Sunday, October 20, 2024

Sunday Gratitude: Day Trip to Monticello

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As they say in these parts, it's pronounced Mon-ti-SELL-o, not Mon-ti-CHELL-o, as in Thomas Jefferson's historic home in Charlottesville, VA. One of my girls and I spent the day in the Florida version, spelled just like Jefferson's Monticello, about 30 minutes east of Tallahassee, antiquing for a girls day out yesterday. 

I grew up poking through antique shops with my Mama, Nana, and great Aunt Livy, and that has stuck with me to this day. When I'm traveling for work, I make time to stop into one or two of several spots up and down I-75 and a couple over on I-95 to stretch my legs and see what I can find. I don't really hunt for anything specific - I just like to be open to random discoveries - though there are a few things that will always catch my eye: vintage or antique books that I can deconstruct and create a new life for; landscape paintings featuring beaches, streams or woods you'd likely see in the South; nice baskets; and vintage globes. My girls tell me I'm no longer allowed to bring home any more vintage globes (I have at least a dozen at this point), but what did one of them grab to help decorate their apartment? Yes, one of my globes!

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Our favorite "shop" of the day was definitely Penny Lane Emporium, and we purchased several things there, including two gorgeous vintage cross-stitch pieces that needed to be rescued (I know the work that goes into those well!). But one of the coolest things we stumbled across in Monticello was a building itself, not it's contents. It's an antique store called Vintage Treasures. I've looked up the address trying to find some history on the building but couldn't find any (and if you are reading this from Monticello, please do tell!). The first floor felt like your typical "antique mall" setting with various booths spread throughout. But walk up those super rickety, steep stairs on the right side, and pop out on the second floor! It wasn't nearly as curated as the first floor. It had all sorts of things just randomly laying about. The floor was also a bit slanted and reminded me of a fun house in Maggie Valley, North Carolina's, Ghost Town in the Sky I visited as a child. And when we walked into the second large space upstairs, it was filled wall to wall with paintings. Liv and I very much felt like we were being watching, and there was definitely a weird vibe in the air. Wandering out of the haunted painting room, we ended up along the street front side of the building with all these huge, glorious windows that let in the most amazing light. In those rooms were a mix of graffiti and antiques, again not very curated, but just super cool. I took quite a few more photos in addition to what I've shared here as the light truly was magical. And you could really see the age of the building on the walls and windows along that front side. 

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We stopped in for a coffee in the most adorable little coffee shop called CowHaus Coffee Company before deciding we had enough time left in the day to hop back in the car and run the 30 minutes over to Havana for some more poking around. A couple months ago, my girls and I did a full day trip antiquing, going from Tallahassee down to Webb's on I-75 just south of Lake City (but of course not before stopping into the buy-one-get-three-free boot shop at the same exit), Antique Emporium on I-75 just south of Gainesville, then Dixie J's on 27 in Williston off I-75 north of Ocala before heading back up to Tallahassee. They both said, "This full day of antiquing is not for wimps!" We have our usual favorite haunts in Jacksonville and Fernandina when we are home there as well. I'm so grateful that my girls inherited the love of poking through antique shops that I inherited from my Mama, Nana, and Aunt Livy. It's fun to share those things and discover our own little favorites. How about you? Have any fun antique shopping stories?      

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