Shopping for Spirits

One of the interesting challenges we’ve encountered on the road is restocking our liquor cabinet. We haven’t had to do it all that often! But, here in Arkansas we’re reminded we’re not in California anymore.

In California, buying booze is a no-brainer. There you can walk into any grocery store and choose from a wide variety of domestic and imported wines or spirits. You can pick up your favorite beer, too. Prices vary from place to place in California, but with a plethora of vintages produced within the state, the marketplace for adult beverages is pretty competitive.

Here in Arkansas, you can buy wine in the grocery store, but only if it is produced by a small winery in Arkansas. Needless to say, the pickin’s are slim. So, if you would like an out-of-state wine or any spirits, you’ll have to locate a liquor store and make you purchase there. But, never on Sunday. You can treat yourself to a scotch and water at a restaurant and then drive home any day of the week. But, you can’t buy a bottle of scotch to enjoy a cocktail in the comfort and safety of home on a Sunday.

Go figure.

Another element of the challenge for us fulltimers is choosing the state to make your liquor purchases. Prices can jump or fall as you cross a border. And, when you do, you face a new set of rules.

Today we stocked up on the spirits we’d hoped to buy yesterday. While we were making our purchase, we learned more about the quirks of liquor laws in the razorback state. The clerk asked us how long we would be in town and where we were headed next. When we told him we were heading out to Mississippi in the morning, he encouraged us to stock up.

He said it’s crazy down there!