John Barleycorn Lives, Part 2

Last night…I took visiting friend and researcher Carl Carlson-Drexler to Bayou Bistro after a long day looking at Civil War-related sites in Hempstead and Nevada Counties…

 and I bought my first legal Magnolia beer! I said I would believe it when I saw it so…John Barley Corn Lives!

John Barleycorn Lives!

“Prohibition officially ends in Magnolia next week”…these words were met with thunderous applause by those present…the words were even more humorous as they were spoken by Ben Johnson, historian and author of John Barleycorn Must Die: The War Against Drink in Arkansas (The companion book to the Old State House Museum exhibit linked to at the right)…As Johnson himself said, the back of the book claims that “[n]obody knows more about drinking in Arkansas than Ben Johnson.”

Ben was talking about the fact that at long last a Magnolia business (other than the Country Club) had obtained a liquor license….after a public debate that seemed like it lasted forever, The Bayou Bistro (pictured below) has been granted a liquor license…making Magnolia a better place for archeologists.

BTW: Although it may have been maligned in the press of late, I would point out that The Bayou Bistro was named the business of the month by the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce in March 17, 2006…and it is some of the best food in town (regardless of the fact that it is now wet).