(Part three of a series…)

This is where our trip through Iowa took a turn for the odd.

It began when we arrived in Williamson, IA, to visit the Williamson Tavern [map].    Williamson Tavern is home of the Poppa Burger — a burger the size of a large dinner plate.   However we pulled up out front to find two grizzly-looking men working on a complicated piece of plumbing pipe and a sign on the door stating the tavern was closed through July 12.   It was only July 10.    Bummer.

We continued north to our next town, Columbia, where it was our intention to have a beer at a tire store.

Seriously.

We missed the gravel road that was our turn, so had to turn at the next road and backtrack into town.

This was where things started to get creepy for me, personally.

As a result of all the barhopping trips I have taken, I occasionally have dreams about barhopping. A few months ago I had a dream that I was in a small town…

The main road in was a gravel road. At the main intersection in town, at the northeast corner, was a gray service station. I went inside and a mechanic was putting tires on a car. I was wanting a beer and I noticed a doorway leading to the east side of the building. I stepped through the door and found myself in a long, white room with cafeteria/diner style tables. At the north end of the room were restrooms, at the south went there were windows facing the road. There was a beer cooler in the southeast corner of the room. I grabbed a beer and a woman at a cash register behind me rang me up. As I sat at a table drinking my beer, I noticed people outside the windows pushing strollers.

And that was basically the extent of the dream.

So now, here I was in Columbia, Iowa.  Getting ready to have a beer at one of the most unusual “bars” I have ever been to. From what I can gather, it was originally a tire store and possibly a small general store. But at the end of April 2010, they opened a Bar & Grill.

#4 (#739): Columbia Store & Tire

1035 Virginia St.
Columbia, IA 50057
(641) 943-2216
[map] [web]

The main road leading into the town is gravel. Columbia Store & Tire sits at the northeast corner of the main intersection. The garage is on the west side of the building, to the east is the longer main building (which is bluish-gray in color). I stepped inside and found myself in a long white room with cafeteria/diner style tables. The bathrooms were at the north end of the room, the south wall had windows.

That was a creepy enough reflection of my dream. But then it got even weirder.

We asked the woman at the counter if this was the bar & grill. “Well, there’s no actual bar,” she said, “just grab yourself some beer from the cooler over there.” She pointed, we turned, and there was a beer cooler in the southeast corner of the room.

Wow.
We grabbed our beers and paid. My friend, out of habit, tipped her a buck.

“That may be the first time in the history of tipping,” he pondered as we sat down, “that someone got a tip for merely pointing. She never… actually… touched… the beer.”

Which is true… the bottles had twist-off caps so we opened them ourselves.

The woman asked if we were in town for the parade, which was apparently about to start. Looking out the window, I noticed a woman pushing a stroller down the street heading towards the parade route. The final element of my dream had just happened.

I was… freaked… out. :)

We didn’t have time to stick around for the parade, we had lots of places to see and needed to continue on up the highway…