17 March 2008

Among our many errands this weekend, the girl and I did manage to squeeze in a shop at Wegmans--my hometown grocery store chain that's slowly but surely moving into the mid-Atlantic. This one is in Sterling, Virginia, near Dulles Airport. (We were visiting family in the area--don't worry, we're aren't THAT crazy!)

I was hoping for nostalgia. What I got was a megastore in a fast-growing exurb, an overflowing parking lot (though I did manage to find a pretty sweet spot close to the front-door, thank you, parking karma!), and aisles and aisles of anything and everything you can think of. Fresh foods, prepared foods, food stalls where you can take your food and take to an actual food court. Flowers, seasonal items, WINE! (hate that you can't buy wine in grocery stores in Maryland)--including a wine tasting bar!--even books!

We do have a Wegman's at home that has all that stuff and probably MORE--the 123,000 square feet behmoth in DeWitt that garnered THIS write-up in the New York Times when it opened.

I still like the Wegman's that's a five-minute car ride from my mom's--the one that has everything you need and is easy to find--PLUS the occasional awkward encounter with a former schoolmate that you haven't see in 20 years.

I did get SOME piece of home during my Wegman's visit yesterday in Virginia--I keyed in my mom's phone number when the clerk asked for my Wegman's Shopper Card.