Road Trip: Unpacking the Antiques

We arrived back home in Maine Sunday afternoon after an amazing month-long road trip through the Southern U.S.  We unpacked the things that had to be unpacked and then fell into bed at 7:00 p.m, exhausted from the long drive from Tennessee.

Imagine our surprise when we woke up to this.  On April 8th! This should NOT still be happening - even here in Maine. After a month of green grass and palm trees, this is a difficult adjustment!

It was fun to unpack the few antiques that I purchased "down South" though. This vintage pillow is my favorite. It was a bargain at the original price of $10.99 but was marked down to $8.00. Needless to say, I grabbed it. You can't see it in the photo. but there is vintage rick rack around the edges.

I've written quite a few blog posts about my long distance love affair with South Carolina and I have the perfect spot for this pillow. It will remind me of happy times in the low country every time I walk through the living room.

I also was lucky enough to find three Shawnee Pottery miniatures to add to my collection.

These tiny (<3")vases and pitchers were produced from 1937 through the 1940's and given away as premiums at stores and movie theaters. (Back in 2011, I wrote a post about my collection, with lots of photos, which you're welcome to revisit here.)

I can't resist these little replicas of the full size pottery pieces so popular in the 1930' and 40's.  Years ago I found the perfect wall case for them and love the touch of whimsy thy add to our kitchen.

Since we've downsized, I'm very careful not to give in to my love of old things too often these days. But, I did have to have this little oval serving dish.

When my Mom passed away in 2014, I inherited her large California Ivy platter. I love to use it because, when I do, it brings back happy memories of Mom serving meals on it when I was a child in the 1950's . The little oval platter I found on this trip will be a good compliment for the larger platter.

The Poppy Trail California Ivy pattern was introduced in 1946, the year my parents were married, and remained in production until 1984. I was excited to find another piece and at $4.50, it was a good
buy.

There were gorgeous old tobacco baskets at so many of the antique shops we visited down South. These were on the porch of an antique shop in Wears Valley Tennessee.  I love them and wished I could have thought of an excuse to buy them all!

But I bought a HUGE one when we were in South Carolina last year. You can read the story of how I finally got my tobacco basket to Maine here.

As you can see, I really don't have the wall space for two of them. It still killed me to leave such gorgeously aged ones back on that old porch in Tennessee though.

Here are a few of the antique shops we stopped at on our road trip. Especially in Tennessee, they were everywhere.

Here in Maine, many of our antique shops have closed so I was in my glory with so many to stop at.

I loved all of the 1930's green kitchen appliances and cookware displayed in this "kitchen".

And I especially loved antiquing in sunny 70 degree weather!

All of the flowering bushes were in bloom in the states we visited.

And now it's back to this . . . UGH!

It's way past time for winter to go away for good.

Until it does, I'll just have to close my eyes and pretend I'm back down South!

This post is linked to:

Homestyle Gathering #13 at Serving Up Southern

Flaunt It Friday #443 at Chic on a Shoestring

Farmhouse Friday 101 at The Painted Hinge

Road Trip: The Low Country

After three days in the camper with some kind of food poisoning, DH and I finally emerged yesterday, ready to enjoy the time we have left in the low country. We're staying in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, just over the bridge from Charleston.

NOTE:  If you've ever watched "Naked and Afraid" on the Discovery Channel (a very strange show BTW), we could have starred in our own episode entitled, "Naked and Afraid in a Tiny Camper". But, we're better now and have been trying to make up for lost time.

Yesterday afternoon we visited Oakland Plantation here in Mt. Pleasant, SC. The land that our canpground sits on was once part of the plantation and, although the plantation is not open to the public, the owners do allow a tour guide from the campground to take campers through the plantation on a wagon.

Our wagon driver/tour guide was quite a character; at each wagon stop he'd tell a joke. He did not have a Southern accent either.  His was the Yorkshire accent of Northern England. DH and I spent time in Yorkshire in 2017 and that, along with the fact that my grandmother had the very same accent, made it easily recognizable. Our driver has lived in SC for 40 years after spending his youth in the UK. 

As we drove, he told the story of the enslaved young man who planted these trees; look how beautiful they are now!

The Oakland house, dating from 1750, is the oldest house in Mt Pleasant. Although it's smaller than many plantation houses, it is unique in that it is one of the few plantation houses that survived the civil war. Most were burned. Six slave families were living in this house toward the end of the war and, for that reason, the building was spared.

