Autumn Treasure Hunting

As I mentioned in my last post, my daughter and I make our annual excursion to the fall rummage sale held each year by the Visiting Nurses’ Association in the beginning of October.  It is a huge event held rain or shine, at fairgrounds about 25 minutes from my house.  I have to say that most times we went it rained.  But we always dressed for the occasion, rain boots, umbrellas and hooded sweatshirts, and virtually nothing could come between us and our quest for bargains.

We have walked away with some interesting finds the over the years ranging from fireplace tools, books, picture frames and candy jars to acrylic paints, note cards and, of course, fabric! 

My daughter lives in Maryland, so our yearly pilgrimages now have to be carefully planned between work for both of us, and other things happening in our lives.  But this weekend, she made a special trip for a brief visit and a jaunt to our favorite spot.

I have to admit, we couldn’t have asked for better fall weather.  The sun was shining, the air was crisp and cool, so we didn’t have to lug around umbrellas and try to balance them while carrying a bag full of treasures and digging through goody-laden boxes!  But we are troopers in the face of adversity!

This year’s beautiful weather drew a seemingly larger crowd than usual, if that is even possible, so we decided to play it smart and rather than wait in traffic and park in the main lot on the fairgrounds where the tents are set up on one section of the grounds, we opted for an additional parking venue down the street and around the corner.  It was about an 8 minute walk, but we figured it was a nice day, and we were excited at the prospect of bargain hunting, so that walk was welcome exercise at 9:30 AM. 

When we arrived at the entrance and noticed there really wasn’t too much traffic and there were still lots of parking spaces on the grounds, we sort of wished we had parked closer, but rationalized the 8 minute walk was good exercise on a perfect day.

Since we were there early, the lines had already started forming outside the tents.  Due to the fact that the volunteers only let a few people in at a time so as not to overcrowd the tents, we had to wait five or ten minutes tops outside the more crowded tents.  But we used that time to chit chat about the family, and what has been going on in our lives.  The first tent we visited was the dry goods tent.  This always seems to be the most crowded, but obviously, my favorite.  Since it is crowded, you have to be an acrobat to hold everything and work your way from one box to another while batting away aprons hung over the fabric boxes.  Quick decisions had to be made, but since my projects for my Sewing Club and my online shop were set in my mind, I knew what I was looking for.  I got some great buys for $20.00. 

We visited a few more tents and got some spontaneous buys, but the catch of the day was definitely a very heavy silver reindeer centerpiece with cups for votive candles in its antlers, that my daughter snagged for a mere $10.00.  A bit tarnished, we decided a little silver polish would perk it up, and even if that didn’t work, it looked kind of cool and “antiquey” with the little touch of tarnish on it.  But, what we soon realized was that it weighed a lot, as did the $20.00 worth of fabric in my canvas tote bag!  We sort of carefully picked through the other tents’ contents searching for items that didn’t weigh too much.

Since my daughter had to go to a wedding rehearsal in Delaware in the evening, we had to cut our trip rather short, and hike with our items back to the car in the lot around the corner and down the street.  The 8 minute trip back to the car with everything slung over our shoulders now seemed like a 40 minute walk with several stops along the way to rearrange the bags and rest every few feet! 
It was a wonderful day well spent with my daughter.  The drive back home found us talking about days gone by and the fact that we both have always loved the fall with its beautiful colors and welcoming fall decorations.  It’s just a homey sort of feeling that stirs up lots of fond memories when our family was young.

Tired and happy, we arrived back home with our treasures.  I said farewell to my daughter and wished her well as she drove out of my world for another few months.  As she left my driveway, I looked ahead to days when we will share this tradition with my future grandchildren.  It’s always a fun-filled day, rain or shine, to browse, buy, and best of all spend some time with one of my most precious treasures and her slightly tarnished reindeer centerpiece.