Antiquing in Virginia
Antiquing has become a new hobby for my husband and I and we were excited to visit the Virginia Antique markets, looking for something different from the Canadian offerings. We enjoyed visiting the different venues, from Antique Malls to Barns to Upscale Antique boutiques. Most places have the standard garage sale items and so many of them have the items that leave you saying, “oh, I had those when I was growing up”, but every once in a while there is the item that you didn’t know you were looking for but somehow you absolutely have to have. Those are my favourite finds.
Having come to a point in my life where I am decluttering, visiting Antique stores would be the last thing you would expect me to do but there is more to it than looking for a particular, special item. My husband has a hard time relaxing. The thought of sitting by a pool with a book is one of his nightmares. He relaxes by driving and doing things. Antiquing provides a destination and gives a purpose for driving. When faced with the question “What shall we do today?”, we pull out the Antiques map, available at any Antique store or Visitor centre, and choose a few Antique stores which then provides our route. Each Antique store is different. I love finding the deceptive looking Antique stores. A small building from the outside opens up into an expansive warehouse filled with hundreds of individual spaces owned by many different vendors. One such place was Bruceton Mills Antique Store in Pennsylvania. We saw a sign on the highway and decided to pull off. We pulled up in front of a small, quaint house. We would have missed it had Ms. Google Maps not told us our destination was on the left! Upon entering, we saw quaint small, wooden floor rooms with varying items for sale, crockery and toys in one room and another filled with tools. Then down the hall and around the corner was a huge warehouse filled with more treasures. Fabulous!
My favourites...
Many Antique stores are very similar but I found a couple of unique stores that I recommend and would likely return to. The first one is Upcycle Boutique in Ruckersville. We were on our way to Charlottesville and saw the Antique Mall and Upcycle at an intersection. We turned left instead of right and glad we did. We almost didn’t visit as she didn’t open until 11 and it was only 10:30 but we spent an easy 30 minutes in the Antique store next door. Upcycle is a small boutique run by the owner and consists of treasures on consignment as well as items from dealers and then a couple of special items built or finished by her husband or other friends. Loved the wine barrel furniture from DWC Barrel and Furniture Company. Ellen, the owner, was really helpful and suggested some other places to stop. One of those suggestions is also on my shortlist of favourites, The Old American Barn in Gordonsville, a few miles up the road from Ruckersville. She also suggested the great BBQ Exchange restaurant which I absolutely recommended.
The Old American Barn was another of those deceiving stores. I was underwhelmed when I first walked in but was quickly taken by surprise as I walked around the corner and found interesting hidden rooms. Then, I found some stairs that led into an unfinished stone basement full of cool stuff from another era. Absolutely loved it.
The last of my top 3 favourites of this trip was a small store in Orange. Orange is another one of Virginia’s small historic town with pre-civil war and civil war history. There is a beautiful train station right in the middle of town. Across from the train station is J.S. Mosby Antiques and Artifacts. If you are looking for military memorabilia, this is the place to stop. I became interested in the Civil War on a previous trip to Virginia and find it fascinating to view the items from that era.
A store that requires a mention is Finders Keepers in Orange. I am a huge Stephen King fan, so was quite excited to find this place. A fairly modern store that again deceives you with it’s size inside. The store goes back a fair way and there are rooms off to the side unseen from the front. Lots of big furniture pieces and worth a visit.
There are hundreds of Antique stores in Virginia. Stop in and visit a few. I promise you will find something that takes you back to your childhood. If nothing else, it reminds you why you are decluttering your house. Take your time, enjoy the drive and keep an open mind and you may just find that special item!
