After being less than satisfied with the antique store next door we decided to walk over to this boutique to see that it was all about. It’s right off the highway literally on the exit ramp. As such I flew by it but still saw enough to be intrigued. And I wasn’t the only one as there were other cars in the little parking lot.
We wandered in expecting to find antiques as we had only seen the ‘tiques part of their road sign and instead we ended up in this little clothing store. The women tending this place gave my bedraggled figure a dubious look (they always do when I enter a boutique as I’m either dressed to the hilt or more often dressed completely down with a sweat soaked T-shirt being my centerpiece which is what was going on on this particular day.)
This place was bonkers. I’m just going to say that right out. It had a delightful array of seemingly 70’s inspired garb – the most shocking of which was a hunter’s orange polyester power suit. It was chunky, hideous, and I would have totally bought it if I was an office cougar. You know… so I could go ‘hunting’ at work.
I was flush out of cash and unfortunately way too *ahem* curvaceous for a boutique otherwise I may have ended up bringing home some embroidered paisley jeans or a nice paisley button up. I just like paisleys. And peacock fashion. We should totally bring back peacock fashion… And maybe some of these seemingly disco-esque designs as well. So fun.
Outside we found out this boutique was right next to a cute little coffee shop and there were all sorts of little cafe-like areas to sit and enjoy including little gardens and a view of the highway. I found it all quite charming.
Wilton is neither super close nor terribly far from where I live but it does have one key difference that I needed on this particular outing – it has a lot of Free Little Libraries and if I was to continue my tour donating signed copies of my book for people to find this seemed like a great place to start.
I thought this would be super easy. I’d just choose a town or city I was already in, look at the Little Free Library App, share the addresses with my GPS and voila! It’d be quick, efficient, and a little fun. This has not been my experience… if anything this has been more like a treasure hunt than an easy chore list. Sometimes I drive right up to them, sometimes I drive right up to absolutely nothing at all, sometimes I find the abandoned shells of a lost dream. As such it took me THREE separate trips to Wilton to get most, not all, of the little libraries.
Marden Road – Abandoned
The first one I stopped at was on Marden Road and it sounded really sweet. It was in the middle of nowhere aside a horse pasture and on the app it said it was dedicated to a recently deceased horse who I guess the local children would frequently visit- when it was still alive of course. Despite being on a farm road with very few houses or anything of note I managed to find it partially up a long driveway. Drove right to it. But there was something wrong. It was made from an old cubby freezer and it looked thoroughly abandoned. There was a sun-bleached spot where a sign must have once stuck to it. Inside there were no books – just spider webs, leaves, and debris. This made me so sad! I had the perfect farm related book to leave in it if it was running but alas no.. I reported it as defunct to the Free Little Library Website.
65 Main Street
65 Main Street
I thought finding something on Main Street would be super easy so I headed to this one next. I knew it was in a park. I drove by but my GPS claimed it was on the opposite side of the road than it was so not only did I not see a little library I didn’t even see the park! At this point I decided to find a place to turn around – ended completely distracted when I drove into the parking lot of the Riverview Mill Artist Studios. Luckily there was a sweet woman there that set me straight. There is indeed a park, a very little park, squished in between a chocolatier and a cupcake shop, and within that tiny park there’s a gorgeous natural rock fountain, a view of the train bridge, some benches shaded by trees, and a very elegant Little Free Library built to look like the surrounding buildings. In short I found Heaven – a tiny peaceful spot to read or people watch while munching on chocolates and freshly baked cupcakes. Wilton, you have it made.
