Cooter's

So far we have visited a handful of bars and it is interesting how we have gone from being a little nervous to be in weird situations at bars we are unfamiliar with, to being at Cooter's and rolling with everything. Pretty much everything about this bar should have yelled uncomfortable. Cooter's, despite its location right on 1st Avenue, is really in a poor spot, (right next to the old Happy Hour Health Spa.) It's also tiny (don't be fooled by the wall of mirrors that make it seem much larger than it is.) There is basically no parking in the front since it is on 1st Avenue. I guess there is some parking in the back. Almost immediately after we walked in and ordered beer, a drunk girl came over and asked if we were "from Linn County." I said yes, and she said, "you look like you are lost." (As a side note: If I was lost and didn't know my way around town, I would not have walked into Cooter's for directions.) Apparently, they don't get outsiders very often. Thats not a problem, because I just answered her question with a question: "Is there beer here?" ...to which she replied yes, and I proudly exclaimed that if there was beer, I was not lost. The bartender was nothing but friendly. He gave Emily a free birthday shot (it really was her birthday) and he let her add her name to the November birthday board. Then the guy sitting at the bar (who happened to be the entertainment for the evening) got up and played Emily a Happy Birthday song. Everyone sure did a great job of welcoming us in, even though they knew we were not regulars. Overall, I can honestly say I will never return to this bar, solely because I have no reason to. I don't know anyone that goes there, it's not by my house and it doesn't offer anything that any other neighborhood bar couldn't. It is not from lack of service, or lack of hospitality, but just generally because we don't fit in here. The bar tour is about meeting people and getting outside of our comfort zone, and I think we did really well here at this bar, because we both walked away with a positive experience, in what should have been nothing but uncomfortable.