It's always frustrating when you drive miles and miles and miles to an estate sale and you have a bad feeling it's not going to be worth it! That's exactly what happened Saturday! Oh well, mom and I made the best of it. She bought a hand crocheted pot holder with a rose on it for 25 cents and asked some other customers if there were any other sales in the area (mind you, we were in the country at this point!). But, once we found civilization again we did hit two other yard sales. Nothing great but I'm now the owner of a box of Sears' 1970s Merry Mushroom or whatever kitchen accessories. Not sure if that was wise or not but I felt sorry for the mushroom emblazened cannister set, cookie jar, clock, s&p, sugar and creamer, clock, coffee mugs and chipped egg plate. I mean, who else was going to want them? I've seen them on etsy before... I also found a dymo label maker and label tapes at another sale. Just your regular colors and not too old of a label maker but what the heck!
Then on to two outdoor flea markets in the not so good end of town. Mom was rather appalled at first! But I assured her I always find good stuff at them! And, I did once again! My best score was digging through two huge dish barrel size boxes and finding lots of sewing items, wooden thread spools, buttons, embroidery floss, trims and lace, vintage Christmas ornaments, a vintage Brach's candy box, a Tiny Tim blow mold, a box of vintage Christmas cards, two old valentines, a piece of Victorian scrap, 3 yearbooks from the 1970s, a photo of a little boy on Santa's lap at Santa Claus Land and some other fun ephemera! Scored another old ledger book too!
I happened to see this first annual Hwy 55 Yard Sale advertised on Craig's List and since it was such a spectacular day Friday, mom and I decided to check it out. It still needs to grow, there weren't a lot of sales, however, it was totally worth going and we had a great time! Hit the little towns of Finchville, Shelbyville and Eminence. Stopped at the Ruritan Club in Finchville where it was headquartered and had a nice little lunch complete with country ham and homemade chocolate chip cookies! Mom wanted to stop at an antique mall in Shelbyville so we went in there and she found more hats and a dress form from her new favorite booth! We also hit a small antique shop, a Goodwill, a Peddler's Mall and Big Time Bargains!
I scored vintage Christmas, a couple of readers, a few old children's books, yet another set of encyclopedias (from 1939-great pictures and color plates!), a Raggedy Ann doll, a neat pictures of a paper doll like lady, a scrabble game, an Upwords game, a cash ledger, a bag of vintage grosgrain ribbons with original labels, foil Christmas ribbon, bird notecards, foil sticker alphabet letters in their original package and 7 creepy doll heads! Most for my etsy shop and just a few keepers! Mom found some vintage hats, a dress form a couple of shelves, some books, cookbooks and a couple of Christmas angels for one of her trees.
I forgot how nice it is to take a vacation and leave responsiblities, mundane chores and work behind! I really hadn't had a vacation in probably a year and a half as we had to cancel our trip to VA last year when Tim was broken! Our anniversary trip to Nashville was mostly just stressful with all the driving, no gas at the gas stations and my relentless suffering with that right side pain!
I saw lots of old friends, including two I hadn't seen for 18-20 years since the high school and college days! Derrick Phillips took me to the Old Chickahominy House in Williamsburg and Tim and I were invited to lunch at Jennifer Williams (now England) and her husband Brett's house in Chesapeake (we had a blast!). Spent a whole day and evening with Andrea and her beautiful girls, lunch with Andrea and her mom (my godmother!)at the Showplace Cafe, lunch with Trish at The Carrot Tree in Yorktown (so yummy I took Tim back when he came to town!), a visit to the Adams, a visit and lunch with Diann in Richmond and a visit with Jo and her new kitty Evie! I also popped in to visit with Mrs. Seymour and Mr. Bender (Mrs. Bender was out of town unfortunately!). Ex-boyfriend's parents....
Hit two scrapbook stores that were great this time around, even driving to Chesapeake one day to go to All About Scrapbooks- I hadn't been there since it first opened about 10 years ago! Picture to Page had moved from Grafton to NN and it was packed full of new goodies! I hit several thrift stores, my favorite being the Youth Challenge Thrift Store across from the Daily Press. I got a great deal on books and old encyclopedias and then had to figure out how to get them home with the weight and suitcase restrictions! I quickly started pulling out the good plates and pictures from the old encylopedias which cut down on the bulk and weight!
