View Full Version : OK, I Need Help On Grocery Stores!
OK, peeps...I'll be on the East Coast these coming weeks. I'll be in DC, VA, TN, NC and who knows where else.
What are the main chains of grocery stores? Which ones suck so bad I need to avoid them? Any hidden gems down near the Smokies? Anyplace you start doing happy dances in that I should know about?
And yes, the goal is getting the baby on the AT - he got PCT time this year, gotta make it both!
I am planning on doing trail cooking on the fly when we get there so need to stock up!
And another question....is yellow HEET easy to find in most stores out there?
bigcranky
09-29-2010, 16:35
In DC and northern VA, look for Giant. Wegmans makes me do a serious happy dance. Elsewhere in VA Kroger is decent. In NC look for Harris Teeter or maybe Lowes Foods. The really small towns might have an IGA and maybe a Food Lion -- no happy dances from me, but they do have food.
Have fun on the trail. PM me if you get near Winston-Salem.
daddytwosticks
09-29-2010, 16:41
Ingles in a major chain here in WNC...it's OK. I wish Publix was in this area. I stay away from Food Lion...:)
Ooh, I love Publix! There is a relatively new one a couple blocks down from my In-Law's in Florida.....
OK...Food Lion=scary.
I love getting into chains I don't normally get to shop in. We get free baggage so I plan on shopping between hikes :D
johnnybgood
09-29-2010, 17:19
I have found HEET in the automotive department at my local Wal-mart .
Any automotive stores like Advance Auto and Auto Zone will also carry it.
As far as grocery stores in close proximity to the AT , there are Food Lions and the other standard chains like Kroger & IGA . Can't tell much about particular stores but Krogers where I live are rather good.
Of all the chains in NC, we like Harris-Tetter the best.
Food Lion has a few big stores but the thing about FL is that most of the store are on the small side (no pharmacies, huge delis, florists, auto parts, etc) and they don't stock a huge selection.
And of course there is always Wal-Mart. :)
kayak karl
09-29-2010, 17:28
whole foods is in the area and you would love them.
couscous
09-29-2010, 17:37
Dollar General is an option.. over 2,000 stores in just the states along the AT.
No happy dances, but an inexpensive place to resupply.
http://www.dollargeneral.com/ourstores/pages/storelocationsmap.aspx
Karl, thanks on the tip you sent me!
And yeah....I do love Whole Foods. Easy way to get freeze dried veggies/fruit - even mushroom powder! The chocolate area is a sin I swear though :p :p
And on the HEET...think we will hit Wal-Mart on the way out of the airport. There is one nearby.
kayak karl
09-29-2010, 18:54
hostels usually have gal containers of denatured and sell by oz.. other spirits burn well also:rolleyes:
Dicentra
09-29-2010, 18:58
Sar - Publix is supposed to be a lot like Grocery Outlet. Check it out for me. :)
mweinstone
09-29-2010, 20:11
ummm sarbar? one post mentioned the preference of one food store to another and you now are telling the world on our site that another store is to be avoided? ummmm,......too many obviouse reasons to freak out on you but let me just say this. i have read your good posts over the years and think i like you. i would gamble you know more about food stores to avoid than anyone . as we all make those decisions for ourselves, unless something is horribly wrong at a store, i venture to say that no one tells anyone what anyone does or dosent like. but only in supermarkets on the trail is this rule tru. all food is good. all people who avoid a perticular food store while thru hiking on the advise of one ,....are silly ... and so on.
restless
09-29-2010, 20:33
SW VA and TN- Food City is a local chain based in Bristol. Good selection,price. Walmart in every town.
In DC and northern VA, look for Giant. Wegmans makes me do a serious happy dance. Elsewhere in VA Kroger is decent. In NC look for Harris Teeter or maybe Lowes Foods. The really small towns might have an IGA and maybe a Food Lion -- no happy dances from me, but they do have food.
Have fun on the trail. PM me if you get near Winston-Salem.
Ditto on Wegman's........it is like food porn. Best food store I have ever been in!
mweinstone
09-29-2010, 20:58
j5? i disagree. politly. i fear me becoming food predijuce. i concider the rotting fleash of bacterilogicly infected birds as fondly as a steak cooked in the very boosom of baltimore jack. at least i try. i belive we need to think outside jack in the box. bought a large rat trap and added it to my survival gear after reading about trapping rats, its who i am. sorry.
mweinstone
09-29-2010, 21:01
and why i dont have a woman. i belive in the end. i want a woman who could eat a rat. hard to find. the breathmints i mean. lol
Wegman's has great breath mints. hehe
bigcranky
09-29-2010, 21:26
matty, you crack me up, my friend.