10 Livermore Street
10 Livermore Street
Of all the Little Libraries I have visited this one really stands out. It’s sitting directly across from an elementary school so I was figuring it was going to be this hokey little children’s book cabinet. And there’s nothing wrong with that… but I drove up to it I was just delighted to see it. Blazoned loudly on it’s side was a trans flag (with a black and brown stripe included) and its front was wrapped in pride flag colors. A little gnome stood guard. I grew up in a small town nearby that really didn’t appreciate me or my unflinching gender fuckery so to see such loud and positive queer rep, especially for trans and trans kids of color, made my heart just fucking MELT. I was already won with this but it got better. As I stood there taking photos a polite tabby gentleman ambled up and practically said, “Can I haz all the pats pleez?” This cat was AWSOME. Obviously, I obliged. Seriously could have lost the rest of the day petting him. I knew this library was geared towards elementary students but some of the books looked like they were for middle-aged or young adults so I felt comfortable leaving a copy of Achilles in Heels there. It’s an updated retelling of an old Greek myth. Basically, I wrote about the teenage years of Achilles where he was forced by his mother to hide from the draft by pretending to be a princess. He also finds himself in a polyamorous vee with his two best friends Patroclus and Deidamia. So, there’s a lot of positive queer rep and it’s “sweet” (no sex scenes) so even though it was about teenagers and not smaller children I left it there. It just felt right to leave it there chilling next to a few other young adult type books. This library really made my day. I still smile thinking about it. So, whoever it tending to it – keep doing good work. Your library is absolutely wonderful and it means a lot. Also please pat the cat for me. And give him a treat if possible.
7 Forest Road
There’s supposed to be a Little Free Library on the playground here. I didn’t find it and to be honest I didn’t try that hard as my books aren’t children’s books and loitering around a playground when I don’t have any kids in tow is creepy at best. But if I am to believe the photo on the Free Little Library app it is adorable…
24 Maple Street
24 Maple Street
Honestly, I don’t know how I ended up here. I was looking for something else, I think the little library at the Methodist Church on North River Road which I drove past and then while I was trying to find my way back home I ended up turning on Maple Street and boom! I was in front of a little library! Mistaking it for the one I was looking for I fudged up the label saying where I left it and then when I got home to check if it matched the address and photo on the app I found out it didn’t match anything at all. It did have a chapter number but that came up unregistered. I seriously lost an hour trying to figure this out when I suddenly remembered there was an adorable bantam rooster crowing in the background and a sign reading Maple something Farm. From here I had to consult Google street view and prove to myself I had not toppled into the Twilight Zone earlier. This is what happens when you have ADD brain and you let it go hog wild. It makes tracing your steps earlier in the day almost impossible! Rest assured I am fine and this little library is delightful. And apparently new because it wasn’t on Google Street View. SIIIIIIGGGGGHHH.
195 Isaac Frye Hwy
Hilltop Cafe – 195 Isaac Frye Highway
Finally, we come to a library that’s not in town but rather out in the puckers again – well, sort of. It’s actually in the parking lot of a popular cafe. A cafe that was so popular that you need reservations just to eat there. It’s because it was so busy on that morning that I was focused too hard on pedestrians and traffic to even notice the little library and had to find it on Google Street View that night before returning on a different day! It’s a unique and cute one too! I deposited a book there and was well on my way.
I admit I don’t do too many eateries on this blog – but it’s not because I am not a foodie at heart, it’s just I usually can’t afford it. WELL, last night I was along for the ride and what a ride it was!
I have nothing against Warwick RI but it is a very busy built-up area humming with plazas filled with the usual chain stores and restaurants. Because of this I wasn’t expecting this new place to be any different but WOW… it was different alright!
The Tree House Tavern runs out of a repurposed 1800’s farmhouse which does in fact have a tree house out in the front yard. The parking lot is…. as a friend would say “Byzantine.” A real confusing jumble of possible parking spaces that somehow works. And once we popped out of the car and started to look around we realized just how odd and unique this place was. Set aside from a very busy roadway it was like we just fell down the proverbial rabbit hole. This didn’t look like anything else in the area. Bedecked with fairy lights to the hilt and supporting an odd country chic it beckoned us to come in. Inside the ceiling was absolutely plastered with brightly colored and open umbrellas mixed with other eccentric decorations. It was…. distracting but only in the most wonderful way.
