Tracey and Bonnie's Shopping Adventure March 16.12

Some of you may remember Tracey and Bonnie's Shopping Adventure last year; to celebrate our birthdays, each spring and fall we cross the border to spend the day shopping in the United States.   We hit every craft store along the strip, but before we do we always start our day with a hearty breakfast at Cracker Barrel, take in all the country decor, then browse their shop before moving on.

Departure 8:04 am.  Four minutes late picking Tracey up. Upon entering the car Tracey said, "Did I get the time wrong?  I thought we decided on our drive home from cross stitching the other night that we were leaving at 7:30?"  (...well it was 1:15 am when we decided...)

Departure:  8:04.  Thirty-four minutes late. 

Now... I knew there was construction on the interstate as you leave Cracker Barrel, however, what I didn't know was that the construction was now on the other side of the interstate on the road that takes us to Cracker Barrel!!  OK, so we go a little further ahead and turn around. How hard can this be?  

As I take the first off ramp I realize it veers off to two separate highways.  "Crap! Tracey I'm taking the one on the right."  We get on it and realize it's taking us to Flint and I have never been on this highway before and have no idea how far we will have to travel before we get another off ramp.  Destination Cracker Barrel: unknown. 

With no cell phone or GPS, we laughingly move on.  How bad can it be?  Not far off is an off ramp and I said, "We're getting off here!"  Luckily for us, we found a way back to I-94. (... you American readers familiar with this area are probably getting a real hoot out of this...). Destination Cracker Barrel: 15 minutes.  

Driving along I said to Tracey, "Watch for signs, I'm not sure how far we veered away from I-94"  Destination Cracker Barrel: hopefully - 11 minutes.  Let's not waste anymore time on this part of the story: We made another wrong exit.  Too soon.  Destination Cracker Barrel:  unknown. 

We find a quick turn around. Woooo Whoooo!  Back on I-94. Traveling, laughing, traveling, laughing - we start to get off another off ramp and realize it's the wrong one again. OMG! Damn construction. Damn cement road barriers.  A quick recalculation back into the left lane and further up Tracey said, there's the Cracker Barrel billboard - turn off here.  Destination Cracker Barrel: 1 minute. 

We finally arrive and as we sit down at our table, Tracey immediately noticed a vintage calendar on the wall from 1951. 

Tracey and I both love vintage, but she really has a special place in her heart for cardinals.

We ordered breakfast and it really didn't seem like much;  eggs, bacon, hash brown casserole  and pancakes.  Pretty simple huh?

Simply huge... and delicious!!

After browsing through the merchandise at Cracker Barrel - First stop - Mary Maxim's.  Tracey spotted this cute little doll sitting beside the cash register at Mary Maxim's. 

What a happy little face... for some reason it just made Tracey giggle!

This doll is almost as sweet as the little old lady standing in line at the register with us.  I take that back.  The doll is sweeter; it didn't fart. 

While browsing the fabric section we stopped to talk to Nan.  Nan has been employed at Mary Maxim's for years and used to be in charge of the cross stitch department where she used to keep bowls of M&M's on hand at all times...  probably one reason Tracey loves M&M's so much.  As she was folding fabric, I exclaimed, "Is THAT Gone With the Wind fabric??!!"   sure enough... 

After Mary Maxim's, we head straight to Hobby Lobby, where we normally spend a minimum of 3 hours.   Since Easter is just around the corner, I thought for sure we would find some eggs.

Feed me peanuts and call me Dumbo,
but someone tell me how kids are supposed to find Camouflage eggs!

Since the 4 from Forest LOVE Cadbury Mini Eggs, we were really excited to stumble upon giant versions.  Good thing they aren't really chocolate, I'm not sure we would be able to take a bite of these?? 

Dem Dare's some big mini eggs.

Leaving Hobby Lobby - Tracey captured a photo of my infamous cape... here you go Chantelle!

Next stop; Walmart.  Tracey had the idea of taking a picture of every single thing we stumbled upon in the store that someone left on a shelf because they didn't feel like putting it back where it belonged.  Both of us have worked in retail for years and this is a peeve of ours. Needless to say - there were far too many misplaced items to even attempt to blog about!

While browsing the shelves we stumbled upon this!  Anita's daughter sells Scentsy warmers and her step-daughter had a part in the movie The Tree of Life.  How ironic is this?? 

Stay tuned for October's adventure.  Perhaps we'll venture someplace further down the highway?? 

Bonnie