You'd think that, in the midst of a self-generated 2-year economic depression, Michiganders would at least do something to keep their spirits up...
Detroit Airport Marriott, 1835L, Ha' Penny Lounge, Christmas night (the dining room is closed for Christmas):
*Before either of us can utter a word*...
Waitress: "You guys don't want any beer do you?"
Captain: "Uuuuuh, yeah, why?"
Waitress: "In Michigan we don't sell any alcohol until 7:00 AM on Friday."
Captain and First Officer: *sigh*
C: "Water"
F/O: "Diet Pepsi"
Together, quietly, "Woo hoo!"
Detroit Airport Marriott, 1835L, Ha' Penny Lounge, Christmas night (the dining room is closed for Christmas):
*Before either of us can utter a word*...
Waitress: "You guys don't want any beer do you?"
Captain: "Uuuuuh, yeah, why?"
Waitress: "In Michigan we don't sell any alcohol until 7:00 AM on Friday."
Captain and First Officer: *sigh*
C: "Water"
F/O: "Diet Pepsi"
Together, quietly, "Woo hoo!"
When I was growing up in New York City, there were "blue" laws in effect that governed the sale of alcoholic beverages. Bars couldn't sell alcohol after 4am in the morning and had to be closed for at least 2 hours (until 6am). If you were a regular, sometimes the barkeep would let you curl up and sleep over in a booth.
On Sundays, the bars couldn't start selling again until 1pm (in the afternoon). In my heavily Catholic neighborhood, that was know as the 1 o'clock Mass.
Merry Christmas to all
Hell, that ain't nothing. Try growing up in northern Utah. Back then, last call was 12:30 am and NO beer was sold until after 1PM. No beer at all was sold on sunday, in bars or in stores. In fact, ALL alcohol sales were restricted to state-run liquor stores, who kept very odd hours to discourage selling anything to anyone. Bars were only allowed to sell 3.2 beer, and no hard liquor. If you wanted whiskey, you had to buy your own bottle, bring it to the bar, and pay the barkeep a dollar a shot/drink for the privilege of drinking it there. You could only get a pitcher of beer if there were 3 or more people at the booth with you.
The laws only changed in '76 when the Olympic committee informed the state that no olympic games would rtake place there if folks couldn't buy a drink at the local bar. The state relented and allowed "liquor by the drink" but only through the use of "mini bottles" to assure "accurate measures" and NO DOUBLES. One drink per person per serving. Lots of craptacular laws like that.
Nowadays, most towns still prohbit the sale of beer on sunday, and my old hometown went through a very rancorous time when they relented to allow the quick-mart to sell beer on sudays. The town council was nearly sacked by the voters for that, and many of them were harassed day and night by the local Mormons driving by their homes 7 businesses and honking their horns and hollering "GET OUT!" Lovely bunch of folks there.
Anyone else wonder why I moved away and never went back?
respects,
I was in that exact same lounge a couple of weeks ago, and had dinner in the then-open restaurant. Great food (the largest single serving of shepherd's pie I've ever had), great wine, snow galore (the reason for my delays both coming and going home the next day).... no company though.
I was really hoping that you'd get home for Christmas.
And about drinking on the road...the times I spent zooming around dry counties in Texas where you couldn't buy a mixed drink, but could watch totally topless dancers was very confusing. The customers always liked my expense account. They wouldn't be there themselves, but the degenerate Yankee made them go.
The others were the dry bars in the Carolinas where you had to buy a bottle at an ABC store and bring it into the bar with you. And...you had to buy a $5.00 membership to be there. Some of them took your bottle behind the bar after you signed it; others were where you kept it at your table and bought a glass of ice or mixer.
Then there were the really cool bars in Mississippi, where if you were tall enough to put your money on the bar you got served. You had to be a member, be vouched for by a local, and never complain about the pour.
And Yes, I spent a few very long days and longer nights in Salt Lake.
I went, "Huh?"
He pointed to all the bottles with names and I suddenly understood.
"I'm Mr. Jones."
"Here you go, Mr. Jones."
Ahhh... Drinking clubs!
I joined one in Texas once. I was there for a two week Red Cross assignment, and there were only three places to eat in town- deep fried fish place, deep fried chicken place, and the drinking club. It was $5 well spent! Country line dancing, beer, and good food. When I got back to Ohio, no one would believe me when I told them I had to join a drinking club in order to get a beer anywhere in Texas. But it's the truth!
Bars around here kinda suck.
Fishmugger...what do those really cool bars in Mississippi have against midgets?
Harrrumph...;)
...and it's not 24 hours; it's 8. No smoking 8 hours before piloting an aircraft and no drinking within 50 feet of an aircraft. Oh, wait...
But thanks for sticking up for me.
It was also the first time I'd had to work using topos with 2 ft contour intervals!! Although we did at least have *usable* maps.
24 hour abstention? No way.... Really?
When I was flying (back in the dark ages) it was 12 hours from bottle to throttle.
respects,
That's REALLY funny, considering I spent the day driving from San Antonio to Abilene and EVERYTHING is brown and stunted between there and here!!! The only thing even remotely resembling a tree was the evergreens on the south side of town, everything else is just scrub oaks and mesquite which are just ugly big bushes.
As for alcohol, in Killeen Tx in the early 70s, you could buy a pitcher of beer at a pizza hut if you paid $1 to become a private club member for a year. Of course, $1 was a lot of money then, since a pitcher was just under that, and fun could be had on Avenue D for around $20.00.
Ahh, the memories of old folks (like you all).... :-)