To have experienced and survived Black Friday in the USA is quite an accomplishment. For some, who made out as bandits...no names here [LJF],-it was a joyous occasion.
After the mid-day Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, there was some talk about going to the shops as early as 4 or 5 a.m. when they were schedule to open for the biggest shopping event of the year. The conversation escalated to hysterical fun when it was discovered that some outlet malls were going to open at midnight. It didn't seem to matter that said malls were located an hour or so away, it only made the burgeoning adventure even more madcap.
Sooooo-guess who ventured out at 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving night to make a run to Leesburg Outlets! PRIME Outlets...read: Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Cole Hahn, Le Creuset, Carter's, Burberry, Coach, Talbots.....yes, the best of the best. Harry and David didn't have chocolate Grahams.
Upon our highway approach, there was a bit of a discussion as to whether or not this was going to be a good decision or not. Let me just interject and explain that there is NO GPS system known to anyone that could possibly keep up with the road construction surrounding Washington DC. It didn't make any difference how much we castigated "Lola", she just couldn't cope with the restructuring, which made for some fairly dicey manoeuvres on the very crowded roadway. Picture the car with two grey haired "older" type women, one hugely pregnant younger woman and one curly topped navigator who was trying her best to keep the car on the road:)
The mall surrounds said it all. People were parked on the grassy outskirts, in ditches - well, that was because they were "Youtes" who thought they might be smart and park in a swamp!:). There was double, triple and quadruple parking everywhere and swarms of people. It is MIDNIGHT. The crowds keep coming and we decide that we're already here, we may as well just try commando tactics. We parked in a dicey area and hoped that our pregnant passenger might engender some sympathy at towing time.
I tell you, it's a phenomenon that I've never seen the likes of. We were glad we had done it, and there was even a little talk about it becoming a yearly tradition, but I think that fizzled out a bit as we tried to navigate our way home around 5 a.m. The rule has to be that if you can get there, you also have to get home as the excitement quiets, and the body clock finally realizes what is going on. It helps to sing and be elated at all the good deals you get!
