Today was officially the first day of summer vacation in our house. I woke up to my 10 year old son asking if he could make pancakes. Well, of course! He makes pancakes from scratch that leaves everyone looking for seconds. Not having to scramble out the door at 7:30 a.m. and breakfast being made for ME – I could get used to this! The reality of filling the day with 4 boys at home caught up with me quickly, however. It will all go by too fast though, I’m afraid. I live for the summer and I’m going to savor every single day.
I finally uploaded pictures from the weekend – a dream weekend for us, really. My Dad (bless him) took all 3 of the older boys to the beach. They surfed (and came home with bruised faces from being tossed upside down in the waves – my Dad included), played putt putt and went to Dumsers for icecream. Meanwhile Randy and I packed our little guy, our pup, and our bags and once again headed to our favorite antiquing destination, Adamstown, PA (blogged about it here). There is so much to see here that I didn’t even make it to all of the antique malls.
This time around we found Crystal Springs (once known as Addams Spring), a source of pure water and frequented by locals for many years. It is fascinating to learn that historians believed that an Indian village once stood in this vicinity. While checking out the spring, an amazing retro truck pulled up (and what color!). We got to talking to the nice owner about his 1958 Chevrolet Apache. It turns out he is a trucker and saw this truck for sale while driving his route, sitting there on a farm. He drove right by but later wondered why he had not stopped to inquire about it. He told himself he would stop the next time if it was still there. Sure enough, the truck was still there on his next run and he stopped to buy it. He invited us to hop in. It’s not every day that I get to sit behind the wheel of 1950’s classic!
What could be better than stopping for ice cream at a local favorite? A scoop of ice-cream, chocolate shake, and a rootbeer float were enjoyed by a stream while watching the ducks. Now speaking of food, later that night we drove over to Lancaster and had the most amazing dinner at Miller’s…. anyone heard of this smorgasbord? We are planning a trip back to Lancaster just to go back again!
Adamstown has a few antique malls and flea markets that only open on Sunday. The flea markets are open before 6:00 a.m. I was determined to go this time, and we made it there not long after 7:00 – not too bad after staying up so late on Saturday night. I found many treasures and spoke to nice vendors. Our little guy spotted an old metal wheel barrow and had the best time wheeling it up and down the dusty rows. Much to everyone’s amusement, he proudly filled his wheel barrow with sticks and rocks.
Let’s now jump to one of my best finds – ever. This one was a steal. There it was, sitting in all of it’s old leather glory on the $2.00 table. I couldn’t believe it. I left it right where I saw it and went to find the dealer; surely it wasn’t meant to be on that table. The dealer seemed almost apologetic when he told me there were no pictures inside the antique CDV (carte-de-visite)/tintype album. I couldn’t pay for my surprise find fast enough! I have an antique album collection (I’d love to share in a future post), and this tiny treasure is one of my new favorites. I really couldn’t believe my good fortune.
It was a lucky album day. My husband spied this near-complete (missing one year) collection of Naval Academy Lucky Bag year books from the early 1930’s. As a Naval Academy graduate, these treasured yearbooks always catch his eye when he happens upon them. He truly appreciates that these pre-WWII era albums are quite rare. We’ve found that albums this old can range in price from $75 to over $200 and he was lucky to purchase all 3 for $40.00. The 1930’s era art found inside is remarkable.
Here is a sweet old jewelry box (yet another collection) that I found. I filled the box with some of the earbobs and pins that I collected over the weekend. I can’t resist the romance of flowers and rhinestones.
I’ll end this post with a couple of initial pins – one for me and one for a special friend.
Thank you for visiting, so happy you stopped by!
-Cindy
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh Cindy, sounds you had a wonderful time! And I can totally relate to the rhinstone-part must be my magpie-gene:-)
Gorgeous! I love your pictures Cindy. The top one of you and your wee man is so lovely! Can’t wait til the summer holidays start over here too…
How wonderful that it is summer vacation!! Lovely post and photos. It is so exciting to find something as special as that tintype album!! Enjoy your summer days with the boys, and the less stressful schedule.
ps 57 chevys have always been my favorite car–not seen the truck before. Looks great!!
another amazing trip!! so so jealous!! and i will soooo find one of those trucks for myself one day. did i ever tell you my dad restored a 1955 chevy bellaire when i was growing up in tx? he had it from about 82-98, then he sold it to pay for a roof and started a new restoration. the new one is the 62 plymouth fury that pops up in my photos from time to time. i LOVE old cars… just love love love them. and that album!! you found a NY priced treasure, ha. awesome!!
