The recent increased corporate presence on Main Street Hanover inspired me to explore some of the town's oft-forgotten small businesses before they get replaced by a Pottery Barn or even worse a second Starbucks. I wanted to explore the unexplored, as good old Bob Frost might encourage. Plus, if these places get busted as drug fronts, I can say I've been there. And at this point in most people's Dartmouth careers, there are only so many times you can go to a classic spot like Molly's, though I'm actually really into Molly's right now because I recently came of the legal age to enjoy margs.
I began my "Hanover: Uncovered" exploration with lunch at Stinson's. Stinson's may be on the beaten path, but when most Dartmouth students go to Stinson's, they're usually just there for the booze. Few have paid attention to the full sandwich menu or the fact that you can pick up a copy of The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times while on your weekend beer run. I ordered the lemon chicken sandwich on wheat, which with my Coke came to only $6.50 a pretty good deal for lunch in Hanover. The sandwich wasn't bad, although all I could really taste was the generous slathering of pesto. The guy behind the counter apologized for calling me "hun" because he didn't want to offend anyone or "have anyone call the police." Who knew Stinson's was so PC? Must be all the NYT they read or paranoia about being exposed as Mad Dog-selling chauvinists in Andrew Lohse's memoir.
I then ventured next door into Michael's Audio-Video. No one was at the counter, but the beep of the door upon my entry roused an elderly man from the back. The shop consists of two small, dark rooms with a limited selection of TVs and sound systems. I pretended I was interested in buying a TV because I felt awkward, and the man insinuated that he could "make something work" if there was something in particular that interested me. I'm still not convinced that this store isn't a drug front.
My next stop was the little "mall" by the Nugget lest you forget, there are two malls in Hanover where I finally set foot in the enigmatic shop, A Little Spot of Red. It does not, as I or any literate person who has seen their sign would imagine, stock a wide variety of tampons. Instead, it is a very nice stationary shop with fancy notebooks, stationary and wrapping paper.
In the same mall, I entered the Pink Alligator, a brightly lit second-hand clothing store filled with racks of designer jeans that still cost $100 and J. Crew sweaters along with your classic thrift store hodge-podge of women's clothing. I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with the song "Thrift Shop" by the rapper Macklemore, but $20 in my pocket wouldn't get you popping any tags at the Pink Alligator.
Finally, I headed to Hanover's second "mall," the one next to Salt Hill whose basement houses The Orient. I entered The Chocolate Shop of Hanover, tucked between Men's Essentials and Clay's, a clothing shop catering to middle-aged women. I discovered your classic chocolate shop selection of turtles, salted caramels, truffles and bark, but I was pleasantly surprised by the "chocolate critters." Men of Dartmouth, you're always getting nagged to start taking women out to dinner instead of on a pong date. Well, if you want to show a girl you care for only $3.50, get her a tiny milk chocolate dog or bunny from the Chocolate Shop of Hanover. Personally, I couldn't resist the white chocolate mouse with a pink frosting tail and made it my only purchase of the afternoon.
So when you're on the way to CVS and are feeling random, stop by one of Hanover's less-visited establishments. I get the feeling that sometimes the proprietors are desperately looking for someone to talk to.