We were given the choice of indoor or outdoor dining and we decided to go outside. It was a gorgeous evening after all. And so we found ourselves nestled outside amongst a series of little entertainment centers. Little firepits were everywhere, it looked like baskets full of snuggly blankets were on stock for chilly Autumn nights around these fires. There were several more private areas including a little patio with seating for a single couple. Flowers bloomed everywhere amongst even more fairy lights and chaotic decoration.
We sat down across from a somewhat judgmental deer head mounted on the wall of a little roofed outdoor area. Our waitress was young and perhaps a little new to the job but was excitable and happy. She handed us a menu and we gave it a once over. It didn’t have a whole lot of options but the ones that it did have were… something else. And what kind of food was on offer here? I guess my companion had it nailed with his description, “American Style Food Fuckery.” Pretty much the first thing I read was Sweet Potato Pizza and I was way too curious to even care what else was on there. I mean what on earth is a sweet potato pizza??? Meanwhile my companion was having a hard time deciding between a series of options which was made even more difficult when the waitress suggested a special of a crabcake surf and turf. Ultimately that’s what he chose and ended up with half a cow on his plate. No complaints here.
But first we had to try the appetizers! They had a plate of honey orange wings so we went for that, saying that maybe if they were good we’d come back and try the most adventurous appetizer on the menu – the peanut butter and jelly wings. We didn’t wait long at all before they were brought out and they were hands down the best wings I have ever eaten. And I am usually not a fan of wings (I mean there’s not a hell of a lot of meat on them.) They were crunchy, warm, delicious, and STICKY. Holy crap were they sticky! I had an ex once who would get pissed off with me for having sticky hands and this sort of thing would have made him flip right the fuck out. As such it gave a deep perverse joy to be making such a mess. That’s bliss right there. And the waitress was sweet enough to bring out some wet naps for after.
I could have walked out right then and there and been happy but no… there was more. As we waited for our entre I admit I was doing some eavesdropping of other guests and the absolutely bonkers conversations being had fit right in with the decor. My favorite was a whole discussion on a summer camp for horses where humans weren’t allowed and could only reach it by dirt bike after leaving their cars and horse trailers behind. A summer camp for horses. Now I’ve heard it all.
And then the waitress brought out a huge show and tell platter full of desserts to show some of the other patrons and I was just sitting there with my jaw agape. So many absolutely beautiful desserts to choose from! According to their website they rotated and changed depending on the mood of their baker on any given day (and SERIOUSLY how cool a job would that be to just bake whatever the fuck you want from day to day?? The freedom! The creativity!) Oooh lord, we’d have to save room for something delectable.
By the time our main course came out I was already having a wonderful time. My pizza was beautiful – a thin crusted prosciutto pizza with little cubes of sweet potato smattered about for some color and maybe to a lesser extent some flavor. My companion’s half a cow and a crabcake was also beautifully presented and he seemed to be enjoying it to the hilt.
We tried to eat slowly to save room but to be totally honest I was already mostly full from the appetizer! So I ate 2 slices of my pizza and waited for my belly to settle a bit. And when the dessert tray came out there was a lot to choose from – from a rather ordinary vanilla creme brulee, to a S’more cheesecake, to some sort of mutant whiskey filled chocolate ball, to some sweet little macaroons. I let my companion decide on something to share because honestly I would have accepted anything on that platter (save for the whiskey thing as I am not fond of the taste of booze. Yick!) We ended up with some sort of pink cake with green stuffing. It was a berry cake of some sort? I don’t know. It was cute looking and damn was it moist and delicious! Another win.
We were so full by the time we left I am pretty sure we were both waddling like penguins. And we had spent so much time there the mall closed. We’d actually came to run an errand at the mall – this…. was a distraction. A fantastic one at that!
ANYWAY. This was a delightful adventure. I’d HIGHLY recommend this place, especially if you’re looking for something “a little different.”
