Fun at Whole Foods

Does a trip to the grocery store count as a fun day out?

Since moving from Wheaton last year, I've sorely missed having a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods in close proximity. Life is just that much harder when you can't dash out for goat cheese tapenade or organic strawberries.

So for a long time I've been wanting to make an excursion to our nearest Whole Foods, which is an hour away. Today was finally the day. Rob woke up with yet another cold, so out went our original plans for a fun day out at the zoo. Not that that would've been much fun anyway, as it was raining/sleeting/snowing all day. So with an empty refrigerator at home and a whole day stretched out ahead in which to keep Elliot entertained on my own, what better opportunity to make the big trip to WF?

I printed out a map and off we went toward the big city. We found the store right on the bank of the river next to the George Washington Bridge, with a view of Manhattan across the water. This isn't really the exact view, but it's as close as I could find online.

We first stopped at the cafe, where Elliot and I shared a pesto and sun dried tomato pizza. It struck me that we really are living far out when having lunch in a grocery store feels like a cosmopolitan experience. I need to get out more.

Anyway, after that off we went to discover the latest treasures on offer. As I am the pokiest shopper in the world, and because we had the whole day to fill anyway, we spent over an hour wandering the aisles. Organic plums, pears, arugula, wild coho salmon (that was a bit of a shock at the checkout), crabcakes, Irish cheddar, basil and pine nuts for making pesto - I was in bliss. And Elliot seemed to enjoy it all as much as I did. There were plenty of free samples for him to eat. And I gave him a bottle of honey to carry. He loves honey. Just holding the honey bear made him happy. He was clutching his little honey bear in front of him, and on either side he had a box of cereal and a box of cookies. And he had a big smile on his face. At last, I've learned the secret of keeping a toddler content in a grocery store.

So that was it. Our Saturday (almost) in the big city. It wasn't shopping on Madison Avenue, but at least it was slightly less expensive.