Bobby's Idle Hour is a true dive, in the best sense of the word. This long time Music Row institution sticks out like a sore thumb among the well kempt, glass and brick buildings of the major music industry companies. Bobby's is a relatively dilapidated trailer of sorts, with extra rooms slapped on haphazardly over the years. You can't miss it if you're driving down 16th Avenue. It's the one with the hokey plastic statue in front of an overall wearing man with a guitar.
You can get cold beer for a couple bucks a pop inside, some free peanuts off the bar and, well, that's about all the fare they offer.
The Idle Hour is frequented by an interesting array of characters, as well as those dropping in to satisfy their curiosity. Radio personalities, journalists, low tier music industry personnel, successful songwriters, blue collar workers and college kids are all folks I have seen in this low rent little establishment.
If you drop in for a refreshing beverage, you are almost certain to overhear or engage in some animated and/or bizarre conversation. If you visit a few times, you will almost certainly get to witness the patrons passing around the house guitar to pick some tunes. This sometimes turns into some true quality entertainment, for as I said, there are real-deal country songwriters than drop in from time to time.
During the warm months, you might enjoy pitching horseshoes out back. To my knowledge, this is the only bar in town that has a horse shoe pit and I've pitched a few there myself. Around the major summer holidays, there is usually a picnic and informal music jamboree, as well. At times like this, it may be a little more difficult to get a spot at the horseshoe pit, though. Bobby's isn't a very large place, so it doesn't take a lot of people to constitute a crowd.
Bobby's Idle Hour is more or less a hold over from bygone days when the local dive bar was a more common sight. When I refer to it as a dive, however, there's no need to feel uncomfortable about going in. The folks are friendly and welcoming to strangers, even though it's mostly regulars hanging out on any given night. It's a cheap and interesting place to hang out for a bit before moving on to other nightlife. On some nights, though, when things get cranking, you may find it hard to pull yourself away.