Busy Trip Reveals Key Americana Aspects We Miss

What do we miss about the US?  Other than the ability to make right turns on red and the discretion to make left turns when it is safe (ok, those are Montreal restrictions), our plans for Christmas Eve reveal a few of the things we (my daughter and I) miss:

• Trader Joe's.  We just don't have those in Montreal, but I became addicted in San Diego.  I do remember having to make TJ runs when we traveled outside of Lubbock as well.  We don't buy a lot, especially since we are only in the US for about a week and we cannot take the frozen food up north.  Still, we love the funky stuff.
• Great Harvest Bread Company.  We spent way too much money in Lubbock on various kinds of bread (and yes, I could make them if I felt like it), fostering my daughter's addiction to pumpkin spice bread.  And this time of year, they have cookies and other stuff suitable for the season.
• Ben and Jerry's.  For some reason, the only places in Montreal that have a wide selection of flavors are the stores attached to gas stations--and I do not make a habit to shop for ice cream when I get gas.  So, we load up a bit on some of the less mass-marketed flavors and then leave half-eaten pints for my mother-in-law to handle.
• Bagels.  They have them in Montreal, and they are very proud of the Montreal style of bagel.  But Montreal bagels are about as over-rated as smoked meat (oops, sorry, but filtering my opinions makes for a boring blog).
• Mexican food.  Sure, the Mexican food I get in the US is not real Mexican food, but I became addicted to Tex-mex and Cal-mex, so visits to Chipotles and Chevys does meet my needs.
• Hulu.com.  We cannot access it from Canada, so now we have to remember all those searches/links that were denied to us.
  

Plus more selection on the TV--channels and shows we don't get in Canada--like the stuff on FX.  Of course, I don't get see that stuff because the one TV in my mother-in-law's is almost ways turned on to a mythbuster's marathon.  Not that there is anything wrong with that--just the opportunity lost.

So, I am a shallow consumer... and being in the US fulfills those needs best.  These trips allow me to embrace my American inner-being.