Last week was just so completely random. I have no idea how I ended up at the bougiest corner of Rhode Island staring down the world’s most terrifying carousel while surrounded by ice cream lapping tourists but I’m not complaining…
Truth be told I desperately needed to be somewhere, anywhere, that was so completely and utterly different from my usual surroundings that I could just mentally check out for a while. You know what I mean. You feel it too. Well, I don’t live anywhere near the ocean so that fit the bill but really we went for the carousel and the lighthouse. The rest was just a cheerful bonus.
When I drove up it was definitely hoppin’. People were everywhere packing nearby beaches and perusing the shops and boutiques. It was like… going back in time… you know to the mid 1990’s, before the economy collapsed and people had vacations like this all the time! Parking was just an ever lovin’ joy to figure out as it was all parallel and pretty much full down the whole block. No worries after a 20-minute show with at least one horrified onlooker I was able to technically get the car within the lines. Technically. Then we walked!
This was the most touristy tourist trap I have ever seen in New England. Kids ran about with reckless abandon being ‘watched’ by their dads who were buying ice cream for the whole gaggle while their wives fucked off and enjoyed some sweet sweet alone time in the boutiques. There was even an antique store! Granted it was all nautical, just vaguely antique, and reminded me more of one of those Old Timey Country Stores with what it was selling. Just add some salt water to that country chic and you can picture it. I took some whimsical photos of random hanging trinkets.
And then we made our way to the carousel at the end. It was…. a thing of tremendous terror. Something that shall haunt my nightmares for years to come. Here they were selling tickets to ride the Merry Go Round $1 for the inner ring of horses, $4 for the outer ring and a chance to grab a gold ring to win a free ride. Now as fucking amazing as I find all that truly obsolete Americana I was a little trepidatious for the poor children on this machine who were whipping around that thing at great speeds, so much so the horses were at full tilt, their wee hooves kicking the air towards the onlookers at the sides. It made my heart skip a few beats. And the horses. Oh my God, the horses. I have no words to describe just how blood curdling creepy they were. They are supposed to be America’s longest continuously running Merry Go Round built in 1867 and “mysteriously abandoned” at Watch Hill in 1883 by a travelling carnival which… makes sense for a bunch of ponies that look like they could suck out your soul. I’m told each one of them still has it’s original eyes which is some sort of stone… but really it makes them all look like they have milky white cataracts and combined with their over all grizzled appearance I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the zombie horses of the apocalypse. They look the part. Every time I found one that just had to be the most unnerving another one would pop up behind it that made me gasp even more. Left me in a real pickle to find a favorite.
You may ask, “Did you ride the scary pony death machine?” No, no, I did not. The horses on this carousel are very small, clearly just for children unlike today’s carousels with life-size horses (or steam punk monsters if I remember the one I once saw in Brussels, Belgium right…) And I mean if I were a kid I probably would have loved hanging on for dear life as I spun wildly out of control trying to catch a gold ring as I went by. I mean that’s just good old fashioned family fun. Right? RIGHT?
Well anyway, there was a beach right next to the carousel with plenty of people sunning and swimming and having a grand old time. We decided to shun it in favor of walking up a nearby side street to see the lighthouse which I guess is only open for a short time every year – a short time that didn’t include that day. But it was still technically a park so we went to at least poke at it. This was my companion’s first lighthouse so he was impressed. I was amused by the mansions lining the drive it was on (especially the one with the witch weather vane) but the lighthouse itself was intensely meh for me. Maybe I’m just jaded having gone to so many. Either way it did seem to be a nice fishing spot and a few people were here doing exactly that and enjoying this gorgeous summer day.
All and all it was a nice way to spend an hour or two and the carousel made it 100% worth it because it was just soooo weird. Everything else was just a cherry on the terrifying carousel cake.
Ever just wander in some place with heavy college vibes and look around nodding, “This makes no sense but I love it.” That was what Pretzel and Pizza Creations was. It was a tiny booth eatery that served not just pretzels and pizza but also ice cream and one “adult shake” because why not?? This place was the chaotic fever dream of tired tourists, stoned college kids, and the otherwise hungry.
