A Shop Seminole Heights Friday

Since one of our favorite stores in Duane's neighborhood, Seminole Heights, just moved into a nicer and larger location, we decided to visit that store along with some others and have lunch, too.  Our buddy, David, just moved his store A Modern Line into a building just behind his wife Sherry's shop, YesterDaze.

The new place has a lot more room inside and there were many vignettes of furniture/decor groupings.  The place looks great and, as always, there are fantastic mid-century items of all types for purchase.  You can also put items on consignment in the shop.

We also headed to the Bali Bay Trading Company where I purchased a white and silver bead cuff bracelet and a long white shell and mirror windchime.  The windchime (pictured laying on a desk) will be hanging in a corner of our guest room.  It should look great against the spring green walls.  Linda also purchased a beautiful thin cotton scarf in white, green and turquoise.

After that we headed to a new store that we hadn't visited yet  -- Vintage Post Marketplace.  It's directly across the street from YesterDaze and A Modern Line.  This place was unbelievably huge.  We knew it was large judging from the outside but had no idea the building sprawled back so far.  They carry a little bit of everything in the line of jewelry, decor, furniture, some clothing.  Duane scored a bulb pot for her Delft collection.  This store consists of new items and older and vintage items for sale and on consignment.  They also feature the work of local artists.  This was our first visit but we'll definitely be going back.

Then we headed to another favorite destination, D & D Antiques and More, where Duane put a table on layaway and Linda purchased a set of beautiful Noritake dessert plates.

After this we were starving, so we headed to Nicko's Diner.  We were so hungry, I felt like a pig at a trough.  (Shameful to admit.)  After stuffing ourselves, we went back to Duane's and went our separate ways.  Till next time...

Duane's Delft bulb pot.

My windchime and bracelet.

Linda's scarf and Noritake plates.

Shopping in a small 'Old Florida' town

We've found that Fridays are the best day of the week to hit small towns when we want to go antiquing, etc.  We hit Dunedin a few weeks ago and decided to try a very different small town yesterday.  Dade City is north of Tampa and is what I think of as more 'Old Florida.'  Partly because they're are a lot of older people who live there and have probably lived there since they were born.  You don't see much in the way of funky art shops like you do in Dunedin or parts of Tampa, St. Pete and Sarasota.  Dade City has antique shops, good food and that small town 'everyone knows everyone else' ambiance.

Dade City -- home of the Pasco County Courthouse.

We discovered after doing a bit of shopping and then hitting a neat little local place called the Perks Cafe for a late morning snack that there are a lot of 'regulars' who frequent the eating places and shops.  Perks had delicious snacks (they also serve lunch) and I was able to get my iced coffee fix while Duane and Linda had their Chai Tea.  Duane and I each had a slice of delicious homemade banana pudding cake and Linda had a banana muffin.  Good stuff!  We highly recommend Perks to anyone visiting or passing through Dade City.  Like every store and eatery we visited, the people working there were very friendly and somehow knew that we weren't from Dade City.  Hmm... I wonder what gave us away?

Pretty shops with cool architecture.

We did discover when we resumed shopping after our late morning snack that we'd better hurry if we wanted to make it in time for lunch at any of the locally owned places.  Many of them close as early as 2pm.  One of the shop owners suggested an eatery called A Matter of Taste.  That's where we had lunch --- we made it before their 2:30 closing time -- and it was wonderful.  Neat atmosphere with '50's music playing and photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Bogart and other old time celebs on the walls.  I ordered a fried green tomato and bacon sandwich.  Boy, was it good.  Linda had fish tacos and Duane ordered a sandwich called the Marlin.  The portions were very generous and we left there feeling pretty full.

All three of us also purchased items from the various shops, too, so that's always nice when we all manage to find at least one treasure.  I bought a Wallace Nutting signed print, Duane found a nice piece for her Delft collection, and Linda and I both bought vintage children's books.  I plan to record my purchase for Audible so it's in my TBR (to be recorded) pile.

A Matter of Taste cafe.  (Yellow building.)

More shops.  The daily thunderstorms had come through...

Our last stop -- where Duane found her Delft piece.

We had a great day and were ready to head for home around 3:30.  Some of the shops had closed and others would only be open until around 4pm.  I did notice that at least one of the local eateries re-opened from 5-8pm for dinner.  After that, we had the distinct impression that the sidewalks would be rolled up in preparation for the next day.  Good thing we didn't go any later than we did.  A nice little town in which to shop and spend the day.

Our purchases.

Pre-Christmas Estate Sale -- Status: FAB!

As usual, the really good estate sales seem to take place in Duane's part of town or at least in one of the surrounding neighborhoods.  Linda couldn't join us today since she's just returned to work after being out of town so Duane and I set out on our own.  This sale took place in another one of those deceptively small looking houses that, in reality, meander much further back and are much larger than they appear from the front.  There was a lot of stuff and it was good quality.  Duane overheard the woman holding the sale (not the owner of the house) say that the owners took what they wanted from their house (must have just been mainly their clothes) and left the state to live in North Carolina.  Yesterday.  They sure left a lot of nice things behind.  We think at least one of the owners taught at the university, possibly in the theater department, judging by the books that were left behind.  Lots of beautiful glassware and, boy, did I wish I had been looking for furniture.  There were so many nice pieces and they were fairly priced. 

Needless to say, neither of us left empty-handed.  Duane found quite a few CDs and a beautiful piece of Delft china that was not in the usual blue and white color scheme. 

I was able to feed my enamel addiction with two cooking/serving dishes made in  Yugoslavia, the larger one is yellow enamel and the smaller one is blue.  I also found a signed print that I was drawn to and continued to stare at so I bought it.  It's a monoprint by an artist named Vladimir Strutinsky.  I was only able to find out a little bit about him on the Internet.  But, that's fine since I did the usual -- I bought it because I liked it.  For now, I think I'm going to hang it in the newly decorated guest room.  I also found two beautiful English silk pocket squares in fantastic condition along with an old rosary attached to some beads on twine.  I may pass this along to a friend who's Catholic.

 

After this score, Duane and I headed to Starbucks for a light snack and some 'talk' time.   Whoever the owners of this house were, they had great taste and we thank them for leaving their 'leftovers' for us.