Hi-ya! So Saturdays call for adventures, wouldn't you say? Outings with the family or road trips to parts unknown, hunting for treasures in antique stores or eating something delicious at a place you can't go to just any old day of the week. Yes, Saturdays should be reserved for fun, at least once in awhile. ;)
This Saturday, I thought I'd tell you about our adventures from last Saturday. It was Mother's Day weekend so we road tripped to see Bart's mama....we picked her up and headed to a teeny-tiny town called Barnes, Kansas, population 140. People. 140 people. Haha. We've been there several times before....this post has lots more pictures. The main street in Barnes looks like it hasn't changed much in the last 100 years or so....it looks like about the only change happened back when they removed the hitching posts and paved the street! Ha!
We go to Barnes, Kansas because there's a cute little restaurant and bakery that Bart's mom loves and I must admit I'm secretly a little smitten with it myself. Mostly, because it's housed in a building that was originally built in 1906 and still has the original tin ceiling in the dining room. Have I ever told you how much I love original, antique tin ceilings? :) That's a picture of it up above.
The restaurant also has a door handle that's over 100 years old (just like the rest of the building) and has a sign next to it that says to push really hard, the handle's over 100 years old and is a little stubborn! Haha.
I looove the teensy-weensy post office in Barnes. I'm guessing that, unlike the post offices where I live, this one does NOT come with a 30 minute wait in line! I want this to be my post office! lol.
After lunch, we always, always have to head across the street to the antique store, Barnes Mercantile. It's been called Barnes Mercantile since it was built in 1895!! 1895!! How crazy is that?! Turns out though, that this year there were a few changes at Barnes Mercantile. Firstly was this manure spreader parked out on the sidewalk.
The second change was this little man below.....he greeted us right when we walked in the front door!
Handsome little fellow, isn't he? There were obvious changes inside too, in how things were arranged and such. Plus, the loveliest girl was waiting right inside the door and after greeting us warmly, I couldn't help but ask her about some of the changes I was already noticing. Turns out, this girl and her husband have bought the Barnes Mercantile since we were there last year. She smiled and lit up as she told me all about their plans for the building, showed me pictures hanging on the walls, of the building when it was first built, as well as the family that originally owned it. I told her that when we were there last year, the older lady that owned the building told us all about the track on the ceiling that runs from the back door to the freezer. The track was there so that back in the day, they could bring in huge hunks of meat, could hook it on the track and slide the meat thru the store and right into the walk-in freezer. She even opened the old freezer door and let us peek inside. I was thrilled with that bit of history about the store last year but that was NOTHIN' on what I learned about the building this year!!
The new owner told me that there is actually an OPERA HOUSE on the second floor of the Barnes, Mercantile!! An opera house, for pete's sake! In fact, she said that she wished her husband was there (he was away in a neighboring town, at the moment) because he'd be happy to take us upstairs to see the opera house any time!!!!! How nice was that?! (She was in a wheel chair and couldn't take us up herself.) She said the upstairs is in pretty bad shape at the moment, but they're hoping to get the building added to the national registry of historical buildings at some point, so they can get some funding to help fix it up. But she said there are two rooms in the front part of the upstairs and one big 'theater' room in the back half of the second floor, complete with a stage in one end of the room. They'd brought downstairs, the original wooden seating chart....they have it hanging on the wall when you walk in the store. It has 3 sections of seat numbers with small drilled holes under each seat number and then tiny little pegs to put in the holes as the seats were filled. Sooo cool.
It was SO nice to meet a young person with such a passion for the history of that building, a building that I've loved for several years now. I'm thrilled that she and her husband have bought the place and wish them well in keeping it up and running. They're actually making it more of a 'mercantile' in one side of the store, selling groceries and such, while the other half of the store is still selling antiques.
So after wandering thru the store and daydreaming about seeing the opera house upstairs, and about what it must have been like to go to a show in the opera house, back in the early 1900's......we finally made a few purchases and headed across the street to another antique store, also new since we were there last. I took the picture of the printers cabinet above, just because it's so beautiful. Just look at that hardware! The upper portion of the cabinet was in pretty bad shape and was missing some drawers, but I still thought this part of it was so gorgeous.
Want a peek at some of the treasures that DID come home with us?
If you've been reading this blog for very long, then you may have seen my collection of antiqe pink ornaments. I used to get them out only at Christmas time until I finally realized that seeing these gems makes me so happy, it's a cryin' shame to put them away for most of the year. That was when I decided to keep them out, in apothecary jars, in the studio so I can look at them all year long.
I was thrilled to find two more boxes of pink beauties to add to my collection.....and for only $4.95 a box! I also snagged two kitschy Santa mugs that make me smile.
A vintage table cloth, an antique drawer and a new McCoy vase to add to our collection of McCoy pottery.....
A stack of books, chosen solely for their book cover colors -- perfect for props in photos. :)
Ahh....the new McCoy is already right at home in the dining room....
And the drawer has already been put to good use in the studio, housing Mister Huey's spray mists. Though don't be fooled by this picture....a new collection of colors have already been added to this stash, so this drawer is now full to capacity and I'm wishing I'd bought the other one that was there with this one! Ha.
All in all, it was a really great Saturday.....filled with family, long chats in the car, good down-home style food, and the thrill of the hunt at a couple of antique stores. I loved it.
Had any good Saturday adventures yourself lately?