I was talked into trying the ice cream… And it was great. Tasted like Nutella. Shame I was already full to the gills… Still, we sat for a while and enjoyed the place all the same. It’d been a long and happy trip. No one really wanted to leave.
It’s hard to pass up tacos. They’re delicious and cheap and make for a great food to enjoy at the end of a vacation. So that’s what we did. We went to Taco Daddys which the locals all seemed to speak favorably about. It seemed like a popular place. We sat down at the booth and were served tacos in swift order. Except me. I ordered quesadillas. And they were the best quesadillas I’ve ever had! Crazy tasty!
Yup. Should we ever go back to Frederick Taco Daddys will likely be on the list of preferred eateries.
I don’t know how long we’d been walking but my feet were to the point they were on fire and my stomach? Rumbly. In fact I think everyone was getting a little punchy when we decided to settle down and find something to eat. We did this by walking by Tsunami and saying, “Hey! How about some noodles?”
Now I admit this whole noodle thing is a new concept for me… but I thoroughly enjoyed it! And so did everyone else. I even got the joy of being tonight’s entertainment because I still don’t understand how chop sticks work. Luckily these were just noodles and stabbing them at random seemed to work fairly OK. All I needed was the dexterity of a drunk toddler. At one point I was so stoked I managed to pick up an egg yolk with my handy little sticks that I made a joyful little noise about my achievement only to have everyone look up just as it disintegrated before my eyes and flopped back into the bowl. So close. I ate the leaf of seaweed as punishment. I used to feed that to my fish and always wondered… I wonder no more.
I ended up with the vegetable noodles because I friggin’ love the mushroom stock at noodle places… and the weird unidentifiable vegetables. It’s added fun, I swear. Loved every minute of it and so did my poor feet! Everyone else seemed to be having a good time too which is great because these photos weren’t taken by me. Clearly someone else in our group was into teasing everyone on social media with images of comfort food. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Tsunamis was a hit and I think it’s a great place if you want a giant endless bowl of noodles.
Going to Maryland was no small ordeal. We’d started our travels at 2AM the night before and arrived at the airport to pick up our newest travel companion only after getting into the world’s dumbest car accident only 5 minutes away at the toll booths. Apparently they’d changed the entire system to EZPass which confused cash payers so much they were stopping when they shouldn’t have been…. hence I slammed into a stopped car ahead of me and the gentleman behind me slammed into me. Fun stuff!
So I was already loopy tired, high on adrenaline, and hungry enough to eat a horse when we decided to go in search of food. Miss Shirley’s came up as a suggestion and when we found out it’d been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives we had to check it out. Whether you like the show or not you have to acknowledge it showcases a lot of diners, all of which look food coma amazing, and I had wondered if I’d ever end up at one of these joints seeing as diners are my kinda food.
Even at this weird hour there was a wait but after getting in we were served quickly. I ended up drinking their strawberry lemonade which had such a delightful light flavor – it didn’t taste like pure sugar like lemonade usually does. I ended up getting the coconut stuffed French toast for $17. Never in my life did I expect to pay $17 for what is essentially peasant food but when in Rome… I was not disappointed! When they came out with my meal I couldn’t even tell what it was. It wasn’t a few identifiable slices it was the whole damn loaf of bread! Dipped in egg, settled on a nest of fresh strawberries and slices of banana foster, cut, and glued back together with two inches of coconut filling which came spewing out like lava when I hit it. Clearly I didn’t know how to eat this monstrosity. My companions both laughed at how huge it was knowing I’d never come close to eating it all. That was like four meals worth of toast for me! And it was GOOD. I ate far too much. It was so sweet it didn’t even need maple syrup. I am definitely adding coconut to my future breakfast endeavors.
Meanwhile everyone else was super happy with their choices of chocolate chip pancakes and a mixed egg breakfast of some sort. Their proportions were also very large although maybe not as excessive as my French toast. We all left stuffed silly and I would highly recommend this stop if you happen to be in Baltimore.
