On A Mission...

I have a secret.  I'm a crazy collector. 

I absolutely love the Starbucks "You Are Here" collector series of mugs.  I have a dozen or so of them, which I drag to and from work with me every day, serve coffee to guests in, and just generally use in ways one would expect a large coffee mug to be used.

Recently on the Fred Orange Starbucks City Mug website though I noticed that there was a new one I didn't have, and surprise...it was local!

Starbucks Virginia Mug as appeared on eBay

 As a lifelong Virginia Resident, the addition of a Virginia mug to my collection was so exciting that I immediately started mapping my route for the day in order to discover one.  So, I filled up the Jetta with gas, stopped by the car wash (Jorg needs to be shiny when I find my new mugs!) and set off. 

My first stop was the Starbucks location nearest my house in Herndon, Virginia.  I planned to start off at the places close by, and then work my way towards other collectors who I knew had them, and hopefully find one along the way, but if not, I'd try Dulles airport as a last resort since they routinely have oddball mugs that I wouldn't expect to find in the Washington DC metro region...and they charge a minimum of $5.00 for parking since I didn't have someone to drive in circles until I could run in and check.

When I found out the Herndon store didn't have one, I immediately went to a Reston location, since, after all, it was on the way to the stores nearest someone I found online who actually had one.  After striking out a second time, I continued on to Arlington.

Boston mugs?  At Dulles Airport?

In Arlington I stopped for an early dinner, and then in quick succession stopped into four different stores, many had the Washington DC mug (which I already have) none had the Virginia mug.  Sensing limited additional luck in Arlington, I decided to make a quick run through Falls Church.  Two more stores, two more strike-outs.  After a run through Tysons Corner (three stores), Vienna, (one store), Fairfax (Three stores) and all the way out to Leesburg (two stores), I decided to return towards my house and stop at Dulles Airport. 

While I completely struck out and none of the 18 locations I stopped at had Virginia, I did score a small victory, albeit it wasn't the one I was looking for.  I found Boston at Dulles airport.

Oh well.  I'll take the victories where I can get them.  I'll live with Boston until the next time I get to make a run down south.