Back to the 'Burg

Those of you who have been visiting here for a while might remember THIS post back in June 2008. It is memorable mostly because of an unfortunate incident involving me, an Amish woman and my digital camera. Apparently taking their picture is against the rules.

Well, this afternoon our family loaded up and ventured out once again for a visit to scenic Lawrenceburg. Just like last time, our trip was inspired by a need for home furnishings. Last time we placed our hope in The Red Top Bargain Barn. This time we had a more refined destination in mind. See, I heard from some teachers at work that the Big Lots in Lawrenceburg has it's very own furniture department! A must-see if ever there was one.

(Yes. That's right. We drove an hour from home to go to Big Lots. But do not judge us. It turned out to be totally worth it.)

Since our 2008 trip to the LB was such a huge success we hoped to recreate some of that magic by retracing our steps a bit. Last time we browsed the Bargain Barn and mocked the ridiculous merchandise we found. This time we discovered a thrift store that could eat the Bargain Barn for lunch.

For instance, in the household furnishings section, which was actually just a pile of random items on the floor, you could find a chair, a vacuum cleaner and a wall-mountable sink. As we were headed towards "Sporting Goods" I saw a big container filled with crutches. When I pointed it out to Handiman he snidely remarked "well, I bet they don't have a prosthetic leg". (This is, of course, a shout-out to our favorite road trip OF ALL TIME with our friends Gregg & Gena. We visited the unclaimed baggage store in Scotsboro, AL and saw a prosthesis among the things people actually left unclaimed at airports. It still makes me laugh out loud to this very day.)

Anywhoo, no sooner had he spoken the words than I glanced down to see this:
Seriously people. You can't make this stuff up.

Last time we ridiculed The Ocho by making her put on funny items and have her picture taken.

May I present The Ocho LB collection 2010:

Last time we topped off our visit with a delightfully deep-fried meal at The Kuntry Kitchen. Obviously it was our dinner destination of choice.
Last time we had lunch which was a buffet. This time, because we were there for dinner, we had to order from the menu. That meant no cobbler selection, but more interaction with our waitress. I'm not sure it was worth it. Here's how that conversation went:

Her: Hey honey! What can I get ya?
Me: I have one question about the catfish platter.
Her: Sure hone. What's that?....Oh I'm sorry. I'm startin' to sweat. I hate that! It's one of the reasons I didn't want to come back to work. See, I've been off for a couple of years because of that. Well, that and my teeth. I flossed and they broke off...."

Next time, we might try lunch again.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to play paparazzi to our Amish friends on this trip but that didn't stop us from laughing until we nearly threw up. This time, though, the laughter was not induced by my stupidity but by my 9 year old daughter's dry, sarcastic wit. Wow. I wonder where she gets that?

(I'd try to transcribe all of those conversations here but I'm afraid they wouldn't translate. Especially the one about the house that still had their plastic Mary & Joseph nativity scene in the front yard. It was possibly her finest moment ever.)

The trip once again proved to be a rousing success. So much so that we've decided to make it a yearly excursion.

Don't knock it til you've tried it.