What may very well become a bi-annual trip, we headed down to the States to take advantage of the good exchange rate, but more importantly, the great outlet mall down there.
Let’s get things straight – Canada has come a long way in making prices equal. In fact, there were many instances where I knew I would get the same item for the same price in Canada.
But the outlet store is a different beast altogether.
Vero, Mike, Trish and I packed into Mike’s truck to head towards Syracuse. We took his truck considering both my car and Trish’s car need brakes and we figured the less long haul trips we take the vehicles on, the better. I threw a couple of pillows in the back seat as I knew there was some cramped space and I didn’t want some protruding objects digging into my sides.
By 7AM, we were on the road to the States. No worries at the Border (although he was a very direct border guard) and I snoozed most of the way there and read the latest issue of Guitar World. Trish brought some…interesting mixes this time around although I don’t think it can beat her previous mix CD.
We arrived at the outlet mall and were surprised to see that the parking lot was half empty. This definitely wasn’t the outlet mall we were used to! Clearly, the Christmas rush helped bring customers out last Fall.
We grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the stores. In the end, The Gap and Banana Republic were the big winners of our cash. This was also the case with the last trip so I can tell if we head back to this outlet mall, these two stores should be the first stores we hit. You can’t go wrong with a pair of pants that costs $13 (which Mike picked up). This was Vero’s first trip and she said she wasn’t too impressed until she found this one store called Rue21 that she spent the afternoon in. I’m glad she found something she liked!
We spent a good six hours out there. We were definitely getting a little tired of walking around near the end and we decided to head back into Syracuse to get a bite to eat. We couldn’t get into the restaurant right away so we made reservations for 8:30 and headed into the mall. I found a couple of CDs that I couldn’t find back home…one being the Roxette greatest hits album which we bought for Trish’s birthday. I also found the Flight of The Conchords album which is chock full of hilarity with such hits as Business Time, Bowie and my personal fave; The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room).
We went to eat at Ruby Tuesdays which was pretty amazing. Mike and I took a seat at the bar while we waited for the ladies to show up. We managed to score an excellent Sam Adams Seasonal beer and I must say that beer is very cheap down there. We got two beer for $8 and they were schooners of beer! We were most impressed. We were also impressed by the price of food there…we had a steak dinner which ranged in price from $10-$14. You can’t go wrong. I think Vero’s quiche came out to $8 in the end of it all. Gas and food seems to be the easy hit in terms of saving money over in the States!
We headed home and I snuggled into the backseat again and drifted off to sleep while listening to some Roxette. I was awoken near the border where Mike asked if I could eat the mini-burgers we bought from Ruby Tuesdays. Clearly, he remembers the story of how my bologna was confiscated at the border so we needed to scarf down these burgers. These mini-burgers were amazing! They were so small, they could fit in my hand! I loved the concept…I preferred them to the double handed burger we usually eat the restaurant.
When we got to the border crossing and were inside paying our taxes, the alarm went off and five officers ran out of the building. Turns out that someone was driving straight on through instead of parking at the building like she was asked to do. Mike overheard them saying that if she got to a certain point past the office they would have called the cops and she would have been charged!
I hopped into the driver’s seat for the rest of the trip and we listened to the Flight of The Conchords album, had some great laughs, and rolled into town around 2AM.
All in all, it was another great trip and as Mike pointed out, he and I definitely don’t mind buying our clothes twice a year and not having to worry about it any longer.