Yep, now we know how the year round residents feel when the summer tourists descend on the beaches. A necessary evil at best. Up until this year we were part of the summer tourist set. Not any more, after all we get our mail here, we’re here every day so we qualify for resident stature, for four and a half months anyway.
So today we learned firsthand what’s it like to be invaded by the masses. It was payday for us yesterday so today I went out to do a big grocery shopping. I went to the local Giant grocery store and could not even find a parking place. There just wasn’t any to be had. This really put a chink in my plans because I had checked out the store circulars for the four local stores all within a few miles of each other and each one had specials I was going after. Lucky for me what I wanted at Giant wasn’t a must have, just a nice to have, a great sale on ice cream and Pepsi was on special.
On the to next store. Food Lion was crowded but all checkers were on duty so things moved smoothly and everyone seemed mindful of others trying to get by in the aisles. All in all a pleasant experience and I got everything on my list for that store. It seemed like I was in and out in no time. The store that is, the parking lot was another matter. Remember now, I drive The BEAST. Just a sentence ago I told you about how mindful everyone was of letting others down the aisles and that it was pleasant. Those same people left their pleasant demeanors and manners at the door when they came out. The lot was a zoo! Such impatience and just why does everyone have to park in the first row? It was a beautiful day today, low humidity, a great day to walk the width of a half dozen cars!
Harris Teeter. The newest grocery store here. By far the nicest. Somewhat more expensive. The least crowded. I don’t know if people aren’t aware its here yet, if vacationers just don’t want to spend the little bit more and instead spend it on the boardwalk. I don’t know. To me, to share an aisle with only one or two others, to have an excellent selection of fresh produce to pick from, to not have to worry if a sale item is out of stock or not, well, I’ll pay those few extra pennies. (I cannot believe that I, the Queen of Cheap, just typed that, but its true) Plus, when this store has a sale, its a good one! I picked up the sale items from this store that I wanted and headed to my last one.
G & E Hocker’s, a family owned store, just this one and another, no big chain here. I picked up the last of things on my list and lucked out with Pepsi’s on sale here too.
Three out of four stores, got everything on my list and then some and the freezers are both fully stocked, almost to over flowing and goodie cabinet it filled to the brim and I can’t fit a small can of tomato paste in the pantry. We’re set for the next few weeks when I’ll have to do it all again, just on a smaller scale.
Luckily, going to the grocery store is something I like to do. Even at the beach.
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