Nope, this isn’t a story about church — though part of the story is. One of my brothers had the day after St. Patrick’s Day off work and I needed a day off. I had him spin a virtual spinner and it landed on “Southeast”, so I plotted a course and we headed in that direction in search of a few beers to see if we couldn’t get enough new bars added to my collection to get it up to 700. :)

#686: Jerry’s Bait Shop

302 Southwest Main Street
Lees Summit, MO 64063
(816) 525-1871

[map] [web]

10:30am

Jerry’s main focus is as a music venue, but as we were the first customers of the day on a weekday we had the place to ourselves. Our bartender actually seemed confused to have customers this early. :) We got in a round of Silver Strike while enjoying our beers.

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#687: The Peanut

219 Southeast Main Street
Lees Summit, MO 64063
(816) 524-9966

[map] [web]

11:05am

The Peanut’s Lee’s Summit location is much larger than the Plaza or Downtown locations, but doesn’t have the same character or neighborhood feel as those locations. We played some Golden Tee during our late morning visit.

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#688: Sharkeez

17 Southwest 3rd Street
Lees Summit, MO 64063
(816) 600-6104

[map] [web]

11:40am

I was surprised to find this open this early, I had been under the impression it didn’t open until the afternoon. This was a really nice neighborhood bar.

About midway through our drinks we were finally joined by another customer for the first time today.

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#689: Logan’s Cabin

807 SW Oldham Pkwy
Lees Summit, MO 64081
(816) 525-9370

[map]

12:20pm

Now that it was lunchtime we would no longer be the the only bar customers for a while. We walked in to find about half a dozen older gentlemen regulars and a nice bartender who was vacuuming up feathers left over from the previous night’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The bar is horseshoe-shaped with a cowbell hung directly over the center. The surrounding area has tables, pool tables, darts, and a small stage/dance area.

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#690: Stumble Inn

104 S. Pine St.
Holden, MO 64040
(816) 732-5525

[map]

1:40pm

I had been looking forward to visiting this bar for over a year since I first found it on Google Street View and fell in love with its run-down look.

“Are we really going in there?” my brother asked incredulously. “That building needs to be condemned and knocked down. Or at least repainted.”

Nonsense. Some people just can’t appreciate a rustic old building with character.

It took some time for our eyes to adjust once inside, it was quite a bit darker than the photos below make it seem. The locals were very friendly.

I really liked the original exposed natural stone at the back end of the bar.

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#691: Cowboy Inn

119 E. 2nd St.
Holden, MO 64040
(816) 732-6711

[map]

2:10pm

This was a nice quiet downtown bar with a small deli counter in the front and a good menu of sandwiches and fried foods. I had a pretty delicious tenderloin and some rather good fries.

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#692: Mary’s Corral

512 Gamble Ave.
Strasburg, MO 64090
(816) 865-3330
[map]

3:25pm

This is another place I’ve been curious about for a while, having seen it a few times while driving on MO-58.

I imagine this place gets pretty busy, but the 3:00 hour is one of the deadest times of day for a bar so we were the only customers. On the first day of NCAA basketball tournament games, our bartender welcomed us by turning on the TV to a PBS documentary about working conditions in copper mines in the 1910s. This led to my brother calling the visit “depressing”.

Though Coors and Miller were listed on the menu, “We don’t carry Coors and usually don’t have Miller,” the bartender told us.

The pool table was in a separate room in the front of the bar.

While pooping in bars is generally a violation of proper bar etiquette, one would definitely not want to do it here. The sewer system can’t handle toilet paper so your wipings all have to be tossed into a basket.

Our drive to the next town took us down a series of dirt roads whose condition deteriorated rapidly to the point I worried my car wouldn’t make it…

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#693: Fugly’s Bar & Grill

109 Indiana
East Lynne, MO 64743
(816) 626-3307

[map]

4:05pm

Operated by Modern Day Veterans Post 295, Fugley’s (aka The Assembly of the Drunken Brethren Church) is a bar & grill built from a converted century-old church. (Or older? I found a reference to a church founded in town in 1874, which would be consistent with the construction style.)

