Thomas Turtle Opticians

The first thing I noticed was that the store has a bit of a mold problem — there was a musty smell, and you could see visible water damage on the ceiling — definitely looked like mold. Something to keep in mind if you have respiratory issues.
Still, I found the staff to be very competent and efficient. The optometrist was super friendly and got me in and out in record time.
I was in for contact lenses. It had been about five years since I last wore them, and compared to the last time I went in for contacts, I was really pleased. They had me in a trial pair of lenses that day, as opposed to making me wait a couple weeks. I wasn’t expecting to walk out with contacts, and it was a really pleasant surprise to do so.
The guy who fitted me for lenses was thorough, and checked how they settled on my eyes three times. He also had me read an eye chart to make sure everything was kosher. He decided I needed stronger lenses, and promised to order a new trial pair (while letting me keep the first pair, which I guess he had to do, since my eyeball juice was all over them…). :) When you have astigmatism like I do, it’s hard to nail down the exact prescription fix. In fact, sometimes you just have to aim for close. So at least he checked.
He took his time making sure I knew how to wash, rinse and disinfect my lenses (I already knew, but he really wanted to make sure I had it down). He gave me an information sheet, and made sure to go down the list, making sure I knew what to expect in the first week with new lenses, and what to do if I fell asleep with them in or if things seemed off. He seemed to read my mind about trying to find ways to extend the life of my monthlies, and cautioned me against it. Lastly, he let me know that Turtle has a program that can ship me my lenses, which is cool.
All in all, the whole experience was painless. A little smelly, but painless.
Tip: If you have Independent Health, Thomas Turtle takes their Eye/​Med insurance. This way your visit fee is reduced to ten bucks. If you go in for contacts, expect to be charged a one time forty dollar fitting fee, but it’s waived for any future visits. For my visit, I paid a total of fifty bucks.