Mrs Baggins
09-30-2010, 03:36
Ditto on Wegman's........it is like food porn. Best food store I have ever been in!
We're getting one here in Frederick MD - it's under construction right now. Once it's opened, I'm done with the rest!
Ditto on Wegman's........it is like food porn. Best food store I have ever been in!
Ewwww. What does that even mean?
Worst analogy EVAR!
Damn it man. 8859 post and you're the first one to make me say ewww.
Moderators! Cleanup in aisle three!
Speaking of which. This is the news...
http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100928/OTT_Giant_Tiger_100928/20100928/?hub=OttawaHome
Almost funny, except for the whole age compression thing. Also, Giant Tiger stores really gross me out anyway. The next natural progression would be for us to mass produce the cheapest most tasteless and toxic junk and have it all shipped directly to thousands of new landfill sites. We are very close to being there already.
p.s. Avoid Giant Tiger.
Call me a puritan, but I find the whole clothing and toys and crap in food stores and food in clothing and toy and crap stores to be disturbing anyway. Most of it isn't real food anyways, even in grocery stores. I like old fashioned grocery stores that just focus on good food, and do us all the service of keeping all the really crappy junk food and crap in one place, the checkout aisles. :)
If there is one thing to teach our children it is that we are not allowed to buy anything from the checkout aisle. That's why its there. OK, candy is ok sometimes, but not when it comes from the same aisle as "Movie star adopts UFO baby while pregnant!" Brain wash early, and brainwash often.
Just stare straight ahead folks, and keep both hands on the shopping cart.
I think this says it all...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWb5nXq8KgA
daddytwosticks
09-30-2010, 07:34
Six sequential posts in one thread...I think that's a record for you JAK my friend! But no poetry? :)
Wegmans is the shiznit, but it's also the most expensive.
Giant is middle of the road in cost & item availability.
In new areas I ask a local, which usually results in more info than I can process. Especially down south.
Six sequential posts in one thread...I think that's a record for you JAK my friend! But no poetry? :)
Not a record, but perhaps the most sequential posts without poetry. :)
It was an off night. My bad. ;)
The choice of last video did involve some poetic licence though. :D
I might have asked this before. Can't remember.
Are there sections along the AT including access routes into trail towns and withing trail towns themselves where you might come across local fruit and vegetable stands. There was a time you would go for a Sunday drive on any country road and see all kinds of these, but very few now.
If so,
1. what are the best sections for local fresh fruit and vegetable stands?
2. what are the months of operation?
3. what sort of fruits and vegetables do they sell?
4. also, local farmers markets, where are they and when are they open?
Sar - Publix is supposed to be a lot like Grocery Outlet. Check it out for me. :)
Publix is nothing like a grocery outlet. I love Publix but they are actually a little more expensive than most of the other stores in the Atlanta area.
Mrs Baggins
09-30-2010, 09:34
Publix is nothing like a grocery outlet. I love Publix but they are actually a little more expensive than most of the other stores in the Atlanta area.
If we had Publix up here I'd happily go. They don't use the stupid "loyalty" cards. The prices are what they are. A lot of big chains up here are terrified of them moving north. The Publix store in Aiken was the only redeeming feature of living in So. Carolina.
I use Giant Eagle mostly right now, until Wegman's opens. Safeway, in their effort to be "eco friendly" have made their stores far too dark and depressing - not nearly enough light. So I don't use them anymore. Target has a bigger grocery department that's good for quick stuff but not for regular weekly shopping. I don't go to Wal-Mart, even though we have two Super Wal-Marts here. No philosophical problems with them - just don't like them. The Food Lions here became Bloom's - again okay for quick stuff but otherwise I don't go.
Karl, thanks on the tip you sent me!
And yeah....I do love Whole Foods. Easy way to get freeze dried veggies/fruit - even mushroom powder! The chocolate area is a sin I swear though :p :p
You may or maynot find those items at Whole Foods. Every Whole Foods carries different bulk items. The one close to me quit carrying dehydrated black beans, refried beans, couscous and a few others items I liked. Wild Oats use to carry all of those items in their bulk section and when Whole Foods bought out them out they stopped. Now I have to order online or make my own. It was a lot easier and cheaper to buy from Wild Oats now all I can say is Whole Foods sucks!!!
