Anne,
I love MiniCoopers.  They look like such a nice car to drive.  A friend of mine has one, and she loves it.
The discussion about knowing different courthouses reminded me of doing work in Holmes county here in Ohio.  It is Amish country.  The courthouse has hitching posts out front and car parking in the rear.  There are only about a dozen last names in the county.  All the first and middle names are biblical.  The oldest son is given the reverse name of his father, i.e. John Moses (the father), and Moses John (the first son).  When the father dies, the son changes his name to John Moses.  There is no record of this, it is just known.
It makes running a search there quite fun.  The biggest thing is tracking easements.  You rarely find anything in the courts as the Amish are averse to borrowing.
It is not a county I expect to go online anytime soon.