Let's Get Away From It All

I slept in a bit and didn't get to the gym until past noon. That may not have been a bad thing. It was even quieter in Lucile Roberts when I arrived than it had been yesterday. I put in a nice, sweaty run on the elliptical machine while watching Family Feud, then did arm work. By the time I was stretching, there were a few more people on the cardio equipment, but it still wasn't bad.

They must have all gone grocery shopping. The Acme was really busy! I'm lucky I got into the line for the customer service when I did. Just a minute after I entered, the line was going down past the registers. I quickly picked up my paycheck and moved onto grocery shopping. I needed a lot today. Restocking baking items was the major priority, including chocolate chips, unbleached flour, ground cinnamon, pumpkin, and brown sugar. There were no good chicken sales; I just grabbed ground chicken that had a two-dollar manager's coupon. The curls formula for Pantene was on clearance for $2.99, so I added the shampoo and conditioner to my basket. I bought three containers of fruit concentrate and a carton of Ben & Jerry's Frozen Yogurt version of Cherry Garcia, all of which were on sale (I had a coupon for the frozen yogurt as well).

Since I was already at the Acme, I decided to pick up my schedule. I'm not thrilled with it. First of all, I have even fewer hours than I did last week. That's how I got into the financial mess I'm stuck with in the first place! While I do have relatively early hours on Labor Day, I work until 9 and 9:30 the days I do have hours. I really, really need to start figuring out how to get that business started...and where to start.

I was feeling a bit down when I got home, due to my lack of hours. I put everything away, had a quick lunch, and went back out again. It was hotter than yesterday, but it remained sunny, cloudless, and dry, and the wind had picked up considerably. I decided that a ride and errands run would be just the thing to alleviate my depression. I made a quick stop at the bank before heading down to Lawndale, alternating the rocky back roads with the traffic-laden White Horse Pike. Surprisingly, there were just as many cars heading towards Philadelphia as there were in the direction of the Shore; I guess some folks are just going to spend this weekend at home.

Last week, a customer mentioned that a K-Mart moved into what had been the Sears building at the Lawndale Shopping Center. I wanted to verify this. I have very fond memories of K-Marts. For years, the K-Mart at the Rio Mall in Rio Grande was the only real department store in the lower Cape May County area. Even after almost everything else vacated the Rio Mall, they not only stayed, but expanded. They wouldn't have any real competition until the arrival of Big Lots in North Cape May in 2004 and Wal Mart in 2006, and Mom says they still manage to hold their own. (There were Ameses and Jamesways in North Cape May and Rio Grande in the mid-late 90s, but they both debuted when those franchises were on their last legs. Big Lots replaced Ames; the Rio Grande Jamesway is now Pet Smart.)

The Lawndale Sears was a wash-out when I visited there a few years ago. There wasn't a whole lot there besides clothes and home furnishings. While the store remained the same size, the K-Mart was a vast improvement. Their red-and-tan color scheme was far more lively than Sears' gray and blue. Most of the store was better-organized, with more merchandise in a small space...and unlike the Wal-Mart in Audubon, they actually had some of the sale items in stock and friendly, helpful service people.

The biggest improvement was a gigantic toy section, twice the size of the one at Wal Mart and almost comparable to the Target in Deptford. It took up almost the entire back of the store. I always liked the toy section at the K-Mart in Rio Grande, having bought dolls and games there going back to my childhood, and this one was just as good. I'll keep it in mind at Christmas when I shop for toys for my nephews and younger cousins.

As for now, all I really needed was underwear; my old ones were worn out. The prices weren't great, but I didn't feel like attempting a bike/bus trip to the Target in Deptford. They were having really good back-to-school sales. I grabbed packs of red and blue Bic pens for 75 cents each.

(The arrival of K-Mart isn't the only change at Lawndale since my last visit. Blockbuster was replaced by an elegant-looking Hallmark. The Pathmark closed last year and remains empty. It looks like the Fashion Bug there is shutting down, too. I had no idea they were going out of business. What a disappointment! I've been buying clothes from them since the late 80s, when they were the only clothing store near Cape May that carried plus sizes. That means those sale signs I saw at the Audubon Crossings store weren't end of the season sales - they were end of the store sales! Sounds like they just can't compete with the big box stores like Wal-Mart and Kohls. :( )

I headed home around 6, stopping only for a Lime Diet Coke at the WaWa on the corner of the White Horse Pike and Pine Street in Audubon. When I got in, I had leftovers for dinner and watched The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This anthology film is pretty much a collection of the 60s and early 70s Winnie the Pooh shorts with added linking material. The first story, the sweetly silly "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," will always be my favorite, but it's all enjoyable if you're a Pooh fan or want to introduce younger kids to the Disney Pooh.