Sure enough Route 91 at the Holyoke Mall exit, and every other possible access into that maelstrom of merchandising, was clogged solid with panicky bumper to bumper gift-seekers.
We sidestepped the madness and got on route 5, driving north on into Northampton to search out our own purchases where we thought we might find a little more elbow room...
There was plenty of snow on the ground and some still gently falling, large snowflakes that gave the streets a holiday-ey feel as we strolled along and poked into the different shops and stores, looking for that special non-chain-store gift.
Economic nay saying aside, the sidewalks appeared pretty busy at times. Crowds ebbed and flowed down the sidewalks and in and out of stores sometimes in large groups, sometimes in small pairs...
This a capella chorus, the NorthampTones, charmed some of the passer-byes and generated some money for their charity of choice:
If there's one thing this town is good for, it's generating money for the needy. In any manner that will work.
We continued on with the walk-around and continued our browsing/buying as night began to settle in, with most stores staying open later than usual.
Dusk eased into nightfall, and the decorative lights began lighting up all around downtown, picking up the holiday atmosphere where the daylight snow fall had left off.
It was time to head back and continue the grind of moving everything we own. We didn't get all the gift buying done but did take a bite out of the list, and collected some ideas for the slim handful of days that are left...It looks like it's going to be a close one, once again...
3 comments:
The second to last photo is just awesome. Great shot. I needed to take a detour off of 91 today and stop at the over priced gas station to fill up my washer fluid. It was a nightmare. The traffic was horrible. The traffic backed up near the new fire station in Holyoke by the K Mart plaza and continued down RT 5. Then RT 9 was a nightmare heading towards Northampton from Amherst/Hadley. There were a lot of people out shopping Saturday...
I agree and I also love the fourth one from the top of the person walking in the alley. You are raising the photo bar; I'm thinking about buying a more expensive camera now too.
If you go looking, Mary, I can definitely recommend testing out the little D40. But just a couple caveats as far as blogging goes: it's not as easy to carry around as the digicams, and you can't take video with it. But man, It's great to use...
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