With all the construction going on up there in Friendship Height's, it's comforting to me to see Rodman's still going strong at 5100 Wisconsin Avenue. Starting in 1955 as a drugstore, today the store sells everything from shallots to Gumby. As Arlo Guthrie once said in Alice's Restaurant "You can get anything you want" at Rodman's, but there is a minor drawback or two.
The first problem with going to Rodman's is getting out of there. You might go in for one quick thing like LU's Cinnamon Sugar Biscuits which Safeway doesn't carry anymore, but as soon as you walk in, there are 30% off fireworks right next to the BBQ sets and the Toblerone bars. This is the back entrance which is a narrow one person aisle created by stacks and stacks of food and drink: tomato sauce, olives, chutney, baby clams, wine, vinegar, sardines, curry paste, Parmesan cheese and stuffed peppers. (Wait is that a topping or a side dish?) All kinds of jam, marinated artichokes, and olive oil.
The second problem is which aisle to run to first?
Wine? Beer? Snacks?
Look- there's those Italian cookies, the ones in the big red tins. Lazzaroni's used to have the wrappers you could light on fire and make a wish on as they rose to the ceiling. And those weird chocolate cigar type cookies someone bought for us in Greece once, not to mention digestive biscuits, whatever they are, and those cinnamon ones I just remembered I came in here for.
Oh, and they have Lady Grey Tea. Safeway doesn't seem to stock that anymore either. Fritos, Doritos and crystallized ginger. I don't what to do with it, but I'm intrigued. Here are squirt bottles of Kalamata olive puree under a sign that says "dessert toppings". And something that looks like shrunken heads over there in the produce aisle turns out to be celery root. Celery root? Oh look- they've got a great deal on lemons. Does anyone need a scratch off ticket? A baguette would be good for later. And do I have enough tuna fish?
Over in the beverage aisles, I am befriended by DC native, "Hoppy Dave" who educated me as best he could on the amazing variety of beers he stocks. A happily bewildering experience that almost involved me getting a second cart. (Warning-one cart is bad enough in there- something akin to navigating a Hummer through the back streets of Georgetown.)
By the time Dave was finished with me, I had a basket full of beers I'd never heard of, but couldn't wait to try-including Bell's Batch 8,000, a commemorative ale which only gets made every 8,000 years. ( I might be wrong there, but my head only holds a limited amount of numbers) He also filled me in on my high school teacher, Bob Tupper who went on to produce Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale, an excellent adult beverage courtesy of Old Dominion Brewery which, Dave tells me, has been bought now by Budweiser. What? That's why there was no Tupper's in sight as the Tuppers don't deal with "Bud.
Now I've solved the problem of leaving Rodman's. My cart is full even though I didn't even make it downstairs where the household products are. The coffee makers, the watch repair, play-doh, hair brushes and oh, yes, Gumby. Not to mention the pharmacy and the vitamins which will all have to wait until next time.
Great hearing that Rodman's still exists, though I no longer live in the DC area. We used to shop there from time to time as they were known to have the best bargains around. The Rodman's closest to us was located on Georgia Avenue, right over the district line. Pretty convenient to Silver Spring where we lived at the time. I will have to check out Publix to see if they carry some of the items you mentioned--or Sweet Bay which opens in The Villages, FL next month.
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