Sharon - Hermitage PA Spring 2011 Trip

Spring was promising an appearance, the date was quickly set for Saturday, May 14th. Sharon and Hermitage were the destinations agreed upon, but what to do? The Cackle was all invited along, but alas, we were shy 2 that day. So the four of us set out on our adventure at around 8:30 that morning after first gathering at my house.

First stop in Sharon:
Reyer's Shoes Store
40 South Water Avenue
Sharon, PA 16146-1366
(724) 981-2200

In case you have never been, Reyer's is a giant shoe store that boasts all the hard-to-find sizes for those with special needs feet. There are many styles of shoes available also. This is not a discount store, but it is the destination if you are looking for something special. This was the second time in the past month that I had been here. The last time, I had found a pair of wine-colored heels that I fell in love with, but was in sticker-shock and did not purchase them at that time. I also had not stopped thinking about them since that day, so I wandered into the Rack Room and there they were, taunting me. The Rack Room is the back room area that holds the last pair or two of a style of shoe that used to be on the main sales floor. It is the area where you skim the rack under the sign corresponding to your shoes size, and if you are lucky, you find a pair of shoes that you like. Don't let this fool you, the prices can still be quite high in this area.

I had not even tried these shoes on the last time because $75.00 was more than I have even thought about paying for a pair of heels. OK, I have to do this. I mean, the fact that they were still there waiting for me must mean that I was meant to have them...doesn't it? I thought that rationale worked for me at the time. To my dismay, the size 9s did NOT fit. So much for that idea. No, wait...the VERY helpful sales lady scrounged the shelves and found a size 10! Try these on, she cajoled. They will be too big, I replied. Let me get a toe pad insert, she countered. And so, with the insert to take up the slack in the heel, the shoes were a fit! Score!

Next I went searching for a summer shoe to wear with my clam diggers. All my shoes seem to be black, and that was just not cutting it for me. A nice, light, white shoe with a closed toe. That would do just fine. Now I love the fact that there are plenty of sales clerks to assist you in finding just the right shoe, but they are shrewd. They are intimately trained and highly skilled in selling you on a particular shoe. They have tricks up their sleeves that you have never seen before. Slight of hand, slight of mind...no one knows for sure, but my nice, light, white shoe turned into a neutral, tan Merrill Mary Jane skimmer! Poof! I am assured that I WILL love them and that I will be back for some Merrill clogs in the VERY NEAR future. You don't suppose that these clerks are also skillful in the art of subliminal mind control, do you? Merrill...Merrill...Merrill....er

Michele found a very classy heel in the Rack Room as well. She vowed to wear them to work on Monday. I wonder how they felt after being on them for 8 hours? Hope all is well. The rest of the Cackle found some really nice New Balance sneakers. And we were off to our next stop...The Winner.

The Winner
32 West State Street
Sharon, PA 16146-1396
(724) 981-1152

Now, The Winner can be seen clearly from the parking lot of Reyer's Shoe Store. We pull out of the lot, go through one intersection, and pull into a parking lot behind the building next door to The Winner. We enter from the back door, down the long, desolate hallway, like victims in a B-rated horror film. Beautiful, antique chandeliers hang at intervals from the ceiling, mere whispers of decadence past. Into the stairwell and through the double doors, the main floor opens with its elaborate displays of womens apparel. Gone are all the ball gowns of last month, the last of which are relegated to a comparatively small corner area. In their place, delightful Spring and Summer outfits. Medium and short length Summer dresses, linen skirt and jacket sets, and a cute 1930's style (throwback) dress.

The stairs will take you to a lower floor, while the elevator will take you to a third floor where the bridal and trousseau areas are housed. The larger sizes are downstairs, so off we go. No one was looking for anything in particular, but most had never been here before, so it was an experience. I, however, with my very keen eye, discovered some really cute pant suits I simply MUST try on. They are normally $120.00 on sale for $29.00. This is just too good a deal to pass up! I had been looking for this type of pant suit since I found one at Peebles two years ago. I try on a couple sizes, find one that fits nicely, and scour the rack for different styles in the same size. In all, I walked away with $480.00 worth of merchandise for a mere $116.00. Not a bad haul. I feel a little guilty being the only one to have purchased anything here, but everyone else got a free fashion show on a comfy couch, so all was not lost. Purchases in hand, we are off again.

OK, now we need to decide where to go next. What was anyone interested in? The entire trip was not planned, just the general area and I had a few suggested destinations in the area. Kraynak's for Aunt Mary, Shenango Valley Mall and Bonworth for Mom (who could not make the trip), Pat Catan's for anyone interested, and Daffin's for Auntie Ann. Well, noone had any interest in Pat Catan's this time around, so the next closest stop is:

Daffin's Candies
496 East State Street
Sharon, PA 16146-1899
(724) 342-2892

The first thing to catch a person's eye when entering Daffin's is the whole side wall lined with baskets of every variety bulk hard candy you could imagine. Grabbing a bag, I dove in. Licorice candies, honey filled candies, fruit slices, honeycomb peanuts, anise, every fruit flavor, shiny wrappers, colored wrappers, striped wrappers. plain wrappers...grab another bag. Meltaway mints, Black Cows, caramel creams, mint chocolate, wintergreen, spearmint, peppermint, butter mints, rootbeer barrels, peanut butter balls, and saltwater taffy! Whew, now turn around and look at the rest of the store. Time to get a basket.

