After we left the guys, we went for a short walk down the street. Great Barrington is one of the many small former industrial towns in the Berkshires whose main industry nowadays is tourism. Though there were many lovely little stores housed in vintage 19th century brick buildings on Main Street, they weren't open yet at 9:30. We ended up walking back to the car and heading out instead.
Our next stop was the Goodwill up the road. While not huge, it was a good size, maybe a little bit bigger than the one in Audubon. Lauren picked up two shirts. I found two CDs here:
Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost of Tom Joad
Barbra Streisand - Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway
We doubled back a little down the road to Marshalls next. Apparently, Lauren's fond of this store and has shopped here before. I didn't do any better here than at the TJMaxx yesterday and just used the bathroom, but Lauren did find a nice shirt and vest for work.
As we headed to the Goodwill, we passed an older blue house with a sign that said the Bookloft. Lauren knows I love books, and we needed to kill some time before lunch, so we stopped here. It was indeed a lovely restored house filled with books of all kinds, from science fiction and poetry to a children's room. I actually found a book here that I hadn't seen at Barnes and Noble yesterday, the newest Shady Hollow cozy mystery Summer's End.
Doubled back again, this time to Four Brothers Pizza Inn. We ate here the last time we came up to the Great Barrington area about a decade ago. It looked pretty much the same as it did in 2015, with lots of blond wood on the walls, and it still specializes in pizza, Greek food, and diner basics like burgers. Lauren had a Buffalo chicken wrap with curly fries. I had a Four Brothers wrap with regular fries. Both sandwiches came with cole slaw. Oh, yum! The "Four Brothers" turned out to be grilled chicken with Greek salad and dressing. I wasn't crazy about the salad containing olives, and the dressing made it rather messy, but it was otherwise excellent.
Lauren took us back in the opposite direction, this time to the Lee Outlets. She's been spending a lot of time at this mall recently, walking there with Rico after work. We did some walking of our own as we checked out stores. We struck out at Chico's and Eddie Bauer. I didn't see anything I wanted at J.Crew and Old Navy, but she picked up shirts and vests. I found a nice tank top in a jungle green and white leaf print that came up to $8 on a 70 percent off sale at the Loft. Aeropostale was having a buy one, get one sale on shirts. She bought two polo shirts, as she recently got rid of two worn ones. I bought cute graphic tees with the 80's Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake on them. She got blouses from Ann Taylor. I found a lovely long-sleeved cream blouse with amber-colored flowers on it. We browsed in the little gift shop with the imported knick-knacks and shelves of Beanie Babies.
The rain that threatened all day finally came down as we headed back to the car around 4:30. Rico was supposed to join us for a non-shopping walk. Lauren checked her phone, while I watched an episode of Match Game '76. They skipped way ahead to the first week of that year, with Dick Martin getting one of his first matches and Richard delighted to have his then-girlfriend Jodie Donovan next to him.
As it turned out, not only was Rico not eager to walk in even a light shower, but he had to babysit his niece at the last minute. We ended up walking back to the Outlets for dinner at their food court instead. The Outlets food court consists of four very basic booths - Mexican, pizza, Asian, and a sandwich shop. By the time we got there, it was quarter of 6. The Mexican booth had already closed, and we just had sandwiches. We ended up with pizza by default. She had a salad and a big, thick slice of pepperoni. I had a small spinach stromboli. It was a little too brown on top, but the spinach and cheese filling was really good.
With most of the food court closing, we ignored the tiny arcade in favor of the gumball machines and small crane games in the center of the room. We both got peanut M&Ms for dessert out of the gumball machines. I wasn't able to get anything out of the cranes, but Lauren picked up a cute charm bracelet.
The light mist began to pick up as we returned to Lauren's car. By the time she was driving us home through Lee and Lenox, the rain had become a heavy shower. It continued even as we drove home, though I think it ended shortly after we arrived.
We went straight into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe when we got in. Lauren played her Mii. I tried Wendy O. Koopa for something different. Wendy's one of the Koopalings who serves Bowser, and the only girl. She handled a little rougher than Peach, but not as heavy as her boss or some of her larger brothers. We first played the Banana Cup in 50 cc mode. She came in first. I was third, thanks to a fifth-place showing on the twisty DK Jungle.
After the Banana Cup ended, we played contestants from around the US and Canada. That worked out a lot less well. On one hand, neither of us did well. Her best showing was 9th. Mine was 8th. On the other hand, we also got to see courses based around Paris, Madrid, and Rome that are exclusive to the online-only Mario Kart Tour.
Finished the night at the Roku Channel with Hart to Hart. It's a "Solid Gold Murder" when Max is attacked by thieves who steal his nephew Vince's barbells from his new gym. The Harts can't figure out why someone would want Vince's barbells, and they're even more baffled when a Scotland Yard inspector turns up dead. The British cop is able to speak the name of an infamous criminal who steals and collects gold antiquities and bars. Turns out he had gold bars melted into those barbells, and now he wants them back. Jonathan sets up a trap to prove he's behind the thefts and inspector's death.
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