Whenever you visit any large lake, it's likely you can find a Walmart somewhere nearby. They're…read moreeverywhere, and they're perfect for lake areas, because you can find pretty much anything you could possibly need while enjoying a lake vacation. On this particular occasion, we were on vacation with another couple, and we were checking into our condo when we realized that a miscommunication between my husband and me had resulted in one of my suitcases being left at home. It was a smaller suitcase, but it contained most of my clothes, my beach shoes, and my toiletries. All I had with me were the clothes I was wearing, some jewelry and makeup, my swimsuit and beach towel, a nightgown, a pair of long pants, a pair of hiking shoes, and a book I brought for bedtime reading. It was a little hot to wear jeans the whole trip, so at the very least I needed to pick up some shorts, a couple of t-shirts, and a pair of flip flops.
So off to the nearest Walmart, where you can find everything in one place. This is one of the biggest Walmarts I've ever been in, and unfortunately I've never seen any two Walmarts laid out exactly the same way, so it took forever to find anything. The choice in shorts and t-shirts was remarkable sparse, so just finding three t-shirts in my size that weren't hideous with some weird slogan was quite the challenge.
Since my mistake was inconveniencing the whole group, I just wanted to hurry up and get what I needed, so I decided not to bother trying anything on. I know my size, and it's the lake - how fancy do I need to look? I found a couple of pairs of jean shorts in my size and grabbed those. There were a lot of mens' t-shirts, but the women's section left a lot to be desired. I finally found three t-shirts without stupid slogans on them, in my usual size. I picked up a cheap neutral-colored pair of flip flops and a denim baseball cap, and headed over to the women's toiletries for hairspray, deodorant, toothbrush, makeup remover, etc., and then I checked out. I spent just over $100, and I got a lot for my money.
I didn't end up wearing one of the pairs of shorts and one of the t-shirts, because when I got them back to the condo and tried them on, those two items where so much bigger than the other garments I bought, even though they were all the same size, that the shorts wouldn't even stay up. Neither cost very much, and it was my own fault for not trying them on in the store, so I chalked it up to that and enjoyed my trip. I didn't bother taking more time from our vacation than I already had by going back to return them. Walmart purchases can be returned at any location, so I took them back to my home store after my vacation was over, and the return was easy.
I was grateful that there was a place like Walmart in the area to quickly replace the things I needed. I think the store layout should probably be revamped to make it a little easier to find things, and they should probably do a better job of replenishing stock. Really the whole place could use an updating, but it was handy when I really needed a place that had everything, and poor selection notwithstanding, I did manage to find items that served the purpose well enough. It would have been a far less pleasant trip without toiletries or a change of clothes, so I can't complain too much.
