Rained last night hard enough to wake us several times, though not terribly cold (50 or so). Continued intermittently through the morning, which made for a difficult packing of the rig - extended the awning as an umbrella, and had to dry things before stowing. The location for teh sat dish had become a swamp during the night, only accessible from one angle, which required a number of trips around the RV for the morning decommissioning.
Was hoping to revisit the Mystic Seaport again this AM, but the rain kept us at bay. Instead, we found a local mini-mall with at least a bit of character, and I found a salon for a haircut, while Barbara and Delilah both got their nails done. Delilah was apparently quite fascinated with the process of having her nails done, and in fact later in the day ran up to a lady we were talking with and said "Look at my pretty nails!". Gads - she's such a girl...
Had lunch at "The Mystic Seaport Village Mall" (also a place of some character) and did a bit of shopping before heading out on the road again.
One of our observations about malls is how "milk toast", or "vanilla"or "cookie cutter" they generally are. It is truly remarkable that you could go into a mall anywhere in America and not know where you are by what is in the mall:
* Gap * Pottery Barn * KB Toys * Pottery Barn * Williams and Sonoma * Brookstone * Radio Shack * Godiva * Sears * J.C. Penny * Waldon Books * Cellular stores in the kiosks * Victoria's Secret * Teddy Bear Factory * Electronic Boutique (Also called EB Games). Then there is another grouping of stores - usually Target or Walmart, Best Buy and Home Depot or Lowes withing a "block" structure. Not quite a mall, but still a recognizable "cellular unit".
The size of a regional mall merely dictates the number of the base ingredients that are to be included. They almost never have more than a kiosk with any personality or regional flair. Yet these are the malls, other than in tourist areas, that succeed. The recipe for success is in fact "generic" not "unique". To replicate the same set of stores every few miles is the pattern that has worked, and is apparently the pattern that consumers want. Even the food courts in these malls rarely have any local flare, and almost always contain the same half dozen generic food sources everywhere.
The malls are perhaps a reflection of our desire for "that which is common, or known, or stable." It is reflected in the way some people will eat at McDonald's regularly when traveling around the world - that the Big Mac will taste the same weather it was purchased at the corner McDonald's, or one in Bangkok. Makes me wonder how a relative upstart, like the Teddy Bear Factory is able to push them selves into the consciousness of society at such a universal level that they become a part of the ubiquitous mall...
Continued on from Mystic after lunch, traveled on through some nice small towns including Stonington (picture of lighthouse above). We are apparently just shy of when many of these places awaken from their winter slumber - carnivals and museums boarded up "Will open in May". This is definitely the big time of year for the local handy-man types, mending fences, paving parking lots, moving dirt - preparing for the soon to be summer rush.
In looking for a place to stay the night, I found http://normandyfarms.com/ which is a truly remarkable camping "destination". Man, what an operation they have here - the entry is a three lane drive, with a traffic coordinator at the bottom, direction where people go. Heated indoor pool, fishing pond, walking trails, softball, tennis and basketball courts, all sorts of good stuff. We will just hang out here tomorrow and then head in to Boston on Sunday. We'll see how long we end up staying here.
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