3.2 Beer and a Dry County Adventure

When David and I started dating, he once asked me what I liked to drink. I replied, “beer.” He called me “Bud Light.” I quickly retorted, “Ew, no. Anything made by Anheuser-Busch is headache beer. If I have to drink from the domestic big names, it’s Coors Light.”

David eventually came to see my reasoning in spite of not being much of a drinker, but at that time in Oklahoma, you could only get low-point Coors Light, which, to my taste, lacked flavor. One weekend, we had the bright idea to hop on the bike and head out of town for a beer run across state lines for some high-point Coors Light.

It was summer, so we left early, enjoying the rolling hills in eastern Oklahoma as we rolled into Arkansas. The day was heating up quickly. By this point, we had been commuting to work together on the bike in 100+ degree weather for weeks, so this wasn’t uncommon, but we were definitely starting to feel the heat and fatigue.

We arrived in Tontitown, a place I fondly remembered from my childhood for its apple cider. With excitement, we began the search for beer…

Not being well acquainted with dry counties and blue laws, I had no idea we were in a more restrictive state than my native Oklahoma!

After some searching, we finally found a store with Coors Light and filled the saddlebags. We headed home, hot, exasperated, and in shock that anyone could have more draconian laws than Oklahoma.