Off to Brimfield

[tedwords]

Yesterday we woke up at six thirty to get ready for the final Brimfield outing of the year. 

For those who don't live in New England, the Brimfield Antique Flea Market is the largest outdoor antique show in the United States, held along a mile-long stretch of Route 20 in Brimfield, Mass. It takes place three times a year, Tuesday through Sunday and is a huge event, with 20 separately owned show fields housing thousands of dealers. Vendors sell everything from high-end vintage furniture and fine art to quirky collectibles and rustic Americana.

It's fun. Had you asked me five years ago, I wouldn't really have had any idea what the Brimfield Fair was. Nowadays, I have the dates written down on my calendar, because I know we are going to be headed there at some point in the week. 

Not that Corb really picks up too much in the way of lighting supplies. Truth is, you aren't going to find too many steals in the way of merch: most of the vendors there price the way Corb prices, even if what they are offering involves lighting fixtures that need rewiring and cleaning. So he's better off finding his merch elsewhere, and we tend to go just for ourselves. Oh, and the 20,000 steps of walking we will invariably do, offset only by the food we will surely eat. 

I did find some good deals, myself. There is a vendor there that specializes in rare antiques and has always had at least three shelves of Oz books. This time around, we engaged in a nice long conversation with him, and I ended up spending quite a bit at his booth, including the purchase of The Book Collectors Guide to L Frank Baum and Oz, which is a beautifully laid out book that is rather rare and valuable, and he was kind enough to give me a nice discount on. Of course, I did purchase four other books from him. 

The day was absolutely lovely. It was a perfect fall New England day with the sun shining and enough clouds overhead so it wasn't too hot out. Unlike today, which is completely rainy--several of the vendors were already packing up to leave at the end of the day yesterday, to avoid the Brimfield mudfields, which are a big, sloppy mess. I can't say I blame them. 

Our traveling companions were Corb's mom, who we haven't seen since our week-long cross-country trip, and our friend Beata, who is a lovely European lady who does quite a bit of traveling throughout the year and loves antiquing. Beata and Corb's mom get along quite well, and it is nice to have someone she can walk with, as she is not a good browser and tends to look at every single item, which can be deadly at a place like Brimfield. As a result, while we walked 20,000 steps, they only did 7,000, an indication of the greater distance Corb and I were able to cover.

"Next time we should come the day before and just not tell them," said Corb as we were off adventuring the afternoon. He is completely right. We would be so much more efficient that way. 

That night, we ate at our favorite restaurant in the area, the Publick House, a historic inn built in 1791 that is nestled on acres of beautiful countryside. The place is beautifully maintained and the food is always quite good. I had a lobster pie.

And today? Just staying indoors and keeping dry. I have a rehearsal tonight so I have spent some time working on blocking and preparing. Was supposed to see my parents this afternoon but they cancelled due to the weather. 

I did have a good conversation with Pauline for a while, in between blocking. She is thinking about moving to Florida...I guess this seems to be the period in our life where these things happen, since my brother is down there too. I wouldn't want to live in Florida...my feeling is Corb and I will someday live overseas or in another country, and it's kind of nice to start dreaming those dreams. 

Comments

[gwendraith]

Brimfield Antique Flea Market is right up my street! I be in my element and would probably buy too much.

I'm way behind with reading and commentating on posts but I am still managing to read a few of your old posts. Ted! They are soooo interesting, I get riveted my them, lol

[tedwords]

It's a lot of fun! I definitely did buy too much, but the Oz reference book has already proven to be useful several times in just one week.

Thank you for saying they are riveting! I have to confess, I really enjoy taking time on Fridays to post the old entries. I do read some of them to my friends MB and Pauline, who find them very entertaining, and they have been extremely useful for my Queer Birds book. I have mentioned they exist to Steven (who I message quite frequently these days) but he has zero interest in them. Which is probably for the best!