DC, MD, VA: wine & beer at grocery stores

[Anonymous]

Are the laws all the same?

[Anonymous]

No. In this instance Virginia is the clear winner.

[Anonymous]

Not the same at all. To take it one step further, the laws differ county-by-county in MD. MoCo is incredibly restrictive and limits who can sell wine and beer outside of the county owned stores.

[Anonymous]

As a transplant from California, where even hard liquor may be bought at a grocery store, this whole thing was a shock to me. Don't get me started on dry towns.

[Anonymous]

Virginia wins. DC is bad, MD worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a transplant from California, where even hard liquor may be bought at a grocery store, this whole thing was a shock to me. Don't get me started on dry towns.

As a transplant from Pennsylvania, where everything is sold at state-owned stores, this whole thing was a shock to me, too. But in a good way.

[Anonymous]

I remember living in Massachusetts, where you can't buy alcohol before noon on Sundays. So you go grocery shopping early on a Sunday morning to get some stuff for the week, and the alcohol section would be roped off (it was allowed to be sold in regular grocery stores). You had to wait until 12pm to buy a bottle of wine you weren't going to drink until later that night or in the week.

I'm not even a big drinker at all, but it was such an absurd law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a transplant from California, where even hard liquor may be bought at a grocery store, this whole thing was a shock to me. Don't get me started on dry towns.

I'm from NJ so it still tickles me that I can buy beer and wine in grocery stores and Target!

[Anonymous]

I remember in Georgia you couldn't buy beer on Sunday. Which is, you know, NASCAR day. Not to mention NFL. You had to remember to stock up on Saturday.

[Anonymous]

Costco in DC wins over all.

[Anonymous]

Virginia wins. DC is bad, MD worse.

MoCo blows. I can't believe I live here.

[Anonymous]

Costco in DC wins over all.

Fair point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember in Georgia you couldn't buy beer on Sunday. Which is, you know, NASCAR day. Not to mention NFL. You had to remember to stock up on Saturday.

I lived in Athens ages ago and thought this was so odd. They put up plastic sheets on Sundays to cover the refrigerated sections with the beer and wine - kind of like you can look, but you can't touch.

[Anonymous]

Don't get me started on dry towns.

I am a life member of a number of private clubs in the middle of the country that I visited only once in the late 80s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember in Georgia you couldn't buy beer on Sunday. Which is, you know, NASCAR day. Not to mention NFL. You had to remember to stock up on Saturday.

I lived in Athens ages ago and thought this was so odd. They put up plastic sheets on Sundays to cover the refrigerated sections with the beer and wine - kind of like you can look, but you can't touch.

Fortunately, they still sold beer at The Gold Club.