Big shoes.
Today, I was feeling sassy. Well, more like: SASsy. I have wide feet. Some would say fat feet. I prefer what I was told once while on Maui: Hawaiian feet. Call 'em what you want, but for most shoe styles, I would be more comfortable in the boxes instead of the shoes. Some shoe manufacturers offer a few styles in extra wide widths, but they aren't generally anything you'd want to wear.
I used to do good with a shoe by Sperry/New Balance - a sneaker looking boat shoe; extra wide width, comfortable, and well-made. Like many manufacturers, looking to maximize profit, they start to cut corners... succeeding purchases of that same model went from well-made to OK-made... to feeling like cardboard and wearing about as well.
Last year, Joan suggested I try SAS. I had preconceived ideas about SAS: worn by old guys who seem to prefer velcro® instead of laces. I thought these were cheap shoes that you would find in an outlet mall. I was way off base. SAS is San Antonio Shoemakers; they are handcrafted of nice leather (glove soft). The price isn't cheap, but buy a pair and they spoil you for other brands. And, they offer men's sized from narrow to medium to wide to WW (weally wide?). I am a WW.
I looked for some shoes while Joan was shopping at the mall yesterday. Most places, the salesperson just stared at my feet when I asked if they had any shoes in extra wide widths... then said, "No." I don't think my feet look freakishly wide when I look down at them. I tried on a few shoes, but Joan said, "Don't frustrate yourself, let's find an SAS store."
Well, today, we had lunch with Steph and Dan; they came up to our place and we went to a place recommended by a waitress at another place we ate a couple weeks ago: Tailgaters Sports Bar & Grill... the food was good!
Steph joined us afterwards (Dan had errands to attend to) on our trip to an SAS Store. Joan had looked up sneaks and sandals from SAS, and had my hopes up. Yes, the store had exactly what I was looking for. Classic, not particularly hip, but not too old-manish (technical term for guys of a certain age... like myself). Yep, sensible shoes. No matter - I have comfortable footwear!
Steph found a pair she liked. Joan found a nice leather purse (something they just started handling... "You are the first one to buy a purse here!" That's it? No celebration? No first-purse-buying-customer-gets-one-free! sale??). No one left empty-handed (my usual state when shopping elsewhere for shoes).
Steph's birthday is next week - I am told there will be some walking.
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Rock 'n Roll!
We got home and settled in for the evening. While taking Izzy for a walk, I heard music... live music... 60s and 70s rock 'n roll music. I walked to where the sound was coming from, a large grassy area north of the swimming pool. Yep, a rock band was playing. People were dancing. Sitting in lawn chairs. Soaring beach balls around the crowd.
It looked like a typical rock concert, except everyone in the crowd is of the "active adult lifestyle" age. ;-)
The Big Zephyr Band was playing...
I have reached an interesting point in my life: my music tastes are now part of the "active adult lifestyle." When we first started RVing, we got turned away from 55+ parks... not old enough. These days, there is no questioning us about our age (well, my age); and my music tastes were always "too young" for most of the folks as we RVed our way around in the winter. Not any more.
My people! ;-)
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