Alfred, let's go shopping.

So, I am here in the Capital of the Inland Empire, The Lilac City, Spokane, Washington. Although I am attending an academic conference, I carved out a little time to re-visit some geeky haunts I discovered when I lived here for grad school:

First, we have Merlyn's:

Their cool A-frame elaborates on their trade.



They have a huge new comics wall as well as tons of back issues,



and a big gaming area, eerily quiet on a weekday.

The shelves are just one big D6 short of a full set of oversized Platonic solids.

And it has perhaps the coolest restroom in Washington:

I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Boo Radley's, an awesome gift and curiosity shop downtown:

It also sells graphic novels

as well as vintage genre paperbacks

and Steampunk gear.

Here was a great find: the D&D version of Clue. I kid you not, the back of the box asks "Was it Tordock in the Dragon's Lair with the Flaming Battle Axe? Or Mialee in the Dungeon with the Staff of Power?"

And here's a ST:OS action figure set - from the "Dilithium Collection."

If you are ever in Spoke-a-loo, check out these shops - they are worth a visit!