Stores and restaurants details

It’s April already and our days are just flying by. Not sure where, but they’re flying.

We have been making new friends, going to new places, eating new food and generally having new experiences.

Went to a Mexican restaurant yesterday (not like San Diego Mexican, more like Oaxacan Mexican) and had fried grasshoppers. Yuck. Went to a Russian birthday party over the weekend. That involved many cakes and too much booze, followed by two lazy days afterwards. We’ve been cleaning like crazy, and still staying on top of food and entertainment budgets.

Slowly we are settling into local market routine. We’re trying not to shop at just one place because of course one place specializes in something, another place in something else, etc.. Also, not sure if I mentioned this before but the grocery stores here don’t sell alcohol. There are a handful of major chains that might sell beer but that’s a rarity. We were used to going to Trader Joe’s in SD and maybe picking up a bottle of wine either for dinner or to take to a party. Can’t do that here. Here you have to look for a store that sells only alcohol, and I’m not talking about a liquor store. It’s an actual fancy store that has all sorts of booze. Some even have beer or wine tastings to round out the shopping experience. It’s really kind of weird.

Also, the grocery stores don’t stay open late and we are so used to picking up something at Ralphs late night (if a midnight snack is in order). Here you’re out of luck past 8 or 9pm. Thought in NY out of all places stores would stay open late but guess we were wrong.

Hm, let’s see what else about stores since I’m on the subject… Guess this is not related to stores but restaurants. A lot of places are mom and pop establishments and don’t accept credit cards. This is something that drives us nuts because we go out to eat every weekend and have to first make a dash to the ATM. That’s not a big deal but then the ATM fees pile up. That’s a real hassle. Keep that in mind if you come visit.

That’s it for our store/restaurant information. I’m sure we’ll have plenty more to share with you soon.