Applebee’s the Original

This is just down the road from my parents’ big old country house. It’s a genuine, old-​fashioned feed store. This is where you purchase industrial-​sized bags of dog food and horse-​grooming equipment, or a bunch of hay.
Once when I was a bratty teenager, my parents punished me by making me go here to buy chicken feed using an old red Radio Flyer wagon. It’s very close to my parent’s house, but it’s down a large hill. This meant that I had to pull the wagon — and the heavy bag of chicken feed — up a steep hill. I’m pretty sure it taught me a lesson. My parents are the masters of creative punishment.
I always feel like I’ve stepped back into a much simpler era here. It sort of seems like places like this wouldn’t still exist in New York — but they do. And in some way, I’m incredibly glad about that.