You can't buy liquor just ANYWHERE in this state. So why, in an era where government control seems to be out of favor among lawmakers, why is the government-run liquor store still going?
As long as they keep blasting the classic rock like they do at my Gaston Co. local, I don't care who runs it! Also, FWIW, the clerks at all the ABCs I've frequented are some of the nicest folks you'll meet in a retail environment...helpful and friendly to a fault!
ABC stores and distributions is a state jobs program. And the many local boards are lapel pins for the small time, small town people who wangle the appointment. A line on their obituary.
Note: In 1978 I went camping in the mountains with a friend. We stopped in Spruce Pine for our supplies on the way. At the grocery checkout we asked where to find the beer outlet. Checkout person, age ~20 said "down the street here, take second right go uphill to the the house with an oil tank outside and knock on the door." Bob and I looked at each other and decided it best this be a dry trip.
NC did allow happy hours into the 80s. I don’t recall exactly when they changed the rule to require all day special drink prices, because they thought it got out of hand. Some places had such good deals, people were doing their entire night’s drinking in an hour or two. I remember at some places you could buy a drink and help yourself to a generous buffet of appetizers. That went away with the rule change.
Bootleggers and Baptists. Working together to control alcohol for the last century and still going strong. (Okay, it may not be actual bootleggers and Baptists anymore, but the motivations remain the same.)
The first county to pass liquor by the drink was Mecklenburg in 1978. The first ABC license went to Benedictine's Restaurant in the Foxcroft Shopping Center.
If you think it's bad here, check out the situation in Maryland some day.
The mate and I visit my brother in Florida every spring. The day before we return we visit Leukens and stock up on what we need for the coming year. We also pick up a few bottles of rare bourbons for my son, brands unavailable in NC for unknown reasons. He usually travels to Virginia for his purchases. Apparently going out of state is the only way to avoid the poor selection, the high prices, and the creeping feeling you are helping fund corruption.
As long as they keep blasting the classic rock like they do at my Gaston Co. local, I don't care who runs it! Also, FWIW, the clerks at all the ABCs I've frequented are some of the nicest folks you'll meet in a retail environment...helpful and friendly to a fault!
ABC stores and distributions is a state jobs program. And the many local boards are lapel pins for the small time, small town people who wangle the appointment. A line on their obituary.
Note: In 1978 I went camping in the mountains with a friend. We stopped in Spruce Pine for our supplies on the way. At the grocery checkout we asked where to find the beer outlet. Checkout person, age ~20 said "down the street here, take second right go uphill to the the house with an oil tank outside and knock on the door." Bob and I looked at each other and decided it best this be a dry trip.
If ABC stores go away, where would we get moving boxes??
NC did allow happy hours into the 80s. I don’t recall exactly when they changed the rule to require all day special drink prices, because they thought it got out of hand. Some places had such good deals, people were doing their entire night’s drinking in an hour or two. I remember at some places you could buy a drink and help yourself to a generous buffet of appetizers. That went away with the rule change.
Bootleggers and Baptists. Working together to control alcohol for the last century and still going strong. (Okay, it may not be actual bootleggers and Baptists anymore, but the motivations remain the same.)
The first county to pass liquor by the drink was Mecklenburg in 1978. The first ABC license went to Benedictine's Restaurant in the Foxcroft Shopping Center.
If you think it's bad here, check out the situation in Maryland some day.
The mate and I visit my brother in Florida every spring. The day before we return we visit Leukens and stock up on what we need for the coming year. We also pick up a few bottles of rare bourbons for my son, brands unavailable in NC for unknown reasons. He usually travels to Virginia for his purchases. Apparently going out of state is the only way to avoid the poor selection, the high prices, and the creeping feeling you are helping fund corruption.