I went to my favorite antique mall, Antique Village, in Mechanicsville, VA and spent about three hours in there purusing and finding lots of goodies! My favorite shop in the mall is Whiting's Old Paper and the owner was as friendly as usual! His shop is packed floor to ceiling with all things paper and it's truly a treasure trove not to be missed! I spent most of my time digging through old Christmas seals and came away with a huge box FULL! He stayed late so I could interview him for an article for Vintage Indie! Tim and I hit a couple of antique shops in downtown Phoebus although we were disappointed that our favorite one there had closed. We went out to Buckroe Beach while close and walked on the pier. We also had to stop at Merry Pointe Beach and Lion's Bridge for photo ops and just to enjoy the pretty weather and water! Dad and I had our customery shopping spree day at the Outlets in Williamsburg! Tim and I also went back to Williamsburg to go to the Williamsburg Antique Mall which had some good things this time!
Dad and I ate out a lot and also had his famous pastrami and swiss sandwiches! After Tim arrived a week after me, we continued to sample local restaurant fare, including Tim's all time favorite Hot Dog King! Japanese Grill one night, Joe and Mimma's again and Cheeseburger in Paradise (since we never get to eat at one!) Monty's Penguin for ice cream and Cold Stone Creamery too!
Tim and Dad went to a VA symphony concert at The Ferguson Center one night while I chose to hang out with Andrea again. The three of us went to see the Pajama Game at The Ferguson Center another night and thoroughly enjoyed it especially the 1950s set atmosphere!
We spent an afternoon driving through the old downtown area, visiting the Smithfield historic distric and the Isle of White Museum, a meal of Dad's famous London Broil and it was time to cram the suitcases full and head back home!
The day we left was more than eventful with a call from our alarm company first thing, a call to the house/catsitter on my end (all was okay!), Dad doing $429 worth of damage to his rear tailight (backing out of the garage he hit a tiny limb!) on the way to get us $3 worth of Hardee's biscuits and tornado warnings and torrential rains as we drove to the airport!
Some of my vintage Easter treasures for your viewing pleasure! I'm totally obsessed with vintage Easter egg dyes! They are definitely one of my favorite collections! These days it's hard to find one I don't already have but occasionally I do stumble upon a new one! I love the old candy boxes and recently scored the Russell Stover "dummy" boxes at an antique mall in Southport. This year I decided to do a little Easter tree after finding some great ornaments on sale after Easter last year! The blue tree I found at Hobby Lobby after Christmas is perfect don't you think? The newest addition to my collection is the Easter Bunny! Mom found him at an antique mall in Madison after a friend of ours clued her in and she and Tim rigged him up in our front hall as a surprise for me!
My article recently appeared on Vintage Indie. This was a great antique mall! I highly recommend it!
On the Road with Contributing Editor Elizabeth Young: Bright's Antique World Franklin, KY Driving to Nashville, TN this past fall, my husband and I discovered one of the best antique malls we have been to in a long time. Conveniently located right off the interstate, Bright's Antique World offers 35,000 square feet of antique furniture, glassware, jewelry, toys and more. Owners Riley and Linda Bright purchased the land, had the building custom built and opened their doors for business in January 2003. Voted No. 1 by Busy Bee Trader readers, this mall definitely lives up to that recognition. They offer a wide variety of collectibles, quality furniture and reasonable prices. The mall is well lit and well maintained. The women's bathroom is decked out in vintage clothing and accessories in every nook and cranny and the men's bathroom carries a hunting theme. Store Hours: Monday - Sat 9-8, Sunday 10-6, closed Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Location: 281 Steele Rd., Franklin, KY 42135 right past Cracker Barrel. Exit 2 off I-65, KY.
Phone: (270) 598-9901
Website: www.brightsantiqueworld.com
Special Events: A special event is held each spring in conjunction with the local historic district businesses. A Customer Appreciation Day is held each October offering special sales and refreshments. A Christmas Open House is held annually on Thanksgiving weekend. Carolyn West, one of the managers, has been a dealer for over 30 years. She is also a collector as most of the dealers are. She was friendly, knowledgeable and offered exceptional customer service. This mall is definitely worth the stop, whether you are passing through the area or looking for a one day getaway.
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Favorite Quotes
"If you're going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now." Marie Osmond
"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein
"When you can't change circumstances, you can change your response to them." Tim Hansel
We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
