Friday: A Day Off

Antique malls, flea markets, two historic hotels and a museum. That was our day Friday.

We took the day off; I'd been storytelling all day Thursday and Larry had worked on catching up the mowing and garden work. He wanted a break and I was certainly game. We decided to go to Parkersburg to check out an antiques mall I'd noticed last week and to visit some of the historic places around the town.

First though, we stopped at the Goodwill in Ripley. "I'll just be a minute," I said. Right. Who knew they were having an inventory reduction sale? Big boxes of stuff were in the middle of the store and it was something like dumpster diving to find what was in there. Everyone was so good-natured and helped each other reach things. I remarked to a little boy that the boxes were full of junk, and he replied, "This whole place is full of junk!" Wisdom from a babe, but he meant it in a good way.

So after I resurfaced from the boxes we headed out of town. We found the antique mall which turned out to be only one month old. No wonder I'd never seen it before. The owners were enthusiastic and cheerful. After browsing I asked about renting a space. No luck; they're full and have a l-o-n-g waiting list. We enjoyed the visit though, and we'll go back because the prices were pretty reasonable.

We left and headed to Marietta, OH, just across the river. Our destination was the Lafayette Hotel's Gun Room where we intended to have lunch. When we got there, I thought, "Oh no! This is the wrong hotel! The gun room is in the Blennerhassett in Parkersburg!" So, we left and found our way to another antique mall, this one right in the center of town in an old brick building (I will need to find out its history). Here I found a booth with everything marked 50% off, so you know I shopped! I asked about renting a space here too--we liked this place even better than our first stop. There were many customers in the store, the location was excellent, there were lots and lots of booths an a wide variety of things to look at. All pluses in my book.

As it happened there was a small space available, so I rented it right on the spot. I'll be moving my booth from the Ripley location this week and setting up in this new place. I'm really excited about this one, and I think it has good potential for me to grow my business into an even larger space later on. I'll post photos as soon as I get set up.

We left and after a few u-turns we found Rinky Dink's Flea Market. This used to be a thriving place but it was nearly empty. We bought lunch and looked around; again I found some very good deals, especially from 2 vendors who could not change a $20 bill so sold me the things I wanted for half price--I had enough to do that. I ended up with four Fenton stoppers, a black Fenton bottle (damaged though--I swear I think this guy got these things out of Fenton's dump; there was dirt all in the creases) and 2 odd red  glass pieces marked with a W in a circle on the bottom for $4. I have no idea what they are but I'll post photos and maybe someone can tell me. I also got a nice pattern glass dish for $1, too. At another booth I bought 2 percolators (one quite old) because I have heard customers at my mall asking for them.

We still had time to explore so after getting turned around a few times we arrived at the Blennerhassett Museum. If you are wondering about that name, there is quite a story attached that I will post tomorrow. I am amazed that no one has made it into a movie yet; it's full of mystery, intrigue, romance, forbidden love, famous people, suspense, loss, plots--you name it.

We did finally stop at the Blennerhassett Hotel but by then all we wanted was something cold to drink and a quiet place to sit. And guess what? The gun room was at the Lafayette anyway! Still, it was a lovely break in our day, and we drove home feeling pretty happy with our day off. And we have an excuse to go back sometime to see that gun room, which I understand is quite a treat.

(Sorry for so few photos today. My camera battery was almost dead.)

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.