Today we went in for one of the (apparently invite-only) pre-opening charity lunches at the new Wegmans in Hunt Valley Towne Center, where we donated $5 to United Way and get your choice of sub, pizza, pasta, and "Chef's Creation."

Short story: Wow. For $4.99 (on the menu price) I got a 7" roast beef sub with spicy mustard and swiss cheese that was really good. The decor is amazing and the store is huge.

Long story:

• This is supposedly the biggest Wegmans store in the United States.
• The sushi bar prices are really reasonable. It was 1.45 and 1.75 for nigiri depending on the fish and 3.99 a roll for california roll type stuff and 4.99 for things like Yellowtail, eel and spicy tuna. I don't know the quality, but you can stack those prices up against any other sushi place around here.
• There are 18 double aisles in the store, and 4 short aisles over by the pharmacy.
• There are 26 checkout lanes.
• This is a big store.
• Nearly all the lights, cable trays, cameras, etc. are suspended from the ceiling with tensioned wire. All of the town center has this effect, but they do it very well. It makes the place seem very open without being abusively bright or warehouse-like.
• There are a LOT of surveillance cameras in the store, most of them advertised by flat panel displays.
• The bakery is fantastic. See the link for a picture of their on-site oven. I got a loaf of "Marathon Bread" just for showing up. It apparently contains several fruits and vegetables, and a couple of nuts.
• The eating area on the second floor is very classy. We sat over by the Conference Room (!) in wicker chairs overlooking the supermarket.
• There is an open WiFi network called "Wegmans." Jean tested it on her palm and got to Google's Palm search page, so at least today it was connecting to the Internet.
• All the aisles are decorated. The freezer aisles have penguins and icicles on them. The candy aisle pops up from the surrounding terrain like a sugary beacon.

The link for pre-opening pictures removed on request of the photographer.

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