Alligator
09-30-2010, 10:52
And on the HEET...think we will hit Wal-Mart on the way out of the airport. There is one nearby.Never flew with this, but I wonder if it could cause issues going through security?
But if you had a few minutes and a car you could find fuel at a Home Depot, Lowes, or even an auto parts store like Advance Auto or Autozone.
I have to buy the red bottle for winter but I haven't bought any yet to know whether they are stocking additives in Wal-Mart at this time.
I notice that 95% denatured alcohol is popping up in drug stores and grocery stores again. It seems to come and go. I think this is the second best and safest alcohol fuel, and has the most alternative uses. The best would be non-denatured ethanol, but it is even less available, and taxed. The denatured stuff I found is pretty safe to use though, just not to drink of course. I think it would be safe enough for first aid use if needed, for disinfecting an open wound or something like that. This stuff is basically 95% ethanol, then has a little of that denaturing agent that makes it very bitter to taste, a little of something else that will make you sick if you get past the tast, and then camphor, which I think adds a pleasant smell and feel, and nothing unpleasant when used as fuel or for first aid. It is intended primarily as a rubbing alcohol, and considered somewhat better for you than isopropyl rubbing alcohol for that purpose, and both are much safer than methanol for handling, and have more BTUs per oz than methanol. Methanol burns well, but I think Ethanol burns better or at least as well, and has more BTUs. Isopropyl has the most BTUs, but burns too smokey.
So 95% denatured alcohol is always worth looking for as your first choice, I think. I think it is good enough to justify carrying in 500ml or more, if that's what they sell. Not a bad aftershave either, but not a mouthwash. Great for feet, and a little under the arms and the crotch area, as long as you don't overdo it.
Farr Away
09-30-2010, 11:48
I don't know how far from the AT you will get, but Earth Fare here in Knoxville (within an hour of the Smokies) is very good - although it can be expensive. A lot of organic, dehydrated, and bulk options. I also found a pretty good selection of Just Tomatoes freeze-dried products. (These may have been phased out. An acquaintance said she couldn't find them a couple weeks ago.) http://www.earthfare.com/
We also have a very good food co-op that I rarely ever get to anymore (too far from where I live for the number of items I normally buy there). http://www.threeriversmarket.coop/
Tennessee Viking
09-30-2010, 12:01
TN/NC Chains - You will see Food City (very good), Ingles (very good), Food Lions (some can be really good/plush, others can be very basic), Super Wal-Marts, and IGAs. Maybe a Kroger (expensive) in some bigger towns.
I am personally not a fan of the IGA chain around NE Tennessee. I found lots of expired goods there.
TN/NC Chains - You will see Food City (very good), Ingles (very good), Food Lions (some can be really good/plush, others can be very basic), Super Wal-Marts, and IGAs. Maybe a Kroger (expensive) in some bigger towns.
I am personally not a fan of the IGA chain around NE Tennessee. I found lots of expired goods there.
I'd seen IGA's before in NC but was surprised to see them everywhere here in TN.
They even bought up the White chain here in Erwin.. I think IGA is more of a consolidator/buying group than a real chain..
Dicentra
09-30-2010, 12:34
Publix is nothing like a grocery outlet. I love Publix but they are actually a little more expensive than most of the other stores in the Atlanta area.
Ah. Ok. I stand corrected. We don't have Publix out this way.
When I worked down in Massachusetts I saw some nice groc stores called "Whole Foods Market" or someting like that. Seemed to have a nice produce section. A bit pricey some said. I wouldn't mind paying a little more for real food from a grocery store that isn't covered mostly with miles and miles of aisles and aisles of junk. That said, I don't like these overpriced "Organic" food sections either. I am all for locally grown foods, and don't mind spots and blemishes from using little or no pesticides and chemical fertilizers, but I'm not going to pay three times as much for something labelled "organic" from the other side of the world. Maybe coffee, if I really trust the label. Most I don't, unless its local, and if its local enough it doesn't need to be "certified organic", it just needs to be "organic enough for the girls I go out with".
I am having fun.....been to places in VA, TN and NC so far. Hoping for good weather in the morning and then onto some more hiking!
Best of all has been finding nut trees shaking off nuts. Don't get that at home.....