Puggy’s Keene New Hampshire

Keene is such a cute little hippie college town that I love to visit and see what else I can find. Puggy’s has been on my list for a while but every time I try to find it something distracts my attention. Well not this time!

It’s listed as an antique store but that’s not really the feel I got when I walked in. I mean sure, I was immediately greeted by an absolutely delicious collection of classic 1960’s rock vinyls but beyond that this store was more a hippie shop. It had Greatful Dead tee shirts, a corner for cool shiny rocks, a bunch of fidget toys, and yes some retro toys and another room full of more antique-y things which for the most part were joyfully bizarre. This seemed like a little bit of everything and it was run by an adorable old hippie woman who clearly knew everyone on a first name basis. An unlikely cornerstone of the community which makes me so happy to see as I feel in the American landscape these gathering places are increasingly rare.

So if you live in Keene or nearby deffinately check this place out. Also check it out if you’re into classic rock vinyls because there were four separate vendors specializing in this and they had a delightful assortment. Bowie, T-rex, Deep Purple, local legend Country Joe and the Fish. I could drop SO MUCH money here buying vinyls!

The Record Exchange – Frederick Maryland

We came across the Record Exchange as we were walking down Market Street and decided to give it a go. It was larger than I thought it would be and oddly enough full of people! I say oddly because usually record stores are pretty unpopulated in the middle of the day. I mean you got to admit it’s a niche market but apparently one that was thriving in Frederick! This place was a’ hoppin’!

All three of us separated into our own individual corners to look at things – the heavy metal section, the used CD’s and DVD’s, and my choice of just wandering at random. My interests are too diverse to fit into any specific genre. I had apparently caught the attention of the cashier who I was aware was watching me. Maybe it was the bright orange hair, I don’t know. But I flipped through the “bargain” bin and found myself a John Sebastian record for $2. The last song on it was I Had a Dream which I never thought I’d find on a record. It’s one of my favs. So I was very happy. I wandered back over to my travel companion who was finding weird DVD’s and then conscious of the cashier still watching me I decided to thumb through the bin reading Hardcore Punk just to make him wonder. Also I’m rather fond of the adorable depictions of disease infested rats that tend to adorn the covers of these records. What can I say, once a rat lover, always a rat lover.

Everyone came back with something to buy. So we made our way to the counter.

“What’d you find?”

“A copy of that old slasher flick about the Texas Arcane murders!”

“Cool. That should be fun. As long as it just looks like exploding watermelons. The cheesier the slasher flick the funnier they are!”

The cashier made a funny expression, probably trying not to let on he was listening to this exchange. I handed my John Sebastian record to him – which is calm 60’s folk. He seemed confused. I left this place endeared and entertained.

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