Wow, they are more than just candy. Cards and pictures, knick-knacks of various shapes and sizes. Kind of reminds me of a Hallmark store. The huge chocolate display is in the back room conveniently located near the saltwater taffy. Let's go take a peak. A body is overcome by the aroma of chocolate as one enters the back room. Everything in the display area is carved or shaped using chocolate. Can you imagine the ooey gooey mess that would make when the air conditioner fails on the hottest day of the year? I image that the workers don't want to so much as look at a piece of chocolate at home after having to smell it all day long. Their kids are probably the only ones on the block to have Easter baskets filled with nothing but marshmallow peeps and jelly beans. On the up-side, now that the peeps come in a multitude of colors, it would make for a rainbow-like display.

The wall opposite the hard candy is lined with chocolates. There is even a section for sugar-free chocolates! Dark, milk, white, truffle with a variety of fillings, turtles, meltaways...the list goes on and on. There are shelves nearby containing some of your more common pre-packaged bulk candies: sour patch kids, raspberries, blueberries, string licorice (I like those, put one in the basket), nonparils (pick up a pack for Brooke), chewy Spree (one of those for Lance), yogurt-covered grahams (bought), yogurt-covered animal crackers (bought), and raspberry yogurt-covered pretzels (bought). Since I am trying to eat healthier, these should be just the ticket...right? Forget the healthy, I found the biscotti! Anise almond, my favorite! We need to get out of here...seriously...right...now. I flee to the checkout and bust out the door.

Next in line (notice that these are all conveniently located just down the street from each other):

Kraynak's Nursery and Garden Center
2525 East State Street
Hermitage, PA 16148-2795
(724) 347-4511

We arrive at Kraynak's. I have never been here before, but I always hear about this huge year-round Christmas store. To my surprise, it looks more like a toy store. Rows and rows of toys and games, stuffed animal and puppets, model car and planes. I am not shopping for any of these things, but we browse the aisles. Hey look, they carry the Folkmanis puppets that Hidden Treasures used to carry! There are very well made (read that: expensive) puppets and cute as a button. Can I just say that NO store ever needs this many aisles of stuffed plushies! If there were ever a bomb threat in that store dive for the middle (around aisle 4) as nothing could penetrate those walls of fluff!

As we near the back of the store we start to see yard flags and gardening supplies. There are some really nice double shepard's hooks for about $30.00. The green houses are off the back of the building. Table after table of plants and flowers. Hanging baskets are buy one, get one 50% off. A very nice variety. Aunt Mary is picking out impatients; one, two, three...get a flat. The begonia baskets are beautiful, but I am seriously considering this gorgeous basket of Wandering Jew. I buy a Venus Flytrap for Lance instead. Out the door and on to the Mall.

Shenango Valley Mall
3303 East State Street
Hermitage, PA 16148-3302
(724) 346-4556

We really need to eat something substantial now. We figure that we can just grab something to eat in the mall. Bonworth first. Look for a shirt Mom would like...all of them...no...this one, or this one....I like this one. Oh look, another pair of clam diggers for me! I need a shirt to go with...this one and this one look good. Go try them on. After all, I cannot ruin my streak of having bought something in every place we visited today, can I? I'll take them! Ooo, and Auntie Ann found a shirt for Mom. In the meantime, Michele scouted out eateries only to discover that there were NONE (I repeat..NONE) in the mall. What? What kind of mall is this anyhow? Not one restaurant? How uncivilized! I guess we will go back across the street to Bob Evans. Hey, didn't we eat there on last year's trip? Why yes, yes we did. Bob Evans it is.

With full bellies, we start heading in the direction of home. Michele asks if there is anything of photographic interest on the way home. Wait, I was ill-prepared for such a question. I have no noted points-of-interest on the route home. Everyone is in agreement that we do not want to see I79 all the way home, so I suggest that we see what Sandy Lake contains. Agreed. So I exited at Sandy Lake and turned right...Sandy Lake 3 miles. We drive and look, but can't seem to spot this body of water we assume the town was named after. Maybe it dried up. Maybe it wasn't really a lake, but more like a puddle. Did we miss it? We are in the center of town now, if that's what you want to call it. Maybe it is on the other side of town...keep going. Hmmm.

Ok, there's a sign that says that Franklin is this way, why don't we just keep going to see what we can see? Lots of trees, birds, winding roads. This is kind of nice. Still no lake. Cruising down 62...

What's that? Something caught our eye...a smallish sign reading "Bobbi's Specialties" as we drove past. After conferring with Michele, we turned around to see what Bobbi had that was so special. Pull into the parking area and the sign says open til 5:30...it's 5:29. Michele ventures inside to see if they will let us wander around, yep, come on in. We shouldn't have bothered. Half the "shop" was subpar auction riff raff and the other was more than gently used garbage. My streak was broken, I bought nothing. Thanks for letting us look. Auntie Ann got a yellow shirt. Oh look, they have a Facebook page.

We continue on our way. In and out of Franklin and on to Titusville on our way to Mill Village. I really need ice cream now. There's Dave's Place at 408 and 77 near Townville, let's go! Dave's Place has good food and really reasonable prices. Most importantly, there is ice cream!

Dave's Place
30601 Pennsylvania 77
Townville, PA
(814) 967-3846

A small twist in a regular cone, please. A perfect ending to a great day!