Ever since the boys could understand what I was saying to them, I've taken them on a day of "adventure".
Sometimes that was a local park, or the beach, others it was to be doing something different, creative: like painting, or building something, or perhaps a science experience. Hence, adventure is something they love to do.
With them getting older, the adventures have gotten bigger, and/or more detailed. One adventure had us walking over 5 miles in a day! We were all tired, but enjoyed exploring nature that day out at Rotary Park.
We tracked animal tracks, and came home with a bag of fossils, and some great memories. Yet another had us on an all day long train ride up into the mountains of Colorado, that was amazing!
This weekend, since Sweetie was flying with his dad, the boys and I took a friend up on their suggestion to spend a day in Nashville at the flea market. We figured it would just take a couple of hours and then we would be outta there! Ha!
Many of the vendors were thrilled when we asked questions. We learned all sorts of stuff about old bicycles, record players, and the folks that used them.
There was a sweet older gentleman that showed the boys how to play a game of marbles..(a lost game it seems)! He also talked about the types of marbles and how that used to be the game everyone wanted to play at recess, and how if you had your own marbles to bring to play with you were considered a "rich" kid. With kind eyes and deep wrinkles etched into his face from years of smiling he told tales of losing marbles and the best games; the ones where he won some marbles to bring home!
This set of desks came out of an old schoolhouse that was being torn down in rural Pennsylvania. They have been sanded down and re-stained for sale today. He said these were early 1930-1940's and we could tell because there were no inkwells in the desk top.
These old lamps used to light the way for a family that lived in Boston years ago. Apparently they haven't been lit in years. However, they were so pretty and since I stayed and chatted awhile, the woman allowed me to photograph them.
The old wheelchair is early 1940's. The vendor with this jewel for sale said this was her grandmother's wheelchair and back in the day it cost $20! Her grandmother rode around in this in a Georgia rest home. Apparently her grandmother was so talented, she learned to maneuver this chair around the grounds, even for a game of croquet! She told me that a wheelchair like this one was used in the movie
The Notebook. I will have to watch that movie again to find out.
This beauty of an old cash register is a true prize. The
gentleman selling it wanted $1,500.00. Since Sweetie and I have been keeping out eyes peeled for such a gem, we have also done our homework. We know that these old National Cash registers pricing is based on condition and most of all the pattern. This one is called 'chicken scratch' or so I'm told. I haven't had time to look this up.
They had it locked up, but once I started asking questions that showed I had a sincere interest the price dropped and they showed me how it worked! Oh the drawer below the marble is pristine! I can only imagine the stories it could tell. There is a crack in the marble, mostly due to being in non-climate controlled environment. The marble top is so that the proprietor could tap the coin on it. Depending on the sound the coin made tapping on the marble determined whether or not it was fake currency.
By the time I left this vendor, I had them talked down to $500. One day if I have the money and a place to put this pretty piece of history, I will buy one!
These lanterns were a little over $50 a piece so I left them to sit there for other folks to admire! Isn't the glass pretty?
A little over 4 hours later, we emerged; tired, but excited over things we discovered and learned while we were there. We even brought home a few treasures! Since the flea market is only once a month, we are already making plans to go back.
Hatch Show Print was one of those places. 
The history in this little workshop is everywhere you look. The mixing of colors is a fine art...it takes a well trained eye for such details.
The finished product ! There were so many to look at and read. If you get an opportunity to stop by they are located in downtown Nashville at 316 Broadway, (615) 256-2805, or website: www.countrymusichalloffame.org.
