The Panera Experience.

Earl and I are sitting in our local Panera. Oh, by the way, we’re back home from Gettysburg. This is our second Panera stop today.

Earl finished up his meetings this morning around 11, so we checked out of the hotel and hit the road. We were originally going to visit some of the historic sites and the battlefield at Gettysburg, but Mother Nature decided that we should visit another time when it’s sunny, so we headed north to Harrisburg. Earl had a conference call at noon, so I got him situated in the car in The Capital City Mall parking lot. I went and browsed while he chatted with his peers on the cell phone. He then joined me for lunch when he was done.

It was still raining so we decided to head home. To break up the monotony otherwise known as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, we stopped at a new retail outlet called “The Shoppes at Montage”. By the way, adding the “ppes” to “shops” makes it trés chic.

Actually, it’s a nice place to browse and shop. We picked up a couple of picture frames for the house at The Christmas Shoppe. We also had a quick snack at the new Panera there.

We got home just a little while ago. It’s still raining, but not too bad. Not in the mood to cook, Earl suggested our local Panera where we could surf and dine. So that’s what we are doing right now. Like many of the retail establishments in our area, this Panera has been “localfied” with a strategic amount of wear, tear and disarray to make the locals feel at home.

I find the effect rather disconcerting.