Black Friday

Successful! That is the only way to describe my Black Friday experiences today!

First Patrick and I set out from the 'burg after 6:00 a.m. We made our way south with our first planned stop (after gassing up) at Ace Hardware in Scottsburg. I didn't read the sales flyer carefully enough, because they didn't open till 7:00 a.m. We were about 20 minutes early! Oh well, not a problem.

We continued south on highway 31, enjoying a leisure drive and viewing some Christmas lights and displays along the way.

We decided to make Walmart in Clarksville our next stop. As we pulled into the parking lot we could see cars that had been parked for awhile because there was still frost, and a little snow, on the windshields of some vehicles. We went down the first lane of parked cars just as someone was pulling out from their parking spot, I pulled in.

I had heard Walmart had decided to do things differently this year, to keep customers from arguing and fighting over merchandise, they gave out bracelets at 2:00 a.m. and then had the shoppers come back at 5 or 6:00 a.m. to pick out their purchases. What? I know of several who braved the wet, cold and stormy weather to start their shopping at midnight, get a bracelet and hopefully get their merchandise.

This morning, after a good nights sleep, I went into Walmart, made my way back to the electronics department, found a computer box, loaded it into my shopping cart and headed to the cashier. Beside the cashier's desk I found some flash drives I needed and picked up a few of them. The lady behind the counter looked at the box, retrieved the numbers and said she would have to go to the back room to get the computer. Within 3 minutes she returned with a brand new Dell computer in a box and loaded it into my cart! I showed her a picture in the sales flyer of an alarm clock/radio/iPhone docking/charging device that was on sale this morning. She went to the next isle and brought one back to my cart. I asked if I needed to pay for the items at her checkout or could I go upfront. Didn't matter to her, so up to the front I went. Six lanes open for those with 20 items or less, so we chose the one with no one in line. Zip, scan, thank you very much, and we were in and out of there within 20 minutes (or less!)

No bracelet or sleepless night required!

Next stop...Bass Pro of course!

As we pulled into the parking lot there, we got lucky again. As a few shoppers were making their way out of the store, I followed them to their car, and as they were loading their purchases in their vehicle, we had about 4 college age adults make their way to my window. I rolled down the window and they asked if I would like a cup of coffee! Really? They were promoting Wendy's new breakfast sandwiches and giving away free cups of coffee. I am not a coffee drinker at all, but what the heck...it was free!

They looked like the ghost busters with the coffee canteens strapped on their backs. I got a free cup of hot coffee and some breakfast coupons for a free breakfast from Wendy's! Guess I was in the right place at the right time this morning!

We entered Bass Pro, picked up a sales flyer, and made our way upstairs. I ran into a few friends, enjoyed chatting with them and hearing of their morning experiences, and also found a new sweater I needed! We browsed through the hunting, fishing and golfing merchandise, but didn't find anything else we couldn't live without. Coming back downstairs we looked through the hats and t-shirts. Patrick found a good buy, so we decided it was time to check out.

Most of the registers had more than 10 people in line, so we just decided to stand in the closest one to start our wait. Within 3 minutes a lady at the register ahead of us said, "May I help someone?" Off we went! Checked out and outta there so quickly my head was spinning!

I'm beginning to enjoy this Black Friday stuff!

From there I wanted to meet an old friend who runs the Wayside Christian Mission in Louisville. We thought we would surprise him, but we were the ones who got surprised. He wasn't working today! Guess he had decided to go shopping too!

We made a few other stops, had lunch at our favorite restaurant, viewed the Falls of the Ohio, and made it back home in one piece! On the way back home, I stopped by Ace Hardware to see if the item I was wanting was still in stock. Sure enough it was AND it also included a rebate!

As I said at the beginning, we had a successful day! No arguments. Purchases made without any hassle. More unforgettable memories made!

Yep, it was successful!