Yuengling Freak

Still tightly holding onto my year of Pennsylvania living, I ventured across state lines to seek out some good 'ol Yuengling lager. In Philly, there was a beverage store on every corner and a wine & spirits store between each of those. Now that I'm home, though, the closest PA town I can venture to for such stock would be Washington, PA, or as the locals call it, "Little Washington." Why this nickname? The only thing I can figure is it settles any confusion that you may be setting out to Washington, D.C., rather than the town about 30 minutes up I-70.

Anyhow, a friend of mine from undergrad, Scott, was in last week from his new home at Texas A&M where he's a grad student in Chemistry. As we sat reminiscing and such over coffee at The Second Cup coffee shop, we struck up conversation about beer and liquor. I began telling tales of Yuengling, and that's all it took. Scott decided he wanted to take some back to Texas with him. So, he sneakily stuck a proposition into our conversation; he intimated that we should no longer kid about going for some Yuengling, we needed to go, and we needed to do so together...right then. Thus, we filled the CD player in his car with appropriate tunes and set out on the road. After several loops and a bundle of luck, we drove right up to this beverage store that was pretty nice. In addition to any and all beer and beer-like substances, it had candy and chips in bulk! I saw another favorite of mine, Woodchuck Cider, there, and we both grabbed our Yuengling. The catch in PA is that unless you purchase at a bar, you have to purchase a case at a time of beer. Ironically, this law seems to both discourage and enable alcoholism all at once. Think about it. You have to travel further distances for your goods (can't get 'em in the grocery store), but once you travel there, you're rewarded with the standard 6 pack times 4. Come on Pennsylvania!

So, my family got a new side of me. The one who is forced to store a case of Yuengling in her bedroom, slyly sneaking through the living room and dining room en route to the kitchen, with an armful of beer to chill. The supremely cool part of this whole purchase was sharing the case with my good friend Mikey. Sitting on the deck, chatting, and watching some good flicks...all in the company of Yuengling has definitey been a highlight.