Saturday, November 17, 2007

Antiquing in North Carolina

















This month, I went to visit my mother in North Carolina and I visited the Metrolina Antique Show. This is a huge Antique and Collectibles show at the Fairgrounds near Charlotte, NC. There was quite a long line to get into the fairgrounds even though it was a chilly November day.

















I have to explain that when I was a child, I was dragged to every antique shop and antique show in the North Carolina and South Carolina area. Any kind of car trip often involved stops at antique shops. Hours and hours of my life, my formative years, were spent wandering around dusty old antique shops, looking at furniture and doodads. I was not alone, my sister and my cousins all suffered the same fate.



































The highlights of many of these trips were the shop cats. Most antique shops had a resident cat who would let bored young girls pet and play with them while their mothers were shopping. We didn't see a cat on this outing, but there was one Antique Dog on display! So now that I am an adult, I too think that going around looking at antiques is a form of recreation.



















My mom and I arrived at the Metrolina Antique Show at 9am when they opened and we did not leave until around 3 pm that afternoon! And wonder of wonders, we did not buy much. I bought a couple of antique postcards and she bought some plants. But we saw so many wonderful things (and some not so wonderful things...check out the ugly snake lamp picture)






















We had a steak sandwich for lunch. They have a lot of state fair type food pavilions with hotdogs and hamburgers, BBQ, and yummy funnel cakes. We had the steak sandwich with fried onions and peppers.
















































There were prom dresses and jewelry and christmas ornaments, linens and dishes and crystal. There were farm implements and old political prints and old wooden and block printing STAMPS! Just about everything imaginable.

















The next day, after the antique show, we went to the Farmers Market at Yorkmont Road near the Airport. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, many from North and South Carolina Farmers were available in addition to other crafts, bakery items and wood crafts!