Day one: Wegmans. After arriving and battling the crowds of other toilet paper hunters I saw bamboo plates and napkins, aka hope. After following the scent of paper products I found the holy grail: toilet paper! But sadly, there was no sign of hand sanitizer anywhere. 

Day two: Aldi’s off of Virginia Beach Boulevard. This is a lesser-known Aldi’s which I hoped meant a better chance of finding the essentials. It was less crowded than Wegmans and they did have toilet paper (and plenty of it) but still no hand sanitizer. 

Day three: E-Mart, an international store on Princess Anne Road that not a lot of people know about. The hunt for hand sanitizer was looking hopeless, but I did not lose hope. After gathering snacks it was time to start hunting. Right off the bat I saw there was no toilet paper but, at the register, there was a sign talking about hand sanitizer sizes. They were smart and put it behind the registers! I asked for it and they had plenty. The biggest bottle was ten dollars, a little pricey, but it was found. 

Day four: Target behind Party City. Since I now had toilet paper and hand sanitizer I was on the hunt for hand soap. Let’s just say wow, there were a lot of hunters in this store. After walking around for a while I found liquid gold, all types of soap. After securing a gallon jug soap to refill the smaller bottles I have at home I checked out and washed to my heart’s content. 

My hunt for essentials taught me that it may be hard to find what you’re looking for, but not impossible. I found it best to shop when stores first open or on shipment days if you can find that out. I’d also like to note that all the stores I visited had plenty of food. The only product I saw a shortage of was chicken nuggets. They seem to be running low everywhere, especially the dino ones.  

Remember to always be polite to the workers because they are there for you, and happy hunting!