That album is in amazing condition and the hardware on it is beautiful. I wouldn’t care at all that there are no photos in it. Your little guy is so sweet looking, especially pushing his wheel barrow. Such fun!
I don’t even know where to begin to go antiquing in my town. I love your trips! Thank you for sharing them with us! (Oh, thank you for your sweet comment about my necklace, it really meant a lot to me!)
Oh what fun! Lovely stash too – I really miss antiquing ….. I wrote a whole ode to summer…. 71 more days to go!
What a wonderful weekend you guys had in PA. My Dad was from a small town in central PA and there is a spring in that town that is still used today. What luck you and your husband had on finding the items to add to your collections, and your youngest son is a cutie-pa-tutie with his little green wheel barrow.
Thanks for sharing your lovely weekend! That boy of yours is SO DARN CUTE!!!
Cindy, what a fun weekend you had. Love all the pictures. The truck is amazing and oh boy what fun pictures. Living near an Amish/Mennonite community we have lots of amazing food too. Jewelry pieces are so neat..last flea I went to I picked up a couple for me too.
What a neat weekend. LOVE the CDV album! Amazingly beautiful. Great pictures – especially the one of you and your little one up close. Fabulous shot of you!
lots of great finds and i love the leather album, it gorgeous. i started collecting daguerrotype photos in the leather case a few years back, but haven’t added any new ones to my collection, lately . i just love them.
You guys have the best antiqueing up there! I would love to make a trip up your way sometime. Great finds!
Outrageous and fabulous finds Cindy! I love the photos with the truck. Your finds are beautiful! Happy summer!
Cindy–thanks for posting pictures. It’s been too long and they grow so fast. I admire you and Randy for taking the little one “antiqueing” and he seems to like it! You found some great treaures! Isn’t it fun? Keep posting! Love, Madeline
Hi Cindy & boys, i must say these are my favorite posts, not that i don’t love to see everyone wonderful creations because i do i do!! but i just love to see families spending time together makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and that old truck… so cool my Dad has 2 classics a 61 Falcon and a 1945 army jeep a real one with his Canadian and American flags flying proudly with a sign on the back window that says “support our troupes”.
thanks for sharing your family time Cindy take care and have a nice evening!
ttfn Lana >^.^<
Kudos to your Dad for taking the oldest boys to the beach! I bet they loved every minute! And what a wonderful weekend for you as well! Looks like the flea market was a huge success! So many goodies. I can’t wait to do some antiquing myself this summer.
Wow – that little album is truly a magical find! Looks like everyone had fun that weekend!
Hey Cindy, I love my “J” pin. I know exactly what I am going to create with it!!
It’s beautifully ornate. Thank you!
Did someone say ice cream? It looks like you had a fabulous time!!!!!
Wow! What a fantastic weekend! Love your finds and the ice cream is just perfect for these summer days…
Wow, Cindy, I love that little album! Bring it to ArtBliss and we can make some nifty molds from the metal clasps. My husband would truly love that truck– I like them a bit older, myself, but the color is fabulous! I really hope someday we can stroll the aisles of a large fleamarket together– what a gas that would be!!! Thanks for the great post!
That’s such an awesome photo of you two at the top! And what a find — so jealous (in a good way!) of that album! We need an antiquing weekend together soon!
Oh Cindy this is an awesome post. like that :>) I love it that your husband goes with you on antiqueing jaunts. Be Blessed to be a blessing
Gee you sure do have wonderful times! I think we are living in the wrong place! lol Lovely adventure Cindy.
What a great day – and what fantastic finds! Thanks for sharing them!
Sounds like the most perfect weekend. You found some cool stuff and that turquoise truck ROCKS! I want one…
I love Renninger’s outside. Have you ever been to Shupp’s grove? You’d love that too. The look on your son’s face behind the wheel is precious and that album with those wonderful hinges, you lucky girl!
Find of the century! And, I’m drooling over the truck…
Love the truck!
I have the same tintype album I found at a garage sale with old photos almost through the whole album. This album is so neat I can’t get myself to take the pics out yet…lol. Thanks for sharing!
Coylette, that is so neat that you have the same album! I like to keep the photos in the album as well.