how i dream for a…

grocery store…

I know that sounds crazy, but so true. I love living in Penn Quarter, but going to the grocery store can be quite challenging. Between CVS, a couple of markets and the farmer’s market each Thursday, we somehow manage. Every few weeks, we trek out to Virginia to stock up. And this summer, I bought a large cart, which holds lot of groceries and goods. If it’s not too heavy, I can manage to make it back to our apartment rather quickly. I have even mastered the half door elevator next to the stairs in our lobby.

But I really miss the day of being able to hop into one of the six Harris Teeters that surrounded us in Chapel Hill. Or even walk a block down Franklin Street to Whole Foods. You certainly can’t pause mid-meal and run out for a missing ingredient in our neighborhood. I won’t go into full details about trying track down a pack of powdered Ranch Dressing mix last fall. After searching in over a dozen stores, I stocked up the next trip to North Carolina. My supply of six should last the next ten years, but you never know when you will need a pack handy.

I think that I have gone into grocery store withdrawals. I absolutely adore the new Harris Teeter on Highway 1 going towards Alexandria. I can only say that it feels like the store is hugging you. I am not sure what they did, but this is the first grocery store that I can make my way through and not feel exhausted by the end. Maybe it is the combination of low ceilings, short aisles, and limited selection. You know how they say that you should shop the perimeter of the grocery store for the healthy food? Well, somehow they managed to take the outside aisles and compact those into the main section of the store. By the time, you wind around to the end dairy and bread, you are within feet of the checkout and all of those center aisles shoot out behind you. Since they are so short, you can peer down them to see if there is something that you need. Unlike other grocery experiences, I still have enough energy in the frozen foods to continue browsing through the section. And maybe it is just me, but I am not miserably frozen by the end.

I guess that you can tell that I love this store. It is the first time that I have left feeling creative about meal planning and actually wanting to cook. Grocery shopping and cooking were things that I really hoped would continue as Henry’s favorite chores. So I am glad that I have found the solution since that is not the reality.

But another blip of hope has emerged today with a recent email from our HOA. Please sign this petition requesting Whole Foods to open a store in our neighborhood. I promise that I will love any new store just as much, if not more, than the aforementioned HT. Plus if you sign this petition, I promise to prepare something delicious for you to eat during your next visit.