« This is our new American Idol? | Main | Snazzy new feature »
June 10, 2005
Sweet vacation destination
After lunch at Fitz's with Kara, Clara "Greyhound" Jane and I attempted to pay a visit to my boyfriend Trader Joe.
Note that I said attempted. When we pulled into the always-crowded parking lot I said, "Say Trader Joe, what's that big bus doing in front of you? Please tell me it's not in front of you, that it's actually in front of Petsmart or Beauty First. Please?"
But no. There was a tour bus parked practically on the sidwalk in front of Trader Joe's, and old people were coming out of it like clowns out of a Volkswagen, only slower. We sat there in traffic, watching as one after another they streamed off the bus and into the store.
Now, this particular Trader Joe's is a bit on the small side. Even at the slow times, it's still pretty crowded, to the point where it's not unusual to have to wait for people to clear the way in front of the cheese counter.
Can you imagine such a situation with a store full of tourists?
You know I think Trader Joe is pretty rockin' and hot, to the point where I'm considering calling myself Trader Ho. And I do haul most of my out-of-town guests there. My mom requires a Trader Joe's fix everytime she visits because she's the lone provider of Just the Clusters in my hometown. If she comes to St. Louis and returns home without enough Just the Clusters to last the population for my hometown for a month, there is hell to pay, Mister. Hell. To. Pay.
Who knew the whole town could have just chartered a bus and rode three hours to pay Trader Joe a visit themselves?
I mean, it's not like there aren't some cool stuff for traveling retirees to see in our fair city. The Gateway Arch, of course. And the Cathedral Basilica, with the world's largest collection of mosaic art. Or Forest Park, home of the 1904 World's Fair and some great, world-class museums. The New York Yankees are playing here this weekend for the first time in 40 years, and probably for the last time before Busch Stadium is imploded this fall.
But I guess when you're a retiree on a budget, all of that pales at the opportunity to purchase cases of Three Buck Chuck.
Suddenly, it all makes sense.
Posted by Robin at June 10, 2005 05:35 PM
Comments
FITZ'S!!
Yeah, I need to schedule a visit.
Posted by: Wendy at June 10, 2005 06:14 PM
you'd think that if they were going to drive all that way to see Trader Joe, they would have gone out to Chesterfield. :)
Posted by: kara at June 10, 2005 10:08 PM
And you didn't even mention the biggest attraction in St. Louis...though they may have seen it coming out on 40 to TJ's.
Posted by: B at June 11, 2005 07:22 AM
What's Just the Clusters and do I need to be envying your mom having them?
Posted by: DixiePeach at June 11, 2005 05:05 PM
At the Trader Joe's in Seattle they have nowhere to load the stuff off of the delivery trucks so they double park them in the street and unload the truck as fast as they can with employees running back and forth and passing stuff over the hoods of cars. How's that for a run-on sentence?
I know this because my boyfriend was until recently a TJ's employee. He says that Trader Joe's likes to use small spaces for their stores and not change anything about the building (or parking lot). We have a store here in Portland that has frequent traffic jams in its tiny parking lot because it traps you at one end.
Okay that's it. Who knew I had that much to say?
Posted by: kate at June 11, 2005 08:46 PM
Whenever I got to TJs there are tons of old folks there. I wonder if there is some senior center somewhere that tells their group to go there...they take them on a tour bus, go, and then are hooked and keep going on their own so that I cannot make a quick run through there during my lunch hour...yeah thats it......
Posted by: mindy at June 11, 2005 10:23 PM
*sigh* I miss Trader Joe's....
Posted by: carrster at June 22, 2005 09:10 AM
