Wouldn't you rather check your beer, sir?

While planning my trip to Buffalo I did some research and had come up with three "Must Get" items: Beef on Weck Aunt Rosie's Loganberry Buffalo Wings at Anchor Bar (You can see all of pictures from my trip here) Jimmy really only had one thing on his "Must Get" list: If the video above doesn't play, Click here (Please note that is not Jimmy in the video.)Apparently Maximum Ice is too high in alcohol content to be sold in the US as "Beer" so you can only get it in Canada. One day in Buffalo we walked across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. We all had our reasons to go to Canada. Jimmy wanted Canadian beer. Some wanted to purchase cigars made in a country that is not allowed to export them to the US. (I won't name names since that is illegal.) I just wanted a T-shirt. Several of us wanted to go eat "something Canadian" for lunch. We were stumped on what "Canadian" food would be. Caribou? Canadian bacon? Maple Syrup? Yeah we were the stereotypical clueless "Americans" in Canada. (Yes I know Canadians hate it when people from the US call themselves "Americans" since Canadians are also from America.)We had lunch at Applebees.I guess what made it "Canadian" was the maple leaf in place of the apostrophe in the name. Well that and getting charged Canadian dollars and then getting hit with a currency exchange charge by the credit card company. (For added fun, the Applebees Canadian website can't seem to stick with the US spelling of "Neighborhood" or the Canadian spelling "Neighbourhood.") Crossing back into the US is sort of like boarding an airplane. You have to show paperwork proving you can cross the border. You also declare items purchased in Canada and then send stuff through an X-ray machine. While one of the border agents flipped through page after page of my brother's passport with all of its various countries, Jimmy walked up and placed his case of Maximum Ice on the X-ray machine. Since none of the border guards even blinked, this is apparently a common thing. The flight home was not quite as smooth. When it came time to check our bags and go thru security, Jimmy loaded his suitcase on the check stand and started to walk off with his case of beer. He was asked if he wouldn't rather check the case of beer. Jimmy then explained how he'd come "thousands of miles" to get that beer and there was NO WAY he was going to let it out of his sight. While the folks in Buffalo might not have ripped it off, I strongly suspect the baggage handlers in Atlanta would have, since they have little hope of ever getting real Canadian beer. I doubt Jimmy could get away with "carry on beer" with the way TSA has clamped down on liquids these days. I suppose you could carry on your beer as long as it was in 3oz containers and they all fit in a 1 quart zip lock bag. At this point you may be wondering why this is an issue. Krystals are completely legal in Florida. Why not wait until I get to Panama City Beach to get my hands on some Krystals? The simple answer is, they don't have Krystal in Panama City Beach. Yet. If you search Google Maps you'll find a listing for a Krystal on front beach road, but Krystal.com store locator the closest Krystals according to the store locator are over 50 miles away. Apparently the one on front Beach Road closed a few years back. Google Maps isn't always very current. There is hope, however. Thanks to the previously mentioned Krystalist.com there's word that Krystal will soon be returning to Panama City Beach, and a look at the map shows it wont be far from where the previous store stood. This article from less than 2 weeks ago shows a picture of them at work clearing the way for the store. While Krystals stores tend to go together really fast due to their modular construction, I doubt it'll be open when I get there in 10 days. (I did see an online job posting for breakfast shift managers, so the opening is probably very close.) So I'll be landing in Atlanta and using my 2 hour layover to load up on Krystals. With my Friday layover being 9:42-11:10 that'll be the end of breakfast and beginning of lunch. I may also get to see "The Magic Minute" at 10:30 which they actually shift from breakfast to lunch and you can order weird food combinations like a Sunriser, a Krystal, a Chili Pup, and a Chik and a side of grits. My Monday return flight layover is 10:35 to 12:59. I'll just miss breakfast but will have plenty of time to work my way through the menu. Oh yes, THIS is what vacation is all about.