Small Town, Big Market. Or Small Market?

I sometimes forget how small Mountain Lakes really is. Living here, it seems larger than life, yet everywhere I go, I know everybody.

Walking on the Boulevard, I pass familiar faces walking in both directions. Cars honk. Neighborhood dogs sneak a lick of my passing hand. At the supermarket, I cannot make it through the store without seeing someone I know, who's child goes to school with mine, or who works out at my gym. The good news is that it is very much like Main Street U.S.A. But it's for sure that I cannot go incognito anywhere.

After school on Monday, my son wanted to stop at a place called the Mountain Lakes Market for an egg sandwich. The Market is a gourmet deli type market that sells cold and hot foods, soups, coffee, and the like. They also do lots of catering. It's a nearly freestanding dark wood space, with a fireplace, bookshelves, and a wall of windows. It's beautiful.

While walking in to pick up his sandwich, I noticed that there is a new section of shelves carrying dry goods like pasta, and gourmet olive oil, pasta sauce, steak sauce, and more. They already sell gallons of milk, and eggs. Bread, too. Now, when I need some gourmet pasta, or a bottle of hot sauce, I can go to the market. Not the big, corporate chain, but the small, local favorite.