It's winter and not much going on in jersey so we finally made the trip, 30 miles, to a Trader Joe's that sells alcohol. NJ has funny liquor laws so most grocery stores can't sell alcohol which means the TJ's only 5 miles from my house is dry. We like our pirate sauce so the cheap variety of beer, wine, and Trader Joe's Bourbon($15) plus lunch in Princeton made it a worthwhile day. Mamoun's falafel & Jammin Crepes are solid choices.
I only allow cans on the boat so the best pick was their "Boatswain"(very fitting)Double IPA at only $4.99/6pack. It's a bit too boozy though at 8.4% for the captain to be drinking all day, but it's perfect for the Boatswains. We also tried the KBC brands but those are all in bottles. The KBC IPA's were decent and only $6.99. For those wine drinkers there's the legendary Two buck chuck but they also have a box 3L for $12 which my sister says is way better than the chuck. I haven't tried the bourbon yet but it'll be used as a mixer so can't really see it being a problem. Another month and we'll hopefully be outside working on the boats! Until then I'll just keep sampling.
For those New Jerseyans with a more sophisticated palette you should seek out Cooper River Distillery's Spiced Rum. Locally made in Camden, and it's great on the rocks. Ok, now I feel like a lush. Time to ride the bike and burn off yesterdays consumption.
No go in Virginia, you have to be an ABC store to sell liquor. Trader Joes here sells beer and wine, but mainly wine.