Polk & Clay Liquor

These hard working people are running a business on this corner for a while. I never bothered stopping by before as the place doesn’t look fancy in no means. That evening I was in a mood for hot, no-​caffeine and tasty tea. When I say «tasty», I mean invigorating and healthy tea. I know exactly what a good tea means. *$, Peets etc are expensive and serves decent kind of teas. But their prices are 2 – 3 times higher. I’ve tried a few neighborhood places before and I thought I will give them a try too.
The 3 hot pots of nice smelling teas were sitting by the door like they were waiting for me. I selected ginseng-​jasmine blend. O my… this was exactly what I needed. And at $ 1.25 it was a bargain? What a jewel at recession times? Compared to *$-s and such this tea were tastier and less inexpensive.
Guys looking for fancy places keep in mind that those come at price.
Give these people a try and support this local business! These should stay in business as I will be stopping by now for their hot and tasty teas.

This is my morning stop off if I need cigarettes, because Larkin Corner Market isn’t open that early.
They have recently remodeled, and its kind of cute now. The color scheme is a cheery yellow and a bright turtle green. They have tea in these big pots. I’m not sure if they changed ownership or not but the lady I had never seen before charged me $ 6 for my American Spirits. Yipes!
I miss the old place. There were all these little old men buying lottery tickets, and the counter was so tall it made me feel like I was five. Like I was a five year old buying cigarettes. And the little old dude behind the counter was awesome. I once saw him leching on this lady and he turns to me and winks saying «we’re old friends.»

I don’t think there is another corner store anywhere that captures the essence of Twin Peaks meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre quite like this place. It is dingy and eerie and hard to maneuver. This is bad because it has that air that makes you think someone is going to come running out of the backroom with an axe or something and you are going to meet your demise between a shelf full of dusty wine and a bag of Cheetos. Then you tell yourself that is just plain dumb, grab your Glaceau, and head to the counter where you are met by this man who is far too happy to be sane as he keeps saying to everyone «Hellllooooo, that will be a dollaaarrr sevennnnty fiiiive pleeeeeaaaase. Heeeres twwwwweeeenty fiiiiive cents baaaccckkk!» Yes, three purchases in a row were $ 1.75 and he had my quarter waiting before I even reached the counter.
Surreal.

Polk Clay Liquor is nothing more than a dingy, dusty corner store, a place of convenience where I’ll go to get my daily pack of gum, or a Coke, but nothing more (and definitely never again a bottle of wine, unless I’m really on the lookout for vinegar, which is what I ended up with last time I went that route).