Southwest shopping...

 For thirty-plus years I lived with my family on the north side of Fort Wayne and after I moved downtown my view is still looking north, so it should be no surprise that whenever I need to shop I head north.  Clothes, shoes, books, groceries, gas... I can find them all on the north side of town.  Every once in a while though, I get pulled out of my comfort zone and must head southwest.  North has Glenbrook Mall, southwest has Jefferson Point, the two largest shopping areas in Fort Wayne.  Today a friend asked me to meet her at Panera's in Jefferson Point.  Since she lives southwest and usually comes downtown to see me, it seemed fair that I should make the drive for a change.  And I had an ulterior motive.  Not so long ago a new grocery store, Trader Joe's, moved into Jefferson Point, next door to Panera's.  My daughter-in-law is a huge fan of Trader Joe's, having shopped at one frequently when they lived in Phoenix.  My west coast brother is also a fan.  They have one in Spokane.  Both my brother and my daughter-in-law have told me several times how wonderful Trader Joe's Ginger Snaps are.  They know that I have a great fondness for ginger snaps and have tried a couple of kinds.  I know I can bake my own but that doesn't happen very often.  In case you are curious, Kroger's ginger snaps are better that Nabisco.  But having tried Trader Joe's I must tell you they are really good.  They contain chewy little chunks of real ginger.  The down side is that they are bite size and seem to just hop right from the container into my mouth which means that I will probably be shopping southwest again fairly soon.