I didn't sleep that great last night. Woke up at 5:30, went to the bathroom, went back and slept until quarter of 9. Read and wrote in my journal in bed for a while. Lauren was already in the kitchen when I made my way out for breakfast. I had Honey Nut Cheerios with a pear that was a bit harder than I expected.
We finally made our way out around 10:30. The day was cool and overcast when we headed to the remains of the mostly-empty Berkshire Mall. They do have enough of a parking lot left to hold a Saturday farm market. Shortly after we pulled in, it started pouring. We sat in the car and waited until it slowed down enough to take in the remaining booths. I found some lovely Macintosh apples to have with breakfast for the rest of the week at the very first table.
Our next stop of the day was a little further down the road at one of several shopping centers about twenty minutes from Lauren's house. Her Barnes & Noble is small - no kids' toys or CDs and DVDs - but it's there, and it had a nice shelf of Star Wars books. I saw a cute new Rey and Friends spoof picture book with Rey and the sequel characters as kids being looked after by the Original Trilogy characters. It was adorable, but I ultimately went with the novelization of The Last Jedi. For some reason, the Haddon Township Library got the novelization of The Force Awakens, but not Last Jedi.
BJ's was across the street. There is a BJ's in Deptford, but not only is that too far for me to go all the time, but you need a membership to get in. Lauren has a membership. The place was HUGE, all industrial pipes and walls. Everything it sold was huge, too, from giant boxes of granola bars to widescreen TVs. We settled for large boxes of granola bars and Nature Valley peanut butter sandwich breakfast cookies and a big container of tiny cornbread loaves for Lauren's parents.
Though the rain was long gone, the clouds remained threatening as we headed down the highway towards North Adams, Lauren's hometown. On the way, we discovered a smaller store called Ocean State Job Lot. No, it doesn't sell jobs, as I quipped when we arrived. It's basically a local version of Big Lots or the Christmas Tree Shoppe, with leftover lots of slightly damaged or out-of-fashion items sold. I didn't see anything I needed, but Lauren bought a pair of comfy plaid flannel pants to lay around in.
I did much better at a huge Goodwill just a bit down the road. Found two CDs, one of which, the original cast of the Broadway musical mystery spoof A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, I've been looking around for. Also picked up the soundtrack for Cocktail, an old favorite from my childhood.
Had lunch at a little place on the highway called Perlin's Dairy Bar. As you can guess, they mainly sold ice cream, but they also had a basic lunch menu that included sandwiches, some entrees, and snacks. Lauren got a grilled cheese with bacon and a soda. I got a chicken Parmesan sandwich. We shared mozzarella sticks. Despite the chilly day and blustery wind, we enjoyed our meal outside on a bench under a wooden roof. My sandwich was sooo tasty! I loved that spaghetti sauce that tasted homemade. The mozzarella sticks were thick around, crusty on the outside and incredibly creamy on the inside.
Finally made it to North Adams around 2:30. Lauren wanted to check out the Peebles that had been there for years. To her disappointment, they seem to be shutting down. They had 40 percent off notices posted. No wonder. Mom used to love the Peebles in Rio Grande in the 90's and 2000's, but this one had nothing of interest for either of us. The little store called Label Maker across the road had better merchandise. Like Ocean State Job Lots, they sold off-price items, only in this case, it was slightly damaged or last-season clothing. I didn't see anything I needed, but Lauren found another pair of plaid flannel pajama pants.
There was a little toy shop down the street that we peered around in. It reminded me a lot of Happy Hippo Toys in Haddonfield, with a lot of the same merchandise, including Playmobil figures, Brio wooden tracks, and Mary Meyer stuffed animals. We didn't buy anything, but we had a nice time browsing.
Jack's Hot Dogs is directly across the street. This is a popular hole-in-the wall in North Adams...and it's almost literally a hole-in-the-wall. It's a sliver of metal-and-lath with a counter in a sagging building, with a tiny room of solitaire video games on one side. Even at almost 3 PM, it was also busy. People sat at the counter, enjoy fries and sandwiches. No wonder. Not only are they tasty, but they're also cheap. The two small burgers I ordered were $1.75 each. Lauren says they're wildly popular no matter what hour of the day. I'll be they're standing-room-only at meal times.
Stopped at what Lauren says is a brand-new Wal Mart on the way home. It reminds me a lot of the store in Somerdale in Camden County, with the same gorgeous view of mountains, and maybe even larger. We didn't buy anything here, but Lauren checked to see if they had several medicines her parents needed. It started raining again just as we got into the car and showered fairly hard for most of the ride home.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller were watching the Yankees-Blue Jays game when we got in. We had our Jack's burgers and hot dogs with Pepsi and Funyuns while the game continued. The Yankees wiped the floor with the Blue Jays, by the way, 13-3.
Played games for a few hours after dinner. Did a long game of Roll With It! first. That game is even more fun with four people. To my surprise, I won. I only got one 15 card, but a ton of 10's. After I took a shower, we did a couple of rounds of Uno. Mr. Miller won all three of them. He also won Sorry! Mrs. Miller came in second, followed by me, and then Lauren.
Lauren and I went downstairs after the game ended and have been chatting ever since. We're going to be a bit more relaxing on a nicer day tomorrow with mini-golf and a local flea market.
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