Monday, April 18, 2011

The mythical island produce stand

It all sounded so innocent. Here we are on Chincoteague, and Kay and I are up for doing dinner tonight. Meg's just down for her nap and should sleep another couple of hours. There's supposed to be this produce stand on Church Street, which is just a couple of blocks over, so we should run see if they have fresh asparagus for dinner! Wouldn't that be yummy with a little melted butter?

Yeah.

So cheerfully we venture forth. Only Kay's car is parked in the back and everybody would have to move for us to get out, but it's okay, we'll walk; I'm wearing my high-heeled cute boots from Lexington, but it's not far. First thing, we discover a shortcut to the beach and the dollar store. Nice.

About three or four blocks later we find Church Street, with the help of Kay's iphone. Left or right? Um... Left. We walk. And walk. I decide I'm desperate enough to ask directions, so I stop at the hardware store and ask the man behind the counter if there's a vegetable stand around here. He jumps up and leads me out to the road.

"Yeah! See that boot, right there?"

Are we talking a lawn ornament? I see houses, yards, a giant half-buried anchor, and a boat trailer. "Oh, you mean the boat?"

"Yeah, the boot. The produce stand is right behind that boot."

I thank him and we walk on. We pass a Strings 'N' Things music store, with "Hey darlin" on the sign and the owner sitting in the front yard. I wave.

The produce stand is labeled, but it looks more like a construction site. However, we've come all this way, and I'm not about to go home without at least trying for some asparagus. We weave past the trucks and piles of bricks into the room with the blaring music. The proprietor is busy sanding boards.

"Got any produce?" I ask. That's not going down in any "great lines of the century" compendia.

The proprietor very politely explains that this early in the season, there's not enough business to sell produce during the week, so he's working construction now but the stand will be open on the weekend. We thank him and leave him to his cabinet, repeating "Got any produce" at intervals. Brilliant.

After that, we decide to walk downtown and find a grocery store. Or something. We wander past the post office for stamps and a t-shirt place for postcards, and Kay's iphone directs us to a grocery store. About now my feet are killing me, so we pause and sit on every bench we pass and stand up really straight in between. I toy with calling Lisa to come rescue us. Oh well.

Frozen green beans in hand, we head home. I take off my socks and shoes and go barefoot the last block. As Kay pointed out, the main thing about any adventure is to make it home with all appendages attached. Check!

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