The first trip to the temple of food

As I often do these days, I took a stroll to the local grocery store. The first part of the walk was pretty typical. I only had one child with me, thanks to the others either napping at home (with Dad in charge) or being otherwise occupied elsewhere. Once we got to the shopping center, the new experience began. The old Great Falcon store building is still standing, for now, but the letters are gone, replaced by a banner directing people around the corner to the new Food Shrine. Today was the first day of the grand opening, and so the old store's parking lot was as full (or fuller) than ever, thanks to all the traffic for the new store. I enjoyed the new sidewalks put into the shopping center, and I also found the new grassy patch aesthetically pleasing. By the time we hit the new sidewalks, the new store was in view. The cars haunting the lot looking for spaces made me especially glad to be using a stroller for wheels instead of a car. The older stores we passed on the way to Food Shrine looked new, thanks to a center-wide face lift. Quite a change from what I'd seen the first time I'd explored that area of the shopping center a few years ago.

Then came the big moment, entering the store. A greeter was on duty with a store map, which I gratefully accepted. I used it to locate our first stop, customer service, where we needed to return some items from the old store. The person ahead of us was returning some prepared food not to his liking, and he was surprised to learn that he was getting double his money back. I, on the other hand, just got a simple refund, since I was returning stuff without complaining. Afterwards, my stroller buddy and I headed into the fray, picking up some free health and beauty samples and trying a pumpkin yogurt concoction as we went. We needed diapers and milk, both of which were near the area we were in at the time. Having secured those items, we gaped our way through the rest of the store. Big stuff here, bigger stuff there, here some gourmet, there some gourmet, everywhere some gourmet. And yet, they were missing two of the fun items I like to get from a mart on the other side of town. Pity. However, they did have sample cups by their seafood soups, and so I tried some lobster bisque. They have an incredible candy section that makes one expect to hear the Candy Man song start playing; they even make their own cotton candy on site. Their prepared foods section is a restaurant. Literally. They even have extra seating for it on a upper level. The old store had one set of public bathrooms. The new store has at least four, distributed on both levels. Nothing drives home the hugeness of a place like extra bathrooms.

My stroller buddy fell asleep while in the store, most likely some time before we hit the candy section, since he was underwhelmed with it when we passed through. I thought about picking up something fun and exotic to take home to share with the family. Dragonfruit, perhaps? Or maybe some of the swiss cheese I sampled in the produce section? Or perhaps some pasta or fried chicken from the hot foods bar? In the end I went for something familiar and simple: croûtons. I like croûtons, and I hadn't purchased any in awhile, although I did devour a good portion of my friend's croûtons the last time I went to visit her. And so it was that I made my way to the checkout of the Food Shrine with three items: diapers, milk, and croûtons. Rather a funny order from a place offering pour-it-yourself olive oil, grind-it-yourself nut butters, roast-it-yourself coffee, hand-dipped chocolates, and all manner of fine and exotic foods.

On the way home from Food Shrine I noticed how very bare the rest of the stores and restaurants in the shopping center seemed. Nobody at Burger Frank's or China House. Only one lone customer at Jalepeno's. The parking lot was still full, maybe even more full than before, since the time for celebrity appearances was approaching. I dodged the reporter I saw in the store in favor of a cheese sample. I came home and told my tale to the family. The kids thought it sounded fun. Dad, not a big fan of superstores to begin with, looks forward to avoiding Food Shrine as long as possible. And everybody liked the croûtons.