Supermarket Bliss at Hannaford in Cairo
Cairo's Hannaford is the perfect antidote to food shopping in Brooklyn.
This photo was taken around 11am on a Saturday, a time when my local Whole Foods promises 56,000 square-feet of shopping cart gridlock. When I look at this picture, I can hear the supermarket angels sing:
I mean, where is everybody? This place has got everything!
Suddenly, I don't have to worry about leaving anything important at home. Even the baby section is insane. I never took Archer upstate when he was a baby, mostly because our old house was infested with rodents. But I also I was a nervous new parent who'd pack 1,000 baby supplies yet always forget one crucial item. Seeing 3 shelves of baby hair-care products at Hannaford makes me want to breathe a sigh of relief.
And here's a sign that I've been out of the mainstream supermarket game for way too long: I was so overwhelmed by this display of ice cream toppings that I didn't even buy any.
I mean, they had various fruit toppings, marshmallow topping, nuts, multiple types of hot fudge, caramel, sugar cones, waffle cones, cone cups. And is that a Reese's peanut butter magic shell? Whatty whatty what what?
In my Brooklyn life, I usually shop at my corner health food store and make an occasional trek to my local Met Food when I need something filled with artificial coloring, like sprinkles. Both stores have such narrow aisles that I often have to do a three-point turn with my stroller to get around a bend. Neither place has anywhere near this much stuff.
And even my local RiteAid and CVS can't rival Hannaford's vast selection of greeting cards! They have a full pharmacy here, too.
Now, I may have missed the boat on a marshmallow/caramel sundae, but at least I had enough wits about me to snag a super-nostalgic Friendly's Wattamelon Role. I can't believe these things still exist! My kids didn't like it, so I ate their slices for them while they ate actual fresh watermelon. Apparently, shopping at Whole Foods throughout their lives has made them insist on eating actual whole foods. Haha, their loss!
Speaking of whole foods, Hannaford has a gigantic produce section, too, including some locally sourced vegetables and fruit. I'm partial to East Durham Farms when it comes to mid-summer produce shopping, but Hannaford stocks everything else I need -- along with many, many things I didn't even know I wanted.
Thank you, Hannaford, for reminding me that supermarket shopping need not be a white-knuckled shopping cart showdown. LYLAS, Hanna! See ya soon!
