She wanted a lime for her beer.  "Don't worry about it," she said unconvincingly.  It was the kind of don't-worry-about-it response designed by spouses to encourage action. 

My dilemma:  North to the grocery store or a chance on the shorter trip south to a convenience store that may not have a lime which would leave me heading south and then north.  South. . . to a convenience store without a lime.  But then.  Then I decided on a brief trip west to The Beverage Source, a beer and wine store opened not too long ago on by three enterprising fellows as a destination for a wide variety of wines and specialty beers.

I pulled into the parking lot and one of the owners (whose name I vow to learn) was outside having a cigarette.  As I got out of the car I asked "do you sell limes?"  "If we have any, they are free," he replied.  "They would be inside the cooler on the door by the Corona."  I stepped inside of the tidy store and headed for the beer cooler.  Another of the proprietors, Joel, said hello to as I walked across the store.  A lime!  I grabbed the fruit and walked to the register, laid the lime down and dug in my pocket for cash (Although I had purchased beer here earlier, I was prepared to pay).  Joel pushed the lime toward me.  "We don't charge anything for the limes," he said nonchalantly.  "Kate says 'thanks'" I said.  "She's welcome," he replied.  I was on my way.

Earlier as I was picking up beer Joel and I had talked about the store's progress since opening months before.  Wine sales were picking up, he relayed.  We discussed goals for the store which included the newly opened pub in one half of the block building.  As he talked I became more and more interested in their mission.  After all, Joel outlined, they weren't  here to compete with the convenience stores or even the grocery stores for beer or wine sales (although Bud Light remains their best seller).  They were there to create a new market for spectacular wines and specialty beers.  "We are working to become a destination for those products," he explained.  "We want people to buy other stuff elsewhere and come here for beer and wine."

Even the pub is a different kind of bar.  The Beverage Source closes at 8:30 p.m. or 9:00 p.m.  "We aren't a 2:00 a.m. place.  Our goal is to be a happy hour place.  Then we go home.  We all have lives too."  It was a refreshing discussion.  I've known Joel for years and he is one of the most knowledgeable beer people around.  The selection at The Beverage Source is enough to drive a man to drink (I'm enjoying a Pilsner Urquell as I write - for inspiration).  I'd start listing the options but I might leave out an important one.

And there are other plans that Joel shared.  Wonderful, future ideas that I can barely wait for.  But I'll hold those.  They are the type of plans and ideas that every business should have in the works to attract and impress new customers.  Let's not let the cat out of the bag yet.

But the most appealing thing about The Beverage Source is the service - that understated, confident, competence that only owners who give a shit can offer.  When you walk in to The Beverage Source and want help, you will get it.  If you are browsing, you will be given the room and time to make the best selection you can muster for the event, evening or weekend.  I've not visited the bar side yet since around my house happy hour is held at a kitchen table while dinner is prepared and school days, rather than work days, are discussed.  But happy hour here now consistently features something from The Beverage Source.  And the lime iced the deal.