Belk

    We were exploring Myrtle Beach on a rainy afternoon when we drove past a mall. We were both hungry and since malls usually have food courts we decided to stop in.
   We found the food court comprised of three restaurants one of which was closed. We got something to eat. C mentioned that he wanted to buy a summer dress in southern style for me. We were headed toward Belk.
  Belk is a department store located in several cities in the south. It would be like J.C. Penney's, Macy's or Nordstroms. Thier tagline is Modern. Southern. Style.
  We walked through the men's department where C found an Under Amour section. Since he really likes that brand we stopped there so that he could look around for anything that he might need. He found a charcoal grey ball cap with the Under Armour logo in blue. The gentleman that rang us up tried to talk us into getting a Belk credit card. Since Belk doesn't have any stores in Minnesota and since we have a strict limit on the number of credit cards we have, we said no. He was very persistent, but in the end we got our purchase without a credit card.
  The women's section was in a different area. We walked past the make-up and perfume to get there. At the front of the area were dresses. There were all sort of dresses.  I was amazed. There were dresses in all colours and styles. The dresses had tops and were longer. All of them were at least knee length. None of them had spaghetti straps. I looked around in wonder. It had been a long time since I'd seen something like this.
  I'd given up buying dresses at home a long time ago. Most of the selection I've seen comes in only black or red. There seems to be only two sizes tent and miniscule. I've found a few dresses online that I have bought, but most of the time I wear skirts and tops.
  C went immediately to a rack of white lace dresses. I wasn't interested. I'm not fond of wearing white. Dirt shows too easily and I wear a white lab coat most of the time. I saw some red lace dresses and called C over to look at one that I liked. He liked it too so I picked out two sizes that might fit. While on the way to a dressing room I found another dress in a colourful print. It had a round neck and was made out of the kind of material that doesn't wrinkle easily. I asked C what he thought. He thought I should try it on.
  I went into the dressing room and hung the dresses on a holder on the wall. I tried on the smaller of the two red dresses. It didn't fit. To be honest I didn't expect it to. It's hard for me to judge sizes sometimes. The larger one fit perfectly and I went out to show C. He was standing a ways off. I didn't want to yell at him to get his attention so I had to walk over to him. He looked at the dress and told me it fit just fine. I smiled.
 Then I tried on the second dress. I looked at myself in the mirror and loved it instantly. I twirled around a little. I liked the way  the skirt moved. I felt so pretty in the dress. I went out to show C who was standing nearer the door this time.  Behind him stood two older women who were also looking at me. One of them said the dress looked good and asked me to turn around so she could see the back of it. "Yes" she said, "It lays nicely in the back." She came up to me and put her hand on my arm. "I'm a seamstress" she said. "I make dresses for a living." Well, if a professional thought that it fit, I was going to buy it. It's rare that I find things that fit that well.
  C and I went to pay for the dresses and I got a pleasant surprise. Both of them were marked down and on sale. I've paid more for one outfit back home. They left my purchases on the hangers and put a plastic garment bag over them. That was another nice surprise. I was used to the sales ladies neatly folding my things into a bag. I left feeling feeling very happy.
  I really like Belk. I like the clothes there and I like the customer service. The only problem is that they don't have stores in the midwest. Maybe it isn't such a problem after all. They have an online store.