I’ll save everyone the, “gee, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything,” entry. I haven’t, for obvious reasons, but really wish I had been along the way.
Well 4 months in, I’m beginning to feel a new sense of normal, with a hint of my former self remaining. Thank goodness I can wear my old clothes! But with this comfort, I feel I can explore again. We’ve taken a trip to Pennsylvania for an apple festival and one back to Texas to visit friends and family. But our spur-of-the- moment trip has proved most enjoyable.
Havre de Grace (no need trying to pronounce it with a French accent) is a quaint little port town right on Susquehanna River and head of the Chesapeake Bay. It’s about an hour drive up from Baltimore. We took the 40 instead of 95 for a more scenic route. While it turned out not to be so scenic, I’m sure it was much less stressful than that awful highway.
First thing first, we had to stop at Waffle House. I hadn’t had my fix since I left Texas and moved to Maryland. Did it taste any different not being either drunk or hungover? Nope, still gooooood. After a waffle, double hashbrowns and two cups of coffee ( I still wanted more) we moved on down to the main drag, St. Johns.
She enjoyed sucking on her socks and a bottle for brunch. Maybe next time she'll be old enough for a bit of waffle.
We parked on a side road and saddled up. I strapped toots on to me and the guys got the cameras ready (George picked out a few cameras from my Dad’s collection in hopes that some would work). Dylan took the Oylmpus Pen-EE and George took the Realist 35 Rangefinder.
We first went into this collectible toy store. It was more so a dude charging way to much for crap, so we moved on. On the drag we found Courtyard Redux Book Store, and what a treat. There are lots of old murder and sci-fi pulp books in the back. Ruby was either excited by all the books or thought it was too quite so she started squealing up a storm. It attracted the attention of the owner, Jack, who came to the back to see what all the commotion was about. Jack fell in love with Ruby, of course, and asked if she has started making “raspberry” sounds yet. Well, I don’t know what he did, but later that day she started, and it’s been non stop since! We bought a Complete Book of Grimms’ Fairy Tales and David Simon’s Homicide (we’re hooked on The Wire, go figure).
We asked Jack where we there was some good antiquing to be had and he mentioned three malls: Bayside, Seneca Cannery, and Bahoukas.
Bayside seemed like a mall that you could find a good deal at. I found an amazing red upholstered mid-century swivel chair for $60. I thought it was worth it but I had no room (maybe I need to take a lone trip soon). My find of the day was a small Get Smart tin lunch box for $5. It wasn’t vintage, but I didn’t care (picture to come soon). It was neato. There was a really good collection of Life magazines as well. George got some Havre de Grace postcards to send to his penpal group.
Our next stop was Seneca Cannery, a higher-end mall. The building space used to be, well, a cannery! The wood floors are amazing but not necessarily good when trying to put a tired baby to sleep. I found some cute sundresses but I was afraid they would be too small for Ruby next Spring/Summer. I also found a pink and black plastic records tote from the 1950′s that could store 45s. Now, I wish I bought it, but I at least should have taken a picture.
After about 2 hours, my back need a rest, so Ruby was passed off to George, who lasted about 20 minutes.
We walked back up to the car and did a quick diaper change- no explosions, thank goodness. We then walked down to the water so the boys could try out the cameras.
The last mall we went to was Bahoukas and it was by far the best. I think all of us could have spent hours in there. After I rocked Ruby to sleep I went in and rummaged through all the old toys, linens, and dinner/bar ware as best I could with one hand. One lot, run by JoRetro, was exceptionally thrilling to me.
Upstairs there is a sort of beer “museum” with rows of old cans and books of bottle caps.
The neatest thing I came across during the trip was this Devo pin. Seeing as it was in a case, I knew the seller probably knew its worth, and sure enough, he was asking $35 for it. I should ask Michael Pilmer of Devo-Obsesso the story behind these pins.
Before we headed back home, we stopped by the water one last time to try to finish up the rolls.
Turns out, that the Olympus Dylan was using works really well! He got a lot of good shots. I think it also inspired him to buy one of his own. Maybe he has a new hobby.
Strangely, the rangefinder George was using only took one photo. And it was in the very middle of the roll. Anyone know why this could be?
