There wasn’t a minute in Anthony “Tony” Powell’s 55 years he ever thought he would own a bus. Not growing up in Novato. Not during his many on-again, off-again years in Greece. Surely not during the last 21 years living in Fairfield.

Some things just don’t cross one’s mind, especially when immersed in academia as the dean of students at Merritt College in Oakland.

But as owner of the Pioneer Tap Room? Why, sometimes it takes more than just beer to keep the doors open — especially during pandemic.

But, c’mon, a bus? And not a run-of-the-mill SolTrans bus. Or school bus. But an authentic double-decker British bus?

Nope. “Not in a million years,” Powell said.

Never say never. Powell coughed up the cash a month ago, snagging the unique transportation from a San Francisco sight-seeing company that bought it from a company in Hong Kong that bought it from a company in the U.K.

Seems Powell’s Pioneer Tap Room landlord “had some connections with a bus company in San Francisco and they started to liquidate some of their older buses.”

“We started joking around about the bus six months ago,” Powell said. “I thought it would be something interesting out in the valley.”

Joke no longer. The 38-footer — an instant attraction — is parked on the Tap Room lot. Eventually, it will seat visitors of the Tap Room’s live bands, perhaps be rented out for meetings, or have its top deck converted to a stage for music acts.

The sky is the limit, hints Powell.

OK, maybe there are limits, especially to ideas tossed out by friends and visitors.

“Oh my goodness,” Powell laughed. “Some have been most bizarre. Someone said I need to put a ‘fireman’s pole’ down the side, that it would be amazing.”

For, um, strippers?

“Something like that,” Powell said.

Hey, it’s getting people excited, he said.

“It gives you a great view of the valley and it’s something different,” Powell said. “Everyone’s come by to give their support. They like it.”

Originally made to accommodate 150 passengers — albeit, like sardines — the bus will “seat 20 comfortably” in the upper deck and perhaps 13 downstairs, Powell said, emphasizing the seating will be the “socially-distanced” six feet apart.

“Right now, we have a guy renovating, taking some seats out; putting tables out on top; putting some umbrellas up there,” Powell said. “It’ll be a great venue to rent out for birthdays or corporate events. We have a lot of interesting spots in the Suisun Valley. And now we’ve got the bus.”

Powell said he wasn’t sure of the odometer reading — built in the 1990s, it’s probably “lots” — but here is what he is sure of: It’s about as easy to handle as twin 4-year-olds after a day without a nap.

Talk about white-knuckle piloting.

“It’s big. I was scared to death when I drove it a little bit,” he said. “You haven’t seen fear in a man’s eyes until you drive something like that.”

With Walt Disney as his idol, it’s not surprising Powell came up with a unique marketing concept.

“Every year he’d change something at Disneyland to make it more interesting,” Powell said.

There may not be a huge, orange bus at the Pioneer Tap Room if not for the virus, Powell said.

“With COVID, I didn’t have much to do. I had plenty of free time. My wife was getting on me that I had way too much time,” Powell said. “If it wasn’t for this period of down time, I probably wouldn’t have” purchased the bus.

No surprise that, initially, Powell’s wife “thought it was crazy when she saw the bus. I didn’t tell her until it showed up. It was there three days before a mutual friend called up and said, ‘The bus is beautiful’ and she said, ‘What bus?’ About 10 minutes later, she was at the Tap Room. She loves it.”

For so many years,  Powell explained that there “wasn’t much to do” in town to visiting friends.

“We had a couple of places to eat downtown,” but not a lot else, Powell said.

But a tap room?

“It’s almost like I built it for myself and friends,” he said. “I live in Rancho (Solano), so it’s like being in the backyard.”

After working all day “at my big-boy job, I’d come to the Tap Room and have a beer or glass of wine,” Powell said. “It’s a good thing.”

Running a tavern that took four years from that first permit process to the doors opening is a labor of love, Powell said.

“The people you meet, the connections you make, you can’t put a dollar on,” he said.

Beyond a tourist attraction, the bus is a bit nostalgic, Powell said.

“I felt like I was back in Greece where everyone takes the bus,” he said. “It did bring back a lot of memories — the smell of the bus. It’s definitely something that reminds me of childhood.”

Now, if only the county can graduate to the next-best COVID-19 tier to allow music, though the tavern is open for beer, wine and food.

No matter.

“Even though we haven’t had time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labors, it’s definitely worth it,” Powell said.

— The Pioneer Tap Room is at 4491 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield. For more, call  (707) 208-8408.