2013 Anniversary Antiques: Day 1

The wife and I shared our third anniversary together over the weekend.  We always try to plan a little trip in order to break up the day-to-day schedule of our lives.  This year we decided to go to Kansas to find an antique shop the wife has read about on a blog.  So, we planned some stops and headed that way.

The first stop was the shop we went to the middle of nowhere to find called Bearly Makin-It Antiques. This shop is placed in the downtown of Marion, Kansas.  There is the main shop and a second area six or so blocks away from the main shop called the Alfalfa Mill.  American Pickers (we don't have cable so we don't know much about the show) went to the Alfalfa Mill for the show.  

So, we stopped at the main shop in the little downtown, and we were surprised at the organization of the place.  There is a lot of stuff, but you will find it organized well.  Salt and pepper shakers, on the wall all together.  Glasses, on a different wall all together.  Toys, tools, quilts, all in separate locations but together with each kind of item.  The place was cluttered but the organization helped it from being overwhelming.  Also, the prices were spot-on.  If you find something you liked, you are going to buy it because of the amazing price.  The wife found a small blue bottle and bought it.  That's all we found at the main shop.

Central Park Antiques was down the street from Bearly Makin-It Antiques, across from the park.  This is a smaller shop with several rooms to explore.  It is a mix of the old and new.  I felt that it was more geared towards the female shopper, but it was still fun to see what they had.

Then it was off to the Old Alfalfa Mill.  We really did not know what to expect on this, but we had high hopes for something.  When we pulled in, we were greeted by rows of junk.  They have placed sheeting in the grass and piled stuff on the sheeting.  The same organization from the store is present here as well.  There are wagon wheels, wash tubs, wire baskets, bicycles, and so much more.  There are two buildings with stuff in them.  One building has architectural salvage in it.  The other building had boxes of stuff in it and funiture.  You would have to literally dig to find something.  I was not feeling adventurous enough to start throwing boxes, so we let them be.  We did find some stuff to buy, and the guy was willing to bargain.

The wife found an old watering can.

She also found an old wire basket that she is going to use for a gift.

I found an old military gas can that I have eyed every time I see one, but this one was priced to sell.

I also found a wire bicycle basket for my bicycle.

We were hungry and ate in town.  When we first came into town, there was a sign that said "Marion: Rhino Capital of Kansas."  I was hoping for someone owning a rhino farm, but I was informed that it was because they had rhino statues that were sold as a fund raiser for the town.  While we were in town, we saw several of these little guys!

After lunch, we went up the hill and found TC's What Not Shop.  When we walked in, I noticed the wooden signs and homemade jewelry.  I was disappointed but decided to continue.  TC's is a long shop.  There is the option to go to the left into a large room or go to the right which leads down a hall with several smaller rooms on each side.  We went left first, and TC's was redeemed.  There are kitchen antiques, books, and a several other items in this room.  The prices were really fair, and it was a lot of fun stuff.  The rooms on the left are hit and miss, but you really never know what you might find.  I found some items that I passed on buying.  I can't spend all of my money in the first day.  The hallway opens up at the end to several other rooms.  One room is crystal.  We did not buy anything here, but we did have a lot of fun looking.

We left Marion and headed towards Wichita.  We had a hotel room in Wichita, and we had seen several shops that looked like they would be fun to explore.

The first shop we found was Paramount East Antique Mall.  The shop is technically in Augusta, and there is a sister shop in Wichita.  The shop is very large with a lot of items.  The shop has a good variety since they use booths.  The best part is the "Last Blast" corner, a small corner in the second room with discounted merchandise.  The wife found an outdoor chair set with a small table in this section for a steal of a deal!

We then went to 2 Attics Antique Mall and Estate Liquidations.  The shop has some outdoor items (items perfect for a junker).  The store is separated into two sections.  There is the main section and a section down some stairs to the left.  There is a huge variety of items, and it does have an attic feeling to it.  However, that feeling can usually mean some awesome bargains.  The wife found a little bucket.

She also found a cake plate for half of the price usually seen in antique stores.

We had the intentions of finding one more shop before going to the hotel, but we ran into some trouble.

So, the rest of our time was spent running around the city, trying to find some adhesive to fix the issue.  We finally found some and made it to our hotel.  We fixed the mirror and turned in for the evening.  However, we were going to get up early to hit some other locations.