I assumed you knew.”

“No, I have no idea,” I said. “He said it so matter-of-factly I just assumed it would be something obvious.”

Whoops.

No matter, we soon came to a highway, spotted a water tower, and made our way into town.

Manley, NE

(pop 191)
For a population of only 151, this sure seemed like a big town.

13. Get-A-Way Bar & Grill

115 Main St
Manley, NE 68403
(402) 234-9903

The first thing we noticed was that the sign outside said “Good Times”. We stepped in and asked a customer if this place had ever been called “Get-A-Way”.

“No, it’s always been ‘Good Times’ as far as I know,” she said.

“That’s odd. Is there another bar here in Manley?” we asked.

“This isn’t Manley, this is Louisville,” she informed us.

Uh-oh!

Let’s try this again…

Louisville, NE

(pop 1046)
Pronounced “LOO-iss-vill” — Originally the site of Nebraska’s first pottery works, now a major cement production center.

13. Good Times

225 Main St
Louisville, NE 68037-6032
(402) 234-9900
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

The people in this bar were very friendly. While walking back from the restroom I accidently bumped into a biker, causing him to spill some of his beer. “Oh, I’m really sorry,” I told him. “Oh don’t worry about it,” he said with a laugh, “it’s no harm at all.”

We got new directions to Manley from the woman who informed us of our actual location.

Manley, NE

(pop 191)
NOW the town looks like the right size for its population.

14. Get-A-Way Bar & Grill

115 Main St
Manley, NE 68403
(402) 234-9903
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

We got inside and the first thing we noticed was that our friends from Hopkins Tavern back in Weeping Water were there.

“It’s about time!” they said.

They got a good laugh out of it when we explained that we had arrived by way of Louisville.

The bar was completely full so we had to sit at a table. We decided to go ahead and get a little food, just some fried appetizers, and the bartender was so service-minded that she wouldn’t hear of it when we got up to order from the bar and she instead came around to take our orders.

I knew it had to be getting late since the evening news was on, which meant we had fallen a little behind schedule. As we watched the TVs we noticed that the ceiling was decorated with dozens of classic beer tap handles.

Next, it was time to go to my namesake town.

Murdock, NE

(pop 269)
Named for a railroad official after none of the early residents would allow their own names to be used. (Towns were established every 7 miles along rail lines in order to replenish the steam locomotives with water.) The town museum features the local school’s lettermen’s jackets and cheerleader uniforms spanning the decades, among other things.

15. Bulldog’s Bar & Grill

301 Nebraska St
Murdock, NE 68407-5027
(402) 867-9191
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

We made our way over to Murdock and parked across the street from the bar, conveniently right in front of the post office. Unfortunately I still did not have any stamps and this was the town I wanted to mail my cards from.

As we stepped in the door we were bum-rushed by two little kids who darted in past us and took the only two remaining seats at the bar. Most of the tables were occupied. As we looked around for a place to sit, three guys at the other end of the bar scooted around to make room and invited us down to sit near them.

Our bartender’s name was Lori and she was very busy dealing with a full house, but I was finally able to get a moment of her time to find out if she or the bar had a couple of stamps I could buy. Unfortunately, she did not.

Just as it looked like my hope of mailing out these cards with my last name as the postmark was dashed, one of the local guys who had moved earlier to make room for us chimed in. “I think I have some stamps in my car,” he said, “I’ll be right back.”

A few moments later he returned. I gave him a buck for the stamps and bought him a beer for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Had those two little kids not chumped us for the barstools, I’m most likely have had to mail my cards from Lincoln instead and lose the fun of the Murdock postmark.

Eagle, NE

(pop 1105)
Best known for its dirt racetrack, the Eagle Raceway, known by many as “The World’s Fastest Third Mile.” Much of the town is either of English or German descent, in the early days there were many squabbles over the opening of taverns. The town remained largely bilingual until anti-German sentiment during WWI ended the use of German.

16. One Eyed Dog Saloon

540 S 4th St
Eagle, NE 68347-5092
(402) 781-2739
oneeyeddogsaloon.com
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

Biker bar with a pretty good sized beer garden. This was where we really started noticing the popularity of Keno. We read through a Keno book and B played a few games.

Lincoln, NE

(pop 225,581)
Capital and second largest city of Nebraska, and home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln was originally named Lancaster, and before statehood was granted the territorial capital was Omaha. Much of the population of the territory was south of the Platte River and wanted to be annexed by Kansas, so it was proposed to relocate the capital further south and west to try to prevent this annexation. The tiny village of Lancaster, located on salt flats southwwest of Omaha, was chosen. Omaha opposed relocating the capital so renamed the town of Lancaster as Lincoln, after the recently-slain president, in order to rile up the largely pro-confederacy populace against the plan to move the capital. The move backfired, Lincoln became the new capital and thrived. And the original intent succeeded, Nebraska remained intact when it became a state.

17. The Cellar

6913 O St
Lincoln, NE 68510-2424
(402) 488-2002
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

A retro lounge (in decor, not theme) with a regular, laid-back vibe. The bartender was really into what we were doing and, after getting a feel for the kinds of bars we like, wrote down a good list of places we should check out. (Unfortunately, as it would turn out, the only bar on his list we would make it far enough today to see was closed.)

