Tuesday, August 26, 2008

A spiritual awakening

I have discovered, to my dismay, that North Carolina has turned the sale of liquor (spirituous liquor, specifically) into a government agency. The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABC) is the only place that sells liquor.

There was a retail chain in Orlando called Total Wine and More, which was a phenomenal store. It was like a grocery store - a large grocery store - dedicated entirely to beer, wine and liquor. We were initially very sad to leave this store, as it had become a regular shop for us. Looking into it, however, we saw that there were many such stores here in North Carolina, and quite a few in the Raleigh area. But, sadly, these stores are beer and wine only.

A bigger surprise still is that the NCABC stores - which look, understandably, like government offices - are not affiliated with the ABC Fine Wine and Spirits that I knew from Orlando. Turns out that that is a Florida chain. I guess there is a lot that I do not know about liquor.

I have not yet gone to an ABC store, so I don't know how it will be. I have no idea - it may be the absolute best store I have ever shopped in.

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