Not surprisingly this has offended a few people — there is a small Facebook group opposed to this bar — but I got the impression that the majority in the community enjoy the gathering spot and are happy seeing the historic building in use instead of sitting empty.

The building’s history results in the interior being one of the most beautiful bars I have ever visited (my pictures don’t do it justice), with much of the original woodwork exposed.

Where the pulpit once stood there are now some games and a stage, where there were once pews there are now bar tables and pool tables. The bar itself is V-shaped and occupies most of one of the long walls.

Thanks to it being happy hour this was the cheapest bar of the day, with $1 draws. So I broke my rule and stayed for another round. :)

Incidentally if you are woundering where Lynne or West Lynne are, you won’t find them. When East Lynne was founded in 1874, it was named after a very popular play of that time period.

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#694: Pleasant Hill Pool Hall

19 South 1st Street
Pleasant Hill, MO 64080
(816) 540-2004

[map]

4:55pm

Pleasant Hill Pool Hall, operated by Vikings USA Bootheel MO Post 190, is rumored to be the oldest pool hall in Missouri and possibly west of the Mississippi. The floor and most of the exposed surfaces are original, and the inside of the building definitely has a rustic beauty to it.

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#695: Rooster’s Sports Bar

100 S State Route 7
Pleasant Hill, MO 64080
(816) 987-5769
[map]

5:25pm

Roosters is part steakhouse, part sports bar. It was pretty busy during our visit. According to the collapsing billboard outside they also feature live entertainment and dance nights.

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#696: Home Plate Grill & Sports Bar

2119 N State Route 7
Pleasant Hill, MO 64080
(816) 540-2000
[map] [web]

This was a pretty basic strip mall hangout. Half the place was dedicated to the restaurant, the bar was on the other side of a dividing wall.

The bar side was set up like a sports bar and hosts live entertainment.

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#697: Lake House Pub

27909 East Colbern Road
Lake Lotawana, MO 64086
(816) 578-5770
[map] [web]

6:35pm

This visit to an extremely popular night spot in Lake Lotawana finally settled a personal mystery of mine that has intrigued me since our accidental (but unsuccessful) discovery of this place 3+ years ago.

The tropical-themed bar is split level, with pool tables on both levels and a stage, patio, and the main bar on the lower level.

In the space of ten minutes we witnessed overfly friendly happy drunks and angry drunks trying to start trouble. But happy drunks were the clear majority, which is probably what makes this bar such a draw.

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#698: Canoe Club

27905 E. Colbern Rd
Lake Lotawana, MO 64086
(816) 578-5700

[map] [web]

7:05pm

This was a bonus bar — we didn’t know about it at all even though it was right next door to Lake House Pub. The bar is inside a somewhat-upscale restaurant that seemed to be seafood-oriented. Just off the side of the bar is a large outdoor deck. I didn’t see an obvious stage area but the bar does occasionally host bands.

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#699: Russo’s Pizza & Pub

9324 Missouri 7
Lees Summit, MO 64064
(816) 578-4943
[map]

7:40pm

I’ve driven by Russo’s for many years but for some reason had never stopped in before tonight. Apparently it’s a biker bar, though I’ve never seen many bikes outside.

The pizza is a cracker crust with a delicious sweet tomato sauce and plenty of cheese. I would have liked a little more pepperoni but overall it was very good — we devoured a large in minutes.

The main bar room is fairly large, with several smaller dining areas broken off throughout the building.

I’d never seen wicker bar stools before…

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#700: Do Drop Inn

22 SW 3rd Street
Lees Summit, MO 64063
(816) 525-7806

[map]

8:45pm

This was supposed to be our first stop of the day since it was listed online as opening at 10am, but they had recently changed their hours and now open at 2pm. So we decided to give it a visit on our way back into town.

There were few places left to sit in this downtown Lee’s Summit neighborhood dive, so we had to take a table by the door. The bar’s most interesting features are its piano and a collection of arrowheads displayed over the bar.

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So with that, I’ve crossed another hundred milestone. Just 300 more to 1,000. I should be there in… 2012? 2013? :)