Sunday, August 16, 2009

How I Spent My Summer Vacation... (Part 2) Blue Monday Edition

For those of you that have been
following along...
We traveled
"up north"
to the northwestern corner of Minnesota.
As we traveled from the Twin Cities
we stopped at many of the Antique
and Hardware stores along the way.

As you can see by this picture
Jacob may have died
and gone to heaven....

This was a future electrician's,
lamp collector & builder's
dream come true.

Jacob walked into this shop...
decided he needed a Monowatt
something of another
turnkey socket to complete
some sort of lamp...
He lost me -
but not the proprietor of this shop!
The man was giddy that
he was so knowledge-able
about such things.
He allowed Jacob to enter
the back room and the basement
of this antique lamp shop.
(I promptly followed - you never know
now-a-days...)
There were shelves everywhere
littered with every lamp part imaginable.

Inside these drawers were parts that I never
knew existed on lamps.
I was soon set straight that they are highly patented
& highly collected across the country.

I guess that lamp parts are
a hot commodity
for historical societies
that are re-furbishing
homes and buildings.

The man offered Jacob
a job if he wanted it.

I thought of Sally@Salmagundi
and her husband when I saw this chair.
If I had room in my Escape
I would have brought this home!

I could see these chairs painted
and recovered in a large
buffalo check fabric.
How about you?

Here's the blue part, Sally.
Hamm's Beer used to be brewed
around these parts.
"From the Land of Sky Blue Waters....
Comes the Beer Refreshing,
Hamm's the Beer Refreshing,
Hamm's"

This hutch was only $300!
$300!!!

I thought of Rue and her love of chairs....

and then I turned around....
because that's all I could do.
This place was a fire hazard.
Honestly. You could hardly
walk into this room.
More chairs, Rue.

And Woo Hoo....
vinyl!
This was Jacob's kind of vacation!
Everywhere he turned
he found something he HAD to HAVE!

Poor Miles.
When we returned
from our vacation
we discovered Miles had
allergies and raging ear infections.
$400 later he's feeling
as good as gold.

Stay tuned....
more vacation pix to follow!

Robyn

23 comments:

Coloradolady said...

what a great blue post for blue monday, Those are great Hamm's beer glasses, I always thought the little bear was so cute! Have a great Blue Monday.

Maggie said...

Loved seeing the pix of your trip, glad to hear that Miles is feeling better now.
Have a great Blue Monday

Maria Berg said...

I did buy chairs like that, i will have them outside and plant flowers in them (where you sit). And the boy looks like my Husband on our holiday in a secondhand shop, MB

susan said...

I would love a trip where I could just stop whenever I saw something interesting ( my husband is too "destination oriented" for that):). Isn't it fun to see your child's eyes light up with something that truly interests them?! Thanks for sharing your pictures and for stopping by!

SmilingSally said...

I remember the Hamm's commercial. Jacob idea of Heaven is a tad different from mine. LOL How neat that the owner offered him a job. I'll bet Jacob floated back to the car. It's good to know that Miles is back to normal. Happy Blue Monday.

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Good morning darling, what a wonderful place to explore. Only $300 for the hutch. Oh girl what I wouldn't give to find one around here at that price. I'm needing something for the "over-flow". lol. I'm so sorry when you returned home Miles was sick...poor baby. I sure he's better now. hugs ~lynne~

Salmagundi said...

What a fun day - nothing better than an antique shop filled to the brim. If they were cheap enough, we would have bought the chairs to fix up and resell or give away. We always love a project. Hope Miles continues to improve. Sally

Becky K. said...

I could have poked around in that store for a long time!

How fun!

Glad Miles is feeling better...sorry for your pocketbook!

Have a great week!

Becky K.

Sue said...

I think I would love perusing the aisles of chairs and lamps in that place. probably a little dusty, though, huh? I remember seeing old Hamms beer commercials when visiting my grandfather in the old old days. They usually came on during his favorite show, Gunsmoke.
:-) Sue

Boo-Bah AKA Iris said...

What wonderful pictures. I love all those chairs. It looks as though you got to experience antique heaven on your trip.

Glad Miles is doing better.

Happy Blue Monday
Iris

Mary Bergfeld said...

You found some wonderful blues to share with us today. It sounds like a marvelous way to spend the day. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Melissa Miller said...

~WOW! Robyn everything is so cool. What a beautiful store to visit.

Thanks for the kind words on our garage flooring. Yes, Alex did the etching step before he applied it. I really hope it lasts for a long time. We love it so far!

~Blessings my friend. :)

Sarah said...

Thanks for sharing your trip.
Happy Blue Monday!
hyacinthforthesoul.blogspot.com/

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Hi Robyn! How fun! I love it that Jacob found someone he could speak "lamp parts" with! lol Love all of the antiques you showed us...Now that's my kind of vacation! Happy week!...Debbie

Terry said...

Howdy Robyn
Happy Blue Monday.
Your photos are fabulous as are all your great descriptions.
This was truly a grand adventure.
I am so gald that you are sharing with us.
Have a blessed rest of the week.
Hugs
Happy Trails

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

What an adventure that would be! Lots of nice blues too. Happy Blue Monday to you.

LV said...

No doubt you must have had a ball going through all that stuff. I would have enjoyed it and so much to see. I do not know how you could pick from all that. I am happy you left a comment and visited.

Baba said...

Good evening Robyn, what a great adventure you and Jacob visited and took us along with pictures..you could stay in that place for hours and explore all of the neat wonders!!

Unknown said...

Aww, Robyn, you are such an awesome mom!! I loved going through these pics and seeing you two and all your happy times! What fun memories! The shop looks wonderful!! I am such a sucker for old chairs too. Everytime I see one I like, I TRY to think of a place I could put it in my little cottage, lol!

I'm so glad you were able to get away and have fun!
Hugs,
Amy

Tootsie said...

Oh how fun that shop must have been! I love the photos!

Rue said...

hehehehe.... I DO love those chairs! It looks like you guys had a great time :)

rue

Happily Retired Gal said...

Looks like you have a marvelously BLUE time ;--)
Hugs and blessings,

Drawn to The Sea said...

Don't you just love finding an old shop with boxes of odd parts & doo-dads? There's one a few hours from here, I always stop in when we're up that way.

Happy Day!