Where to buy souvenirs when you’re on vacation

In the past, I haven’t had much of a problem buying souvenirs when I’ve been on vacation. They just seem to be plentiful at tourist spots. Madrid, Paris, London, San Francisco, Miami, Seattle. I have post cards from them all.

Not so much from museums. I love museums, but I’ve noticed frequently that they don’t have post cards for the special exhibits I came to see.

Last weekend, my sister and I went to Chelan, Washington, to attend my high school reunion. We’re both graduates of Chelan High School.

My sister wanted to buy souvenirs for six of her friends. We thought it would be easy because we’d been wine tasting at about a dozen wineries in the area and noticed that several of them had nice gift shops.

We stopped at Tsillan Cellars on the south shore of Lake Chelan. My sister checked out the gift shop and found some nice items but they seem pricy to give to six friends.

Over two days we went wine tasting at seven wineries. Only one of them, Lake Chelan Winery, had gift items. Again, they were expensive.

My reunion was Saturday. I asked my former classmates where they thought we might get typical souvenirs. Walmart was suggested.

When we left Chelan on Sunday, we tried Walmart. They had a limited selection and a limited supply at the end of the season. My sister bought two thimbles that said Chelan and six post cards. I could see that we would need to do more searching.

We headed down the Douglas County side of the Columbia River on the way home to check out the places where we’d lived in Orondo, 13 miles up the river from Wenatchee. After I bought gas, we went in the gas station. They only had post cards.

In Wenatchee, where we were going to stop and buy flowers to put on our parents’ grave, we asked at Safeway if they had souvenirs. One employee said if they had any, they’d be over by the Halloween decorations. We didn’t see any, so we asked another employee. She said they didn’t have souvenirs, but we could try Walgreens.

What a great idea. I wish I’d thought of it sooner. It would have saved a lot of time.

Walgreens had souvenirs with Wenatchee on them including refrigerator magnets, key chains, shot glasses, hats, coffee mugs, and more.

My sister bought refrigerator magnets, a good solution for the six-gift project.

So my advice is clear. Check out Walgreens first if the usual tourist attractions don’t carry souvenirs.