Antique Alley

Since June 4, Travis has been in Vermont at a composer’s workshop, New Music on the Point (lasts through June 17^th).  Toby and I have been holding down the fort while he’s been gone, but I’ve missed him a ton! 

Since Saturday was my birthday, we decided to meet halfway in New Hampshire to hang out for the day.  One of my favorite things to do is going antiquing, so we decided to go to Antique Alley.  What is Antique Alley you may ask?  It’s a 20 mile stretch of Route 4 in New Hampshire that is littered with old homes turned antique shops.  MOST of the shops are really great…there are a few that were a sorry excuse for anything close to antiques…but that’s usually how it goes, isn’t it? 

One of the antique stores

We ran into some really neat things along the way!  Some of the things we didn’t go home with were an old French Horn (found in the same place we got Travis a 1-key bugle last year)…

…one of the biggest cameras I’ve ever seen…

…and an old tricycle-looking thing…I should have read the sign more closely. 

It was awesome riding around beautiful New Hampshire for the day – we had perfect weather!  Instead of making myself a cake, we opted for ice cream and found a really fun place that had HUGE servings.  We got “kiddie cups” that were bigger than most shops mediums. 

We ended up coming home with a “salt” sized Westmoreland hen on a nest (which I collect) and several old postcards from NC.  I think it’s hilarious we end up finding old postcards from Smithfield, NC all the way up in NH.  A few years ago we found old postcards from FBC Smithfield (dad has it if you want to see it!) and the Trot Motel (Frank Knott has this one).  This year I found postcards from "Johnson's Restaurant" in Dunn, NC (Toby is from Dunn!), one with the Smithfield Motor Lodge on it, and another that had a funny poem about NC on it.  I'll bet you didn't know Johnson's Restaurant was "one of the finest restaurants in the south"!  (Or at least that's what their postcard says.)  

Johnson's Restaurant top right, Smithfield Motor Lodge bottom right

Just in case you're interested, here's the poem.  It's a doozie!  

No'th Ca'lina

As soon as you get to No'th Ca'lina

The roads and the towns get newah, finah,

The people walk with a brisker step

And even your motor has more pep,

The hookworm's banished, the country has

A lot more energy, pep and jazz,

The Livest Northerner couldn't design a

Livelier Sate than No'th Ca'lina.

The farms look fatter, the Hamlets ain't

Quite ignorant of the sight of paint,

They're building roads, and they're not content

With sand and clay, but they use cement.

And the schools look good, and the mills are busy

And each inhabitant owns a Lizzie

Or a big twin-six or something finah,

As soon as you get to No'th Ca'lina.

This State's not dreaming of days gone by,

There's a modern glint in each mortal's eye,

And the village belies and the village beaux

Are as smartly dressed as the crowd which flows

On Gotham's streets.  You must give 'em credit,

These folks are fully awake, you said it.

You meet the "Boostah"; you lose the "Whinah,"

As soon as you get to No'th Ca'lina.

                                     - Bertoon Braley