We decided to eat dinner at Wright’s Chicken Farm after our adventures in the Douglas State Forest. It was not terribly far from where I used to live so I was once again surprised to learn about something I have never heard of – although maybe I shouldn’t be. By the time I moved into the area my narcissistic ex had gotten what he needed out of me and had long forgone the love-bombing process, instead coyly making sure I was isolated and car-free at home while he ignored me to pursue other romantic prospects behind my back. This included date nights and going out to eat so yeah… how was I to know there was a great chicken shack down the road?
I had been to Wright’s Dairy Farm already (they have AMAZING buttercream frosted cakes there.) Wright’s Chicken Farm however is in a different location and it is a large venue hall and restaurant that only serves one dinner so it’s great for anyone who has trouble picking something off a menu. Dinner consisted of baked chicken (both white and dark meat), pasta with tomato sauce, french fries, salad, and buns. All served family style so you could pick and chose whatever you pleased.
The ambiance of this place was… weird. I thought it looked like a hole in the wall casino, the kind you’d find out in the sticks somewhere. My companions thought it looked like the visitors/community room in a nursing home. Eventually we all agreed it had big bingo hall energy. The vast majority of the other people here were old, 100% of them were white, and they all looked respectable. Even I was a little uneasy – and I’m whiter than Wonder Bread! But not terribly respectable. Adding to the weird vibe it had a big gift shop attached with the most random of things in it – including but not limited to tacky glitter covered Christmas ornaments. They know their target audience. That being said they also had fudge and truffles in all flavors and that made up for a little bit of the oddness. As did our bombastic waiter whose rough NYC/Jersey Shore accent was woefully out of place and whose energy was just as loud. Made my brain itch a bit.
Anyway. The place was simple and cheap and had good food so I am not complaining in any way. I particularly liked the dark meat and french fries which I ate far too many of. They offered ice cream after this but YIKES who has room for ice cream after an all-you-can-eat styled meal?! Afterwards I hung out in the parking lot a little bit talking while waiting for the others. We noted how quaint the motel across the street looked and the duck pond in between. Eventually a complete stranger, a woman, came up to me and complemented my laugh out of nowhere. Well that’s a new one! But I’ll take it.
All and all it’s a decent enough place to go to if you happen to be in the area and have a craving for baked chicken and a family style meal.
*Image taken from Wright’s Farm website (sorry, I didn’t bring my camera in with me.)
After thoroughly enjoying B F Clyde’s Cider Mill we decided to continue the day by going into the more populous side of the city for a little shopping. I’m not really one who normally enjoys shopping for the sake of shopping but I am starting to see this might just be because of the places I end up and the people I go with. I say this because on this day I had a great time!
I guess I was intrigued by the description of the shops there including an Alice in Wonderland themed tea shop and a storefront promising an assortment of sharp stabby things (seriously… who has even heard of a sword shop?! Sounds so medieval.) And all of it was situated in the Old Mystik Village which sounds sooo… witchy. I guess this is what made it all the less surprising when we walked into a series of mystic and magic type shops that had everything a Wiccan or Pagan could possibly want. We spent a good few hours picking shops that seemed interesting and wandering in to poke at things like an enthusiastic tourist. I am going to try and remember all of them and list them below but we’ll see how this goes!
Ice Imports: This was the promised stabby things store but it didn’t look like it when we first walked in. In fact it looked like a rock shop with all sorts of geodes and shiny rocks. Some were natural others were in bracelets and rings. The whole middle of the store was dedicated to magic bracelets – made with rock beads of your choice – each listing what magical purpose they were good for. None of the labels said anything about their more utilitarian use – they were GREAT fidgets! Especially if you buy two or more and play with them together. My companion was happy to find more hematite rings… to replace the ones he bought in Salem… I am absolutely perplexed how he keeps breaking them but I guess that’s part of their charm. Their sellers claim they break when they have absorbed all the negative energy they can. Convenient… I can’t say I am convinced but I respect the beliefs of others. There were also a bunch of ADORABLE knickknacks and a counter full of shiny stabby things!! So basically you could buy a baby dragon and a sword to slay it all the same shop!
