Saturday was supposed to be a fun Adventure Day. It wasn’t even 11 a.m. before my fella renamed it a Misadventure Day.

We planned to hit a used bookstore in Lancaster followed by the Ohio Glass Museum, a little browsing at the Olde Shoe Factory Antique Mall, lunch and some dress shopping for me. We did those things but none of it was quite what we had hoped. 

We started at the bookstore which has been on my list for a while. I had confirmed the hours and location with their Google listing only to show up and find they had moved to a new location across town in October. A later visit to their Facebook page revealed that they had updated their location on Facebook but not with the rest of the world. I tell you this not to complain but to remind you that if you have a business, you must keep your information updated online. My marketing experience forces me to tell you this: Facebook is terrific but it is not enough. Don’t underestimate the value of your Google listing and reviews. Many potential customers will only learn about you via Google including your hours, pictures other people post, and the reviews they leave. 

The sign on the window provided a new address that I would never have found without my phone.  It’s off the beaten path and there’s not so much as a hand drawn poster board sign in the window to identify it as a store. The shopping experience was disappointing as well. The building is under renovation so I’m hopeful things will improve. Fingers crossed for them! 

Meanwhile, as Adam said, the bookstore took the wind from our sails. 

The antique mall was terribly busy, making it hard to shop and to enjoy the exploration, leaving us empty handed and me rethinking our plans. At this point, I actually offered to drive the thirty minutes out of town to the Barnes and Noble we both like just so we could be guaranteed a better experience. But he said we should be brave and soldier on with our plans.

The Glass Museum was nice even though it took much longer than we had planned. I’ll tell you more about that this week. Lunch at Maria’s Mexican Restaurant up the street was great save for the young server who seemed so painfully shy and nervous that I felt bad for him. Dress shopping was a bust too. Where exactly are professional women supposed buy dresses these days? 

By the time we cried uncle and headed home, we were still laughing and enjoying the day even though it really was a bad adventure day. 

This has been a sad pattern in our winter adventures. Here’s hoping Spring will breathe new life into our Adventure Days. Meanwhile, we’ll keep trying and we’ll keep laughing! 

Remember adventure days will not always be smooth sailing and you won’t always be pleased with how things turn out but that’s part of the fun. It’s character building to not have your way all the time and it makes you appreciate the quality experiences so much more when you do have a fabulous day!