Thursday, October 01, 2009

Prohibition Has Ended!!!

No this isn't a blast from the past post.  Yesterday in Trigg County, KY Prohibition ended.   I will let that soak in for my Buds back home.   Apparently in the South, or as I like to call it "the land that time forgot", we still have Dry Counties.   That's right, it's more of someone elses morals being forced upon everyone else and being made into law.   Because alcohol is considered "The Devil's Drink" by alot of Southern Baptists (I know my fair share and they drink like fish....but I digress) they helped to pass laws that made the decision to ban alcohol by the County.   Now what I find hypocritical about this is these same folks say that the Government banning anything is Soclialism.   Hee hee....the Hypocrisy runs deep with these ones.   In most of these Southern States, there is no State Income tax so the Counties have to make due somehow.   Most of the major, metropolitan Counties have gotten smart about this and allow liquor stores and restaurants that sell alcohol by the drink.  Let me explain the odd booze laws out here first off.   A Liquor Store out here can only sell, you got it, Liquor.  That's it.   Now we need to define what they consider Liquor.  Beer is not considered Liquor; it can be bought at the grocery store.   I can see the GoG scratching their heads at this.  Back home, in Safeway (think Kroger in TN), there are aisles of Wine, Scotch, Whiskey, Vodka, etc as well as a cooler full of chilled beer.  Not here.  Only beer is sold.  Liquor stores can sell beer and they can sell wine and other alcoholic beverages too.  The one thing you will never see here is the big box Liquor Stores like Beverages and More.   Those stores not only sell alcohol but snacks and gourmet sodas, cigars, etc.  You can't do that here.   Not sure why, but you can't.    The strangest example of irony in TN is the County that Lynchburg, TN is in is a dry county.   Yep the place where Jack Daniels is made you cannot drink what is made at said distillery.   What gets me is that one of the Churches in Trigg County went so far as to threaten to kick people out of the congregation if they voted for it.   What's the big deal you say?  These little counties are all getting poorer.  The big metropolitan counties survive on the sales tax revenue from restaurant chains and bars.  Most restaurant chains won't open up in your area if they can't sell liquor by the drink.  Cookeville, TN survives to this day because they let this happen.   There is a huge restaurant row because they relaxed their alcohol laws.   This whole concept of Dry Counties escapes me; then again I come from an area of the world where Napa Valley was a few hours drive North. 

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