Walked into a tiny bookstore in Brevard looking for a map, left with a $2 record and the best sandwich of my life
I was killing time in Brevard, NC last weekend waiting on a friend, and ducked into this little shop off the main drag because it had a hand painted sign out front. The guy behind the counter said he mostly sold used books but there was a deli counter in the back that I walked right past twice. I got a turkey sandwich for $6 that came on bread baked that morning, and while I ate it he dug out a crate of old records he hadn't bothered to price yet. Ended up paying $2 for a Fleetwood Mac album that plays fine, just a little crackle. What got me was how he knew every single person who walked in by name, and two of them brought him tomatoes from their garden. I've been telling everyone I know to check the back rooms of these small shops, because that's where the real stuff hides. If you've got a spot like this in your town, what's in the back of it?
Did you end up going back for more records once you finished that sandwich? I had almost the same thing happen at a used book shop in Floyd, Virginia, where the owner kept a cooler of pimento cheese in the back and sold it by the scoop with crackers. Ended up walking out with a beat up copy of Rumours for three bucks and a full stomach. Those back room setups always beat anything you find on the main street.