We passed the slave graveyard on the way out. Only a few of the graves have stone markers. Our guide noted that the rest were marked with either a shell or, more commonly, a cup, bowl, or plate that the deceased enslaved person used at his or her last meal. This practice can be traced back to Africa, where a wide variety of items used by the dead individual were placed on a grave. The area is now fenced off out of respect for the people interred there.

After our carriage ride, we finally made it to Red's Ice House, our favorite annual stop for shrimp, Margaritas, dolphin watching (and people watching!), and sunsets.

Red's is in the part of Mt. Pleasant known as Shem Creek, where a large fleet of shrimp boats are moored. We love to eat outside on the deck where you can see the creek and enjoy the dolphins and the sunset.


Dogs are allowed and the locals bring them to the bar with them. The dogs sit there patiently, in an odd variety of dogginess, as their masters share stories about them over a cold one.

We always order the "Killer Shrimp" - very spicy! They're served with french bread for dipping. This time we tried crab cakes as well; they were delicious. And of, course, Margaritas!

Today is our last day here in Mt. Pleasant. The weather continues to be perfect, sunny and in the low 70's. We decided to take an afternoon ride to Georgetown, SC, which is north of here, about halfway between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. It's the third oldest city in South Carolina. In her recent autobiography, Michelle Obama traced her roots to Jim Robinson, an enslaved man from Georgetown plantation; he was her great-great grandfather.

We stopped for lunch at the Big Fish (Big Tuna). 

We ate here a few years ago and really enjoyed the seafood . . . 

 and laid back low-country atmosphere.

Right inside the door, they have a parrot.

And he talks!

Because my sister insists that DH looks like Jimmy Buffet, I had to take a picture of him with the parrot. She's always kidding him that he aka Jimmy needs one, so, Joanne, this one's for you!

I ordered the She Crab Soup. It's a local Charleston favorite - hot, creamy, and delicious! The soup is named for the She-Crab, or female crab, as the orange crab roe is an ingredient in traditional she-crab soup. In case you'd like to try it, here's a local  recipe for She Crab Soup.

Tomorrow morning we're heading for Tennessee. We'll miss South Carolina with its live oaks, 

Palmettos, gorgeous islands and beaches, sunsets and seafood. 

Hopefully we'll be back next year!

Road Trip: Mt. PLeasant, SC

We're resting at camp today after yesterday's 435 mile drive from Tampa to Charleston.

Just outside of Orlando, we hit a traffic jam and soon realized why: a series of hot air balloons had just taken off and were passing over the highway in the early morning light.

DH had awakened with some kind of stomach flu so I did the driving - about 8 hours of it.  We were really happy to finally get to to South Carolina. We're staying at a KOA Campground in Mt. Pleasant, just over the Ravenel bridge from Charleston.

Our campground is on part of the original site of the historic Oakland Plantation. The plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and includes the main plantation house, kitchen, dairy, smokehouse, family cemetery, and slave cemetery. Some of the plantation's acreage is preserved while a number of acres have been sold for commercial use - the campground and a shopping center. Unfortunately, Oakland Plantation is not open to the public.

Later, we had a light supper at the Boone Hall Farms Market & Cafe, which is very close to our campground.

The food here is fresh, local, and delicious. Much of it is grown right across Rt. 17 at the still-under-production, Boone Hall Plantation.

The cakes are homemade and huge. We passed on dessert tonight (in deference to DH's still-unsettled tummy) but  hope to come back for cake and coffee some afternoon before we leave Mt. Pleasant.

If you don't eat at the cafe, you can just come to Boone Hall Farm to shop in the Farm Market. All of the produce at the market is grown locally, The market also carries every kind of Southern food product imaginable. Like Grits . . .  

Fresh-picked strawberries (they're in season now in South Carolina ). . . 

And deep-fried peanuts that you eat shell and all.

(Believe it or not, they're delicious!)

The market also carries a small selection of local crafts, like these Mt. Pleasant sweet grass baskets.

Tomorrow we hope that DH is feeling better so that we can explore the area and do some antiquing.

Can't wait!

This post is linked to:

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop at Eclectic Red Barn

Keep in Touch #61 at Let's Add Sprinkles