State Line Liquors has been my favorite place to buy beer nearly since I was legal. Around here in Northern Delaware, they are known as the place that's open on Sundays. Delaware has Blue Laws still in effect banning bars and liquor stores (the law reads something like places that gain most of their profit from the sale of alcohol) from being open on Sundays. People have tried to change this law only to be stopped by the liquor store owners who don't want to pay employees an extra day. (That's sort of an unofficial law in Delaware. Find ways not to pay your employees!) I know that some of you are from pretty far away so I should mention that liquor stores are the only places that sell beer in the state of Delaware. You can't go into a convenience store or supermarket and buy beer. Restaurants do sell alcohol and they can remain open on Sunday. The shocked looks on the faces of people from far away used to be one of my rare pleasures as a convenience store clerk. "You don't sell beer here?"
This post isn't about Blue Laws or where you can or can't buy beer. I've lived in Delaware my whole life so I'm more surprised that things are different elsewhere. I just learned about State Line because that's where the entire University of Delaware gets its Sunday beer and that's my alma mater. They don't get a link because they aren't a place I'm recommending to the disabled.
I've written about tastings before but never cited the store. (I should probably get permission to do so but I'll just give my standard offer to take down the post instead.) I learned that drinking helps pain and it has no long term ill effects if you do it in moderation. On tasting nights, State Line will let you pay a tasting fee that has been as low as $10 and as high as $15 for which you can drink sample glasses of high quality and rare beers for the two hour session. They even provide glasses for a refundable $2 deposit.
Tonight was a particularly nice night because I can't stand for two hours so I have left early because my legs were worn out every previous night. Tonight, I mentioned my problem and they presented me with a chair before I could even ask. It was Belgian Ales night so I knew the lines would be horrendous for my Belgians. So, my friends, don't let your disabilities get in the way. If you can't stand, ask for a chair. The fine people at State Line weren't required to provide me with a chair because I'm not required to be there. They did it because they are good people. I see no reason to go to another store ever unless I'm several hundred miles away when I decide to drink. Even then, I decided to shop at State Line before my vacation because of the selection and because I just like the people.
My post election attempt at coming down succeeded and so I slept away about three full days there. I followed that with extensive work on the first draft of another novel project. I finished that draft after two all-nighters in one week. The insomnia is at its worst when I'm doing well on a project. Since then, I lost about three days and had a day when I couldn't sleep at all from pain and the desire to sleep at night. After sleeping most of last night, I slept until 5 PM.
At that point, I was lying in bed feeling miserable and in pain. Wouldn't it just be better to skip the tasting since I knew it would be crowded and I wouldn't be able to stand that long? No. It wouldn't have been better and Melissa played coach again today. She started getting ready to go out before I did. In addition to being delicious, these beer tastings are my major social activity not involving doctors. Where else can you go to dicuss the relative tastiness of hoppy beer versus malty beer in person?
Once I started moving, I felt better and then they let me use the chair. It was a small thing but that's all most of us pain sufferers ask for. Do the small things for us and we'll heft the pain around. Thanks, guys. Now, which tasting will we attend next?
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