(For the curious, he recommended: Zen, Marz, Zoo Bar, Buffy’s, Watering Hole, and Cliff’s. Zoo Bar was the only of these we reached before the end of the night and it was closed for some inexplicable reason.)

At this point we went ahead and checked into our motel:

Budget Host Inn-Great Plains Motel
2732 O St
Lincoln, NE 68510-1341
(402) 476-3253
[map]
Sure, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, but you don’t see that when you are asleep. So other than being awakened at 6am by screaming children in another room, it was not too bad for $45 a night. We dropped off our belongings, grabbed our maps, and headed west into downtown Lincoln on foot.

18. Tam O’Shanter Lounge

105 S 25th St
Lincoln, NE 68510-1211
(402) 474-2394
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

We happened to come in on “Crappy Beer Night”, so got ourselves some $2 bottles of Miller High Life.

19. The Keg

104 N 20th St
Lincoln, NE 68503-3604
(402) 474-9395
kegsteakhouse.com
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

There were quite a few motorcycles in the parking lot. We stepped inside and the first thing we noticed was that the floor under the bar was covered in piles of used lottery tickets. “I dropped a winner in here the other night, I’m here to reclaim it!” B announced to the bartender.

Saddles hung from the ceiling, and beer was served in jars. I was bothered by a strange smell that I thought was similar to baby diarrhea, but B thought I was crazy so maybe it was just my imagination. We reminisced about our trip to Salina back in 2007 and discussed plans for a domain name inspired by that trip.

20. Sidewinders

1644 O St
Lincoln, NE 68508-1633
(402) 261-5826
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

Whenever you have a bar that’s set up primarily to be a music venue, very often you wind up with a bar that doesn’t seem to have any character or personality if there isn’t a band playing. That seemed to be kind of the problem here. B though this place blew and wanted to hurry and leave, but I thought that any bar that had Family Guy playing on the big screen can’t be all that bad.

21. The Spigot

1624 O St
Lincoln, NE 68508-1633
(402) 435-4582
thespigotlounge.com
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

There were a couple of college kids loitering outside. “I don’t want any trouble!” B informed them as we stepped inside.

As is the case with most bars in college towns, beer gets served in oversized glasses that make it hard to drink it all before it’s warm and flat. (At least, unless you are one of those 22-year-old fratboy types who still thinks drinking beer is about chugging as much as you can, as fast as you can.) So, to get around that problem, we requested cans. Much to our chagrin, we were given 16oz cans.

As we worked our way through the volume (keep in mind, this was beer #21 for each of us and our stomachs can only stretch so far) we told the girls sitting next to us about the trip we were taking. They were in utter disbelief that we had walked here from 27th Street, making me wonder if maybe Lincoln is less safe than I assumed?

22. Harry’s Wonder Bar

1621 O St
Lincoln, NE 68508-1634
(402) 474-7309
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

On the advice of our friends at The Spigot we crossed the street and found ourselves in a nice little dive, the kind of place we really like.

We ordered beer, but evidently mixed drinks are supposed to be the way to enjoy this place. While other bars are stingey, this place serves up a basic mixed drink in a beer mug… at least in the demonstration we were given.

23. Brass Rail

1436 O St
Lincoln, NE 68508-3807
(402) 474-5741
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

Upon entering we noticed that this was definitely a fratboy hangout. So as soon as we had our drinks in hand, B decided to screw with the bartender.

“Have you ever had a visit from the sheriff department before?” B asked.

“No, sir,” said the bartender.

“So prior to tonight no one from the sheriff department has been in here?” B pressed.

“Not that I am aware of,” the bartender replied.

“I see. Interesting. Well, carry on,” B said.

The bartender high-tailed it to the far opposite end of the bar and stayed there until we were gone.

We went back outside and were trying to determine our options. Sandy’s? Dillinger’s? Iguana’s? Suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by an army of college kids who seemingly appeared out of thin air. We darted north on O to make an escape. Rounding the corner we passed a closed Zoo Bar and soon found our next stop for the night.

24. Bison Witches Bar & Deli

1320 P St # 100
Lincoln, NE 68508-1510
(402) 474-3366
bisonwitches.com
[map]
(Click thumbnails to view photos)

It was microbrew/import night, all microbrews and imports were $2.50. While B perused the cooler I I went to use the restroom. “Just get me whatever,” I told him, “I trust your judgement.”

I returned to find a choice between Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. I chose the Sierra Nevada. I chose poorly. I forgot I really don’t like the Sierra Nevada ale. We ended up trading bottles halfway through.

We got back outside and headed a little further west, but everything we saw was more upscale/pretentious looking that we really wanted. It was 12:30, we had half an hour until the bars closed, so decided we wanted to find one more good dive.

Checking the map it looked like Beacon Lounge might be our best bet. We headed back south, crossed O, and reached a large parking lot. But by this point I had the hiccups and both of us were staggering. Half a block from the bar, B spotted an idling cab. It was 12:40, bars close here at 1:00. B made a judgment call that maybe we’d be better off just taking that cab now than trying to get one in 20 minutes when everyone else would be too.

I had the hiccups the entire cab ride back to the motel and for several more minutes once inside the room. As soon as they ended, I passed out. The next morning, when downloading photos, I found closeup pictures of toothpaste and of me passed out. Scary!

Continued in Part 2…