Dharma Jewels: From there we walked into Dharma Jewels which describes itself as a gift shop full of handmade Tibetan and Himalayan goods. I couldn’t help but see the parallels between this and the witch shops as they also had a lot of space dedicated to things like lucky coins but also an assortment of colorful clothes, weird bags, and more recognizable religious artifacts like prayer flags and posters of Krishna. The women working the counter seemed very happy and the place had a uniquely pleasant smell, not sure what it was.
Alice in the Village: I just had to go to this little Alice in Wonderland inspired tea shop. I mean come on, it’s obvious I love the story – I draw a weekly comic based on the hookah smoking caterpillar’s ill-begotten grandchild. ANYWAY, the place was adorable. It had Alice in Wonderland mugs, knickknacks, and decorations lining the walls. The decorations to the place added to the sheer whimsy of it. It was a small place with a tiny seating area and a counter full of colorful macaroons…. which I had to try because I’ve never eaten a proper French macaroon. They’re crunchy and filled with goo. I was not expecting that but they were good! And they went well with the magic disappearing Cheshire Cat mug that ended up going home with me.
Alice in the Village
Bestamors: This shop was HUGE and weird. It was a shrine to everything Nordic/Northern European. Warm clothes, creepy trolls up the wazoo, gnomey gnomes, swarms of nesting dolls, and another counter full of stabby things listed by country! It just went on and on with no lack of things to poke at. I was thoroughly amused.
Extra Virgin: This place was another bizarre niche store that I couldn’t help but adore. As you walk in there is a row of dispensers for their flavored olive oils and vinaigrettes. And the other side of the store is dedicated to their flavored honeys – all of which you can try and we did! I ended up coming home with a bottle of blackberry bramble vinaigrette which is going to up my salad game hardcore.
Kitch: Kitch was another shockingly enormous store that really didn’t look big from the outside. Inside it was full to the brim with all the latest in kitchen gadgetry as well as a counter dedicated to a line of hot sauces. They had everything you could want here… pots, pans, tea kettles, cooking gadgets, unidentifiable tools, the whole lot! “I could lose several paychecks in here.” My companion lamented with plate-sized eyes. “I could too…”
Angel Haven: Once you’ve already been through several shops dedicated to lucky charms going into one dedicated to personal angels didn’t seem so weird. Lots of shiny pricey jewelry and some $600 steam punky clocks that opened up and showed all their gears once every hour while singing a different tune for each hour of the day. It was quite a display! And hey, someday if I ever become rich enough to dump $600 on a wall clock who knows, maybe I’ll be back. Never did figure out who my personal angel was – though if there’s an angel of anxiety and pointless distraction it’s probably that one.
Raining Cats and Dogs: I’m not going to lie – I find it pretty depressing I am currently not owned by any pets but seeing as both my travel companions had cats we all went in to see what damage we could do in that department. This place was mostly for dogs, small dogs at that, with all sorts of little coats and toys and whatnot but there was one corner dedicated to cats. And let me tell you the catnip toy that ended up coming home must have been some strong shit because the kitten just about went rabid when it was given to her.
Franklin’s General Store: I loved this place. It smelled kinda weird as general stores frequently do and it had everything from a fudge counter to a pile of zombie rubber ducks. It was a maze of eccentric old timey items and always fun to rifle through. I ended up buying a little encyclopedia of oddities because why not, might give me some inspiration.
Irish Eyes: Finally we went into an Irish themed store that was totally mental. I don’t know why I didn’t take any photos – maybe because it was a tiny cramped shop. Anyway, it had EVERYTHING you could possibly want Irishwise – funny T-shirts, cribbage boards, sheep galore, and even a music kit for starting your own Irish folk band that included several Irish instruments. It was weird and kind of sweet.
And that was our day shopping… from here we’d make our way to an escape room in Warwick RI because why not end our adventures there?
