Wild Wednesday- Only me! (2009)

The year was 2009 and I had moved to the States, settling down in Renton, Washington.  My Dutch friends, Henk and Maria, came for a visit and of course I wanted to share with them the hidden treasure I had discovered in Tacoma. We had a list of places to go, but finally we were able to make it down to Tacoma on a Monday.

Unfortunately, when we walked up to the door of Sanford and Son, it looked dark inside.

"Oh no, don't tell me they are closed!" I grasped the handle of the door just to be sure and lo and behold it opened. "Oh, it is open after all" I motioned to my husband and Henk and Maria to join me. I couldn't stop talking about how wonderful the treasure was...but I didn't want to tell them what it was..."You'll see, it is a surprise!"

"It seems rather dark in here." Maria noted. 

"hmm...yes a bit dark...but come on down, you'll be amazed by what is in the basement." I was busy forging ahead down into the soul of the building. 

"Is it always this quiet?" Henk asked. "No one seems to be around." My husband concurred and they spoke of leaving, but I quickly urged them to continue following me down to the basement. How excited I was for them to see the treasure hidden below.

It did seem strange that there was no one around and the place appeared darker than I remembered....but I brushed those thoughts aside. Henk and Maria were impressed with the find downstairs. However, the dead silence of the building could not be denied any longer and Henk and Maria said, "I think we need to leave."

Up through the corridors of the building we scurried. I reached the door we had entered. I grabbed the handle, only to discover we were locked in. Oh yes, you read that correctly, we were locked in. We ran around to windows and doors, but unfortunately we were most definitely locked in and the locks were such that we had no way of getting out without a key! 

"Hello!!!!!! Is anyone else in here??" 

Silence greeted us.

We found a card with the owner's number on it and used our cell phone to call him. 

"Rrrrrriiiinnngggg" oh great- the sound was coming from a telephone in the shop itself. 

All three of my companions looked at me like they wanted to kill me. I could do nothing but laugh....I do that when I'm nervous...there I was standing in a glassed in foyer, watching people walking by and there was no way to get out. So I began to yell through the door, "Help! We are locked in"

A homeless man stopped and tried the handle, it wouldn't budge. He said, "Just turn the handle on the inside."

"We tried, it won't open."

He laughed and turned away shaking his head. A man working on the street came by, and we yelled for help. He tried as he might to figure out how to get us out, but unfortunately there was no hope for escape. All this while, Henk was trying every door in the building. He found a door which appeared to be unlocked and he attempted to open it, but there was someone on the other side and she screamed, "GET OUT!  How did you get in here!!"

We all ran towards the door trying to open it. "We are trapped in here- can you help us get out??"

By this time, we had called 911 to tell them of our predicament. I won't even begin to tell you about the muffled laughs we heard on the line as they were trying to get their heads around our situation.

The woman in the room yells, "I will call 911"

"I've already done that." I responded, "We aren't here to hurt you, we really want to get out!"

"I'm calling the owner." She yells.

"Please do!"

I couldn't help the laughter that kept erupting inside of me with each new encounter. My companions were not amused by my giggles.  Just about then we heard the door unlock and the lady, visibly shaken, crept out. "Okay, the owner told me where he has hidden an extra key..." She moved quickly and retrieved the key and let us out the door into the sunshine.


Just as we emerged, the police car pulled up. I quickly assured them we were fine now and thanked them for their response. They shook their heads and said, "Well, please try to stay out of locked buildings in the future." I distinctly heard laughter as they drove away. 


My husband said, "Only you, Connie!! Only you could have gotten us into this mess."  Yes, this is true...I have a knack for getting myself into interesting situations....but they prove to be comical memories, which I fish out from time to time so I can have a good laugh.

Memory Monday- Hidden Treasures (2006)

The year was 2006 and I was on a brief visit to the States from Ghana.  My daughter, Cass decided she wanted to show me Tacoma's 'old town' antique district. When we arrived on Broadway street, a parking space was not difficult to find. The weather was perfect for a pleasant day of strolling in and out of shops. We pondered over vintage dresses that would have looked superb on Cass, but the costs were prohibitive. The prices didn't stop us from dreaming of what they would look like if we did buy them. 
 
"... you could wear this one for an evening out on the town...and that one would be just excellent for a job interview....and of course, that little number would do nicely for a romantic evening- which you are too young to even think about at this time- so let's move on to the next shop....."
 
Almost to the end of our browsing we stepped into an insignificant antique store. It looked almost like an old five and dime store, although I'm not even sure what those looked like except what I've seen on the movies. No one was around, and we gingerly made our way down the aisle. 

Suddenly a voice stopped us...."Is this your first time in here?" The voice came from behind the glass counter. Up popped a friendly lady munching on something. She was trying to look like she wasn't munching, but I could tell her jaws were definitely moving in a 'munching' motion. Flicking some crumbs off her chin she continued, "Well if this is your first time, you have to make sure to see the other two levels."
 
I instinctively looked up. 
 
"No, the levels are down below"
 
Cass looked down at the floor. The lady motioned towards the back of the store, "The stairs are back there."
 
We thanked her and walked towards the back of the store and sure enough there was the staircase. For some reason it made us giggle...and giggle is what we did for most of our journey down into the soul of the building. I think it was just the excitement of having found such a treasure!! 

We walked down an incline on what must have been a loading dock of some sort in days gone by.  Along the way there was shop after shop- all very well decorated and cozy. We ended up on a floor that was dazzling in its day. We walked past furniture that should be sitting in a King's palace, and yet here it sat all dusty and worn. I couldn't help thinking of all the stories these pieces of furniture could tell me if they could only speak. 
 
On the third floor down, the real treasure was hidden. A most glorious and spectacular library...not a big library...mind you...but such a masterpiece of one. It was like a dream come true. A tacky little sign with arrows pointing in opposite directions was attached to the middle of the bookshelves: "Ten dollars for all books this direction, Fifteen dollars for books this direction" (or something to that effect).


We didn't want to leave this glorious discovery, but could see that time was escaping us. When we emerged into the sunshine, we couldn't stop commenting on what a wonderful experience that had been.

Cassandra decided that we needed to buy something...just a token item....to remember this most wonderful day. We went into a few remaining shops- now all appearing so 'normal.' The last shop we entered had the tea cup we knew we must buy ...."$10"....a good price for a very pretty tea cup with a saucer....we both agreed this was the right purchase to be made. Now every time I see the tea cup perched on my counter, I can't help but smile at the memory of a hidden treasure.

* The delicious treasure is found in the bowels of Sanford and Son in Tacoma. If you are ever in town, don't forget to visit them, you will not regret your time there. 

** all pictures courtesy of Sanford and Son Facebook page. 

*** Don't just take my word for it, see the great reviews on Yelp

**** picture of THE tea cup added on request of Rama