September 20, 202658 road milesAll four of us60s rainOrder 846Food court $13.1840 photographs
Order 846 at 12:33pm: chicken strips, three hot dogs (two with water, one with a Coke) and a 20oz Coke on its own, $12.28 plus $0.90 Connecticut tax. An hour and a quarter each way for a hot dog with onions on it, and the third Costco in three days.
The last twelve-foot skeleton, strapped upright in the bed of a pickup and leaving the lot as we pulled in. Somebody got there first.The food court receipt. Tap it to read every line.
What we found
East Lyme, #1372. Eighth warehouse, an hour and fifteen minutes from home, and it rained the whole way.$4.27⁹ regular, $5.07⁹ premium, all taxes included. Costco gas is usually the cheapest sign for miles, which tells you where the rest of the state was that morning.
Why does nobody like using the middle pumps? 4.279 Regular. 5.079 Premium. 2 open pumps and line behind us.The newest Costco we have visited so far and you can tell by the architecture.Advertising the strawberry shortcake ice cream sundae on the way in. We were hoping for the churro.
$150 cheaper than two days ago in West Springfield.$399.97, asterisked: an Insta360 X5 bundle. The asterisk in the corner of a Costco shelf sign means this warehouse is not reordering it, and it is explained nowhere, you have to be standing in front of the sign.$149.97, asterisked: a Pioneer 700-watt party speaker, marked down and not being reordered.
Really debating getting one of these to document our travels on the Buck Fifty Project. Need it to go one sale. Or better yet...the asterik and .97!A lit humidor by the AT&T guys, Cohiba on the shelf. Eight warehouses in and this is the first cigar case we have seen.Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble. Oh wait, it’s just a bean pot.A pre-seasoned cast iron bean pot, six quarts, $29.99. Oven safe to 450 degrees and hand wash only, which is the part people find out later.
Serving up samples of Starbucks Nespresso around the corner from the display. Rich got one and a butter croissant sample too.$34.99 less a $10.00 instant rebate, so $24.99 at the register. The rebate expires 09/20/26, which was the day we were standing there.A Pokemon holiday calendar, $44.99. Twenty-four two-inch figures, officially licensed, on the floor in September.
Well done on the display. Mickey looks like he was meant to be in the box cave.Here too.And the Grinch. Give this employee a raise! #merchandisingRechargeable heated gloves, $59.99, four heat settings and up to ten hours a charge. Also September. Carter tried the demo yesterday in Waterbury.
Carter, behind a jumbo pumpkin, in front of a bin that says IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN. $7.99 each.Jumbo pumpkins, $7.99 each, in a bin the size of a car.
Heirloom pumpkins, $6.99 each. A dollar less than the jumbo ones and a good deal stranger looking.If you thought it was Christmas from the display at the front, the pumpkins are still out.The seafood case, and a boil in a foil tray sitting on top of the salmon like it wandered in.
A cooked seafood boil in a foil tray: crab legs, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes, $65.71.Kirkland Signature sushi, and the sign lists the two pokes. Wasabi ahi is ahi tuna, sesame oil, kukui nut, and spicy ahi, with chili pepper and red tobiko.
Salmon mango ceviche with serrano and cilantro. $18.99 a pound, 1.02 pounds, $19.37.Ahi tuna wasabi poke, $22.99 a pound. This one is 1.01 pounds and $23.22, packed that morning and sold by the 22nd.
Ahi tuna spicy poke, $21.99 a pound, $22.43 for the tray. Four dollars a pound less than the wasabi one sitting beside it.Churros. Not at the food court, where they are still not on the board eight warehouses in, but boxed in the bakery beside the pains au chocolat.$8.39 for thirty ounces of churro donut bites, and an asterisk on the sign. Costco never explains the asterisk; it means this warehouse isn’t reordering. Even the churro bites are on the way out.
Mathew, holding two bags of Lindor up where his face goes, in front of a wall of Lindt, the Christmas teddy bears already out, in September.NCAA team headwear, $13.29, a special event table by the men’s clothing. They had women’s hoodies too.Saturday lunchtime at the eighth warehouse. It was busy enough that we ate and left without shopping, which has not happened before.
No churro for you! Third Costco in three days and we still haven’t found it. Also no salad available.The board. A strawberry shortcake sundae at $2.99, an ice cream sundae at $2.49, a cup at $1.99, and no churro, which is the eighth board in a row without one.Order 846. Three hot dogs and an order of chicken strips on one tray, $13.18 with tax.
Carter and Mathew walking out with lunch. Stop No. 8 down. 615 to go.The onion hot dog, held over the steering wheel in the parking lot. An hour and eighteen minutes each way for this, and nobody in the car argued it was a bad trade.
Onions this time, which is the version Rich has been arguing for since New Britain. Still $1.50, still the reason we drove an hour and fifteen minutes in the rain, and still worth it. — All of us
Chicken strips, $6.99 Would order again
Ordered at a warehouse that had them, which is not a given. Five pieces and a dipping sauce, and the second half of what we actually came for. — Jes and Carter
Not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected to Costco Wholesale Corporation. We just really like the hot dog.
The Signature
The next Costco, in your inbox.
One email per Costco. The receipt, what was on the menu board, what it cost, and the strangest thing we found in the aisles. Free, and it stops the moment you say so.
One confirmation email, then one Signature per stop. Your address is used for nothing else, and every issue has a link to stop.
