Spinoff: Kids in bars and similar small town/good 'ol days stories

[RidgeHunter]

Spun from another thread. Post 'em up.

We got these so far:

Anecdote: I was in small-town Missouri last weekend at this awesome dive bar/restaurant and there was an kid about 8 years old (complete with a rat tail..I can't make this sheet up) sitting next to his parents at the bar (obviously regulars) while they drank draft PBR and chain smoked Camels.

He'd spin around on his bar stool, laugh at the bartender joking around with him, walk over to the video games and play for bit, etc.

It was heartwarming to see that in 2012, because you'd never see it in a bigger city nowadays. They'd tackle yer kid 'fore they let him near the bar.

Also one of the waitresses (of whom all could have kicked my ass) came and sat next to us on break and lit up a big, plastic-tipped gas station cigar of unknown brand. I didn't want to leave.

When I was stationed at Ft Leavenworth Ks, there were lots of these "family bars/diners". It wasn't an issue to have your kid in there as long as they weren't disorderly.

Yeah it reminded me of my childhood. We all grew up being drug around to "grown-up" places and were just expected to be seen and not heard more or less.

My buddy's dad used to take him to bars when he was a kid sometimes. Biker bars more or less. For some reason the police came in one time for something unrelated, saw a kid at the bar, and walked over to see what was up. Buddy's dad said "He's my son. It's OK; I'm not letting him drink or anything." and the cop said "Ha, alright sir. Have a good one!" Try that in Tulsa sometime nowadays, but have your lawyer's phone number handy.

The times they are a changin'.

The other weird thing was just seeing people smoking at a bar/restaurant. Hell, how many plain 'ol bars in Tulsa are non-smoking now? I can name several off hand and I'm not huge bar goer.

hell, I grew up going to big ranch BBQ's where whole steers were BBQ'd, beer and liquor was served, or brought. Quarter sections were won or lost on pool games, and so on. Kids grew up in and around all of this. God I miss those days.
Osage county, has a huge history that most wouldn't believe.

If anybody watches the food channel. Rie Drummond has a show on there. I worked for her FIL back in the day. 20,000 some acres.
Fred was a great guy. We rounded up cattle on horseback only, and every 4 hours, a new horse, and a sandwich came around.

When I was 14 I was my Dads designated driver....I would sit at the end of the bar while he played in the band.
The bartendress would bring me these little glasses of beer ( watered down)....but 2 was my limit.....after all I had to drive home.

 

[flatwins]

It's been a few years since I've been in there but Enid has dive called the Flamingo Lounge, which serves these great onion burgers. Anyhow, it's essentially a bar with a jukebox in the corner and all that but it's quite common to see kids sitting up at the bar with their parents. All on the other side of the "Under 21" sign.

 

[dennishoddy]

I don't know about current laws, but back in the day, if you were with your parent, at whatever age, you could enter and be in any bar. You couldn't drink until 21 though.

Current laws require the restaurant/ bar to sell a certain percentage of food before kids are allowed on the premisis.
That being said, most Friday nights,we go to a bait shop on Kaw lake to have burgers, and tots, or wings, or whatever. Nice place with locals that come in. People filter in and out for bait.
Family's come in and set at the group tables with their kids, etc.

The place is a "little" biker bar place, but not big time. They sponsor poker runs for hospice, and other charities.

People that go there know each other, and its like a social event. In a couple of years, I can't think of anybody that has been out of line.

A few years back, we were going to Grand Lake on a regular basis. We found a little place in Grove that was the same way.

 

[Hawgman]

When I was a kid growing up in Yukon there was a bar on main st called Weavers. Once in a while my Dad would take us in there to have what they called "beer sandwiches". They were roast beef in some kind of sauce served on rye. I loved them. I remember some of the older gents sitting at the bar sipping beer and chatting/joking. I thought the whole thing was great. Boy, I'd give anything to know how those sandwiches were made. To bite into one would be like going back in time.

 

[HKCHEF]

I'm 27 and I still spin in the barstools.

 

[Cedar Creek]

I grew up in SE Oklahoma and there was a bar between Wister and Fanshawe at the intersection of the highway that went south to Talihina and the Summerfield/Leflore crossroads. It would have been hard to go there without seeing one of my relatives! I was hanging around there by the time I was 14 or 15, but I don't remember ever drinking a beer on premises, although my two cousins and I left with a lot of beer 'to go' on Saturday nights. The beer of choice for most of the loggers, sawmillers, and pulpwood haulers that hung out there was 'Stag' - a few years ago I found a twist-off top from a quart of Stag in the pocket of my old FFA jacket and the memories flowed!

Cedar Creek