We went to Target over the weekend. I'd been compiling of list of Things to Get at Target for a while, mostly stuff that I was certain they would have, and would have cheaper than anywhere else.

I've mentioned here before that the trip to Target is an afternoon's adventure. It takes about 35 minutes to drive from southside Savannah to the Target in Bluffton, South Carolina. We left our apartment at about four o'clock, list in hand and cheery at the necessity of the trip.

The drive is not nearly so serene this time of year. In the summer and fall the landscape is lush, the woods envelope the road and filtered sunlight dances across the windshield. In the winter the trees are mere upright sticks, sad tendrils of spanish moss swaying in the breeze. It almost looks like a desaturated photograph.

There was a fair amount of traffic on the two-lane road on the way to Bluffton, and we got stuck behind a guy who had the nerve to drive the speed limit. He must have been out for a Sunday drive a day early, and so the trip took a little longer than usual.

We finally arrived at Target and headed for the housewares section. I was looking for Pants Hangers and a Pop-Up Sweater Drying Rack. To my surprise the aisles were still nearly picked clean of merchandise, now more than two weeks after Christmas. They did not have either of the items I wanted, nor did they have suitable substitutions.

We moved on to other parts of the store. In the back corner of the store where they usually put out seasonal items they had stocked the only thing they could think of after Christmas: Plastic storage containers. An enormous amount of real estate devoted to plastic bins, all of them unnested and lidded so as to take up the greatest amount of space. It was an obvious attempt to hide the fact that there were no longer decorated faux Christmas trees, and fill the sad void left behind.

The DVD section was fairly well stocked, meaning that there weren't gaping holes where DVDs should be. However, they did not have any of the Pink Panther movies, and I had hoped to buy the next one. We've bought and watched A Shot in the Dark, The Pink Panther, and Return of the Pink Panther. Looked at other movies, but we couldn't decide on anything.

Wandered over to the camera section after remembering that I've been looking to buy a larger camera bag for the digital camera. At first I couldn't even find the camera bags, but after walking up and down every aisle in that corner of the store, I finally found the small selection of camera bags. I think they have like three to choose from now. Fortunately, one of them was the one I wanted, so I got it. It will hold the camera and all the accessories and peripherals we need.

As we made our way back to the front of the store, I began to feel sad that the Target shopping experience had left so much to be desired. There were so few shoppers in the store and so little merchandise to behold that it was not unlike going back to visit your elementary school, only to find that everything shrunken and paling in comparison to fond memories.

I think the sadness is that the population that has Target at its fingertips doesn't appreciate it. The fine citizens of Hilton Head and Bluffton just don't visit, admire the wares, or marvel at its low-low prices. I can't wait for the Target to open in Savannah (about 1 mile from my apartment) in the Fall of 2004.