Around here the Tavern League is a powerful lobby (though they voluntarily took a dive on the ridiculous smoking ban that goes into effect next year:rolleyes: ) who has pushed through some equally ridiculous local ordinances regarding beer sales.
One of them being that you can’t buy beer in a store after 9pm (which is contrary to state law that says midnight) but you can buy carry outs at a tavern up until midnight. These ordinances were pushed through under the guise of fighting drunk driving. This is a crock of shit, but it’s somehow been pushed through in several municipalities.
If I had to make a complete (pulled out of my nether regions) guess, I would say a run to a Wisconsin (Sconni?) from a bordering state to either buy booze at a discount, or at a later hour than what your own state allows…
AFAIK it originated back before the feds stuck their ugly nose in when we still had a drinking age of 18 and some of the surrounding states had 21. 18-20 year olds would run into Wisconsin to buy booze to take back home. This is also the basis for that line in the movie “Stripes”.
I dont know what tipped me (I must have heard the term Sconni before somewhere) as I have only been to Wisconsin once, when I flew into Milwaukee to attend a weekend of music at Alpine Valley.
By the way, of all the major US cities I have gone out for an evening of beers in, Milwaukee has got to be just about the cheapest (alongside New Orleans and Vegas); I was blown away at how inexpensive a drink at a bar was, even the most upscale joints…
People in Wisconsin were also polite and friendly; it is a lovely part of the country.
Bingo. In the past, the drinking age was lower in Wisconsin than in Minnesota, but even today a 'sconni run is necessary on a Sunday or holiday (including the 4th of July) when no offsale is permitted in MN.
Exactly the same situation for us here in Utah—Sundays, holidays there is a steady stream of people heading to the Wyoming border town of Evanston (about an hour and a half drive from Salt Lake City) to get thier booze. (Utah does sell 3.2 beer on Sundays, but nothing stronger)