Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Antiquing in Greenbrier Valley

My Panoply sisters and I took a little day trip together in early in March to Lewisburg, WV. Voted as the #1 Coolest Small Town in America in 2011,  Lewisburg is just nine miles from the famous Greenbrier Resort, and just two hours southeast of the capital city of Charleston, WV. Our day trip was leisurely, but getting our fill of antiquing was our mission, even if only to window shop. We started early, around 7:30am, stopped for a quick break, and hit the stores when they opened.
Window Display in Vintage Shop in Lewisburg, WV
Our first stop was Thymeworn Antiques, and upon linking to their Facebook page for this post, I was surprised to see the couple who own it are retiring and selling! George Underwood, the owner, was minding the shop the day we were there, and never mentioned a word about it. Hopefully, the new owners will keep the integrity we've come to expect of the shop.

We then mosied on to a couple other shops, Brick House Antiques and Patina. Both are fun stores. We each came away with a few goodies, and I actually practiced a little restraint. I've promised myself to whittle down my existing inventory as a 2016 goal, and I give myself a B grade for how well I did. I couldn't resist the Bordallo Pinheiro bunny tureen (below) that I found at a great price. This tureen was featured in my last post.
Another cool item I purchased was this WWI (1916) Army Corps of Engineers compass, made by Cruchon & Emons. Compasses like this one continued being made for outdoor enthusiasts by Ambercrombie & Fitch well into the 1930s. I found the pamphlet (online) that came with the original purchase of one of these instruments, printed a copy, and put it with the compass for my future reference.
The last item I purchased is new, but handcrafted by sheep farmers in WV. It's a felted soap and scrubby all in one! This mustachioed soap pictured here was fragranced with cedar & saffron, and had a great outdoorsy, masculine appeal.
I actually purchased a different one - a felted tulip - in a rose & honey fragrance. I love finding little local treasures like this!
We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant, Del Sol Cantina. It was good, and reasonably priced.

We headed home later that afternoon, but stopped at another antique mall along the way, the Beckley Antique Mall. I was pretty tired by that point (I did the driving), so I just walked the aisles and browsed. We made it home around 6pm.

It's always fun to shop around, to see other dealers' displays and impressions of what's trending, what's classic, and what's just good junk. We Panoply sisters have a good time wherever we go, and the drive time is where we talk shop, and catch up with each other's lives, a treasure in itself.

For more information on the town of Lewisburg, WV and the Greenbrier River Valley, you can check it out by clicking here.

Other than finding a really cool new pair of shoes or purse, I think antiquing and vintage picking/buying are my favorite types of shopping these days. What's your preference - shopping for new or old? Handcrafted or manufactured? Retail or yard sales? Have you been shopping lately?

Thanks for visiting. Your comments make my day.
Rita C. at Panoply

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