A Preemptive Birthday Outing 2023

Normally, I take the entire week off for my birthday, and enjoy a series of outings which take me to a multiple of specialty shops and / or locations. While I did take the week off as usually, things were anything but the norm this year. At the risk of TMI, I lost both Monday and Tuesday to a colonoscope prep and procedure. If you have yet to reach that magic age where you're gifted with such a treat, consider yourself lucky. For the rest of you, you know what I mean when I say that prep is brutal.

If there was one bright side, the dog seemed happy I was home for the day.

Well...at least one of us was enjoying the day.

The Saturday leading up to the above events saw me taking advantage of some time off, and making my way to Winchester, Virginia. My main goal was to go to the local used CD / record shop there, which I tried to do in prior years, only to be met by "closed" signage. Fortunately, this year fared better.

Upon arrival to the town, we decided our first stop would be a good and hearty Mexican feast. I mean, why not. It was leading up to one of my last meals for a day and a half.

We stopped at La Carreta (The Road in English), where I got this super sexy and massive cheese sauce soaked burrito. Man, was it delicious! I'm definitely hitting this place again in the future.

From there, we made our way to Earfood, the used music store.

This place doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside, whew...Floor to ceiling albums in all sorts of formats. It's honestly a bit overwhelming, and makes it difficult to actually peruse everything.

I picked out three CD's in total, as well as a vinyl brand new sealed copy of the Ghostbusters II soundtrack, but ultimately decided to edit myself, and ended up leaving the vinyl and one of the CD's behind. Nothing I picked up was on my want list, and that's what led to me making the decision to cut back. At $8.00, it wasn't filled with guilt or remorse.

Since we were in the area, and it was relatively early, we went down the strip to a little enclosed shopping center which houses two collectibles stores I'd visited in the past. However, upon arrival, I was treated to a surprise. Back to the Media had moved across the strip, and increased their shop size by double.

Sadly, upon perusing the shop, their doubles space also appears to have impacted their prices, which were ridiculously stupid. Two specific things stuck out to me as ridiculous. The first was G.I. Joe issue 53, which they had a price tag of $25.00 on, but the average selling price is $12.00 to $15.00. The second was a Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt NES cartridge, which they were asking $20.00, but the average selling price is $6.00 to $10.00. It was easy to walk away from here without buying anything.

The last place we stopped, and a few doors down, was Time Travelers Toys and Collectibles.

Sadly, the majority of the items here were 90's through current items. That's not really my thing when it comes to figures, but then again, I wasn't necessarily looking for anything. I had no intentions of spending money here, and frankly, it would have been a happy surprise if I found anything I did purchase.

This hand made Masters of the Universe shelf was beast, but I didn't dare ask if it was for sale, and what the price would be if it was.

Overall, it was a fun outing for the day, and since I didn't go overboard, there also wasn't any buyers remorse after the fact. You collector's know what I mean. Where you buy stuff simply for the sake of not leaving empty handed.

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