How To Find Thrift Stores On Vacation

I stopped buying souvenirtrinkets a long time ago...

...unless you count my various collections of baskets, silver, and contemporary redware.

It seems like every city we visit now looks the same: Bed, Bath, and Beyond,Outback, Barnes and Noble. I pull out the trusty Yellow Pages and hunt for something unique.

I usually find it under Thrift Stores.

This trip was no exception. We killed time before hitting Atlanta's rush hour with a stroll through downtown Forsyth. We had a lot of fun looking at its restored homes and ramshackle buildings, then stopped in a Christian mission store.

We didn't come away emptyhanded: my son's next size Name Your Link'>Stride Right extra-wide shoes, a Discovery Toys wooden train set in its box, a V-tech toy with batteries for the trip home, and three books I've been wanting for ages:

• Edith Schaeffer's Hidden Art of Homemaking
• Emilie Barnes' Christmas planner
• 15 Minute Manager, and one on Christian hospitality.

I think we paid $4.50 for all of it.

I plan to resell the two toys when they lose their novelty in a couple of weeks, and that should pay for the things we wish to keep.