The shoe store

I literally stepped back in time today at Allen's Bootery in Moundsville, W.Va.

The light blue leather and wood chairs my son and I sat on were the same ones I sat on when I was a little girl trying on shoes 40 years ago. The store still carried Stride Rite children's shoes and Buster Brown socks.

My 4-year-old son was a model of good behavior, patiently allowing the store clerk to measure his foot and following her directions to stand and walk over to the mirror in each pair of shoes he tried on his feet. We settled on a pair of Navy blue and neon green Stride Rite tennies, which he said "felt" the best.

Already sold on his choice, his eyes lit up when the clerk told him the green "slime" on the side glows in the dark and that the shoes, officially called "Snot Rocket Slimers," are advertised on Nickelodean.

My shoes never had such cool names. And I never took them to bed with me to see if they glowed in the dark.