Buy Low Foods

Whether a grocery trip takes twenty minutes or eats up most of an afternoon usually comes down to one thing: how far the store sits from wherever the day has already put you. Vernon fills up in summer, when the beaches and the campgrounds are busy and households are feeding more people than usual, then settles back into a steady local rhythm through the colder months. Stores adjust accordingly, and produce in particular swings with what the surrounding valley is picking, since the orchards on the benches and the market gardens toward Swan Lake are close enough to matter on the shelf.

Worth knowing before you go: full-service grocers vary a great deal in what sits behind the front doors. Some carry a proper meat counter and a deli, others lean on packaged and self-serve, and the range of specialty items differs store to store. If you are after something particular, a phone call is quicker than a lap of the aisles. It is also the fastest way to check hours, which move around statutory holidays and through the summer in a town that sees this much visitor traffic between May and September.