Weekend Road Adventure To Canton

Who doesn’t love a good road trip or new adventures? Ok well maybe one or two of you might not but the free spirit that I am definitely enjoys exploring new territories and going on new adventures.

Get comfy and come along on my most recent adventure….

When hubby mentioned he wanted us to escape for a few days for our anniversary and to find something for us to do, I was all over it!

Yes, I just celebrated another anniversary with my sweet husband.

The 34th to be exact. Add two years I made him wait to marry me we’ve logged 36 years.

We’ve had lots of adventures in those years, some big, some small but always enjoyable because we’re together doing them.

Time to get on the road…

of course the dilemma was, where to? to do what? Obviously we had a certain amount of days we were working with so I had to keep that in mind as I began exploring options.

I had brought a few things to the table and I got a message back that said….

“Why not search up something like quaint towns with antiques or something?”

Well that got me. If you’ve followed  me you know I’ve got a thing for old antique/vintage furniture and making it look pretty and usable again. The uglier, crustier and awful looking, the better.

You can see a few of my flips on my Monday Musings posts here ( btw Monday Musings will return next week )

Monday Musings

Monday Musings

It didn’t take long to find what I was looking for.  I had to laugh as it was something I saw years ago and actually forgotten about.

In the East Texas town of Canton they boast the biggest, most long running flea market in the country. With well over 6.000 vendors and acres of ground to cover there is something there for everyone.

 

 

I messaged him that I had a potential destination in mind and he was agreeable so I set the wheels in motion to make it happen.

One thing about this event is that hotels book up and sell out months in advance in Canton which will bump many people to neighboring nearby towns, as if did us. ( Now I know. I know if we go again I need to book our room a long way out)

This wasn’t really bad though as we got to explore another small town we otherwise might not have ever seen. Our hotel was strangely big, modern and well kept in this otherwise sleepy town called Mineola.

 

Soon the date approached for our trip. I’ll tell you this. As the one who runs the home and organizes everything, gets things ready for the trip and leaves things ready to leave etc

It requires the skill and organization of a military commander.

By the time everything was loaded, last minute notes left for kids, dogs fed, bags packed,  I was ready to just settle in and start unwinding … ready to enjoy our time away.

I guess hubby thought I was gonna find a lot of cool stuff to drag home ’cause he thought renting a truck might be a good idea.

He was right. And it was a good idea 😉

He always has good ideas.

Adventures into Canton..

Have you ever been to Disneyworld? You know how you’re never quite sure where to start, what to see or where to go first? How it’s complete sensory overload?

Seriously, this is what it was like.

The sounds. The smells. The sights.

Given I was out looking for good deals on old furniture or other items I could creatively flip and give new life to I knew there were certain areas I wanted to hit hard and fast first.

It had rained on us all the way there Friday and when we arrived many of the vendors were closed, but we found quite a few still open. It definitely gave us a chance to explore the grounds and plot our strategy for the next day which would be a full day out there.

 

I was like a kid in a candy store with some booths. Other stuff, I didn’t really care about so it was easy to by pass certain areas… when you know you only have a certain amount of time you get really focused on what you want to see.

As mentioned earlier, the grounds are vast, with many huge warehouses full of vendors as well as hundreds of outside vendors.

Scooters are available to rent.

I’m just not sure what to say about that. Like… if you need a scooter, by all means.

But the totally able bodied people on them munching foot long corndogs as they sped by? … well..  ha I’m thinking… just walk it’s good for you! In some places it was like a scooter parade, you had to dodge them and people pulling wagons and dragging things behind them.

Some areas were crazy and required a level of skill to not get highly annoyed.

Hubby and I? Were tough old birds, I guess. We’d get enough stuff till we couldn’t carry anymore and make a run back to unload at truck. Which finding it in the beginning was like a rat being in a maze.

I’m telling you. If there was ever a time I was glad of my physical fitness, this event made me more so.  On one trip I was carrying this solid wood side table, my purse, drink and a few other items as we attempted to navigate our way back through all the many buildings, finally out to the parking area, and then all the way out to where we parked.

Seriously, I logged about 17,000 steps that day.

I wouldn’t have gotten that on a scooter 😉

Not only were there items that ranged from pets, to plants, to antiques, to old collectibles and everything in between that, the food was plentiful and abundant.

Just think carnival food. Grease. Sweets. You name it.

I didn’t see a whole lot of anything for the health conscious out there. In fact, we decided we had to try these potato things after the zillionth person roamed by with them. One huge potato turned into something like a French fry/ potato chip…  just look at it’s lovely greasy, crispiness 🙂

What goodies did I find?

Well, I didn’t find as much furniture as I was hoping, Most were offering pieces at retail prices and more than I wanted to spend on pieces I flip. Lots of furniture had been “re-done” …. turquoise… why??

I did however find a lot of cute things that fit my budget and will transform pretty well I think…

 

 

 

 

 

I found lots of cool things that will keep me busy for quite awhile. I think it’s definitely a place I’d enjoy doing again and much like Disney, once you go you then learn a few tips and tricks for the next time to make it easier and you know where you want to go first.

Now about the town we stayed in….

Mineola is a small quiet town about 30 minutes from Canton. After dinner on Saturday evening we walked around and just looked at some of its old history…

But dinner first… we ate at the local hamburger place and they served a variety of home style food. It’s the kind of place you’re fairly sure the carpet and fixtures are original from …forever ago… when they opened. Old.  We ate there both nights we liked it so much…and they had fried pies… huge fried pies…

 

 

 

 

I should say here… my husband deserves an award at times. When I’m whipping open my camera to snap a pic of something apparently random,  I get the blank look to which I reply…

“I’m a blogger remember? Photos go hand in hand with what I do” to which he patiently waits while I take pics of weird things or pose with plastic looking men in front of our restaurant haha or make him take pictures with huge metal chickens ( which to humor him I won’t post) I just constantly see things around me to use so you all don’t get bored with nothing but words and more words 😉

My mind is always looking to capture cool things to add to my writing…like this….

 

 

 

 

Oh speaking of magnolias… I’ve never seen a tree as massive as the one by this church.

In ways of things that make me laugh…..

this sign was on the door of a store. I guess given it’s an area where people are on the prowl for antique stuff, they must’ve had enough of people trampling in on the hunt for some and decided a nice sign on the door would ward off potential antique hunters haha

A little known thing about me….

Of all jewelry, I have a thing for bracelets. Big, strong, bold ones usually. We stopped in a little coffee shop Saturday night and they had a display with all kinds of cool ones, this one though, I immediately loved. The girl was unsure of prices and started off saying the lady who “hand made them only used antique fabrics…” made me feel like it was going to be more than I wanted to pay… she made a call and then informed me it was 10.00.

Wow.

Guess what I have now ? 😉

 

 

 

 

Time flies when you’re having fun….

 

All to soon our adventures were over and it was time to make our way home with all the treasures. Not only was it fun finding things and knowing they have new potential. the time with the one I love can’t be measured. Stepping away from “real” life allows us to just hang out, without agendas, without anyone needing us for something, without dealing with all the things that tend to go on when you’re on your home turf.

We made a commitment to plan more frequent weekend road trips, for no special occasion other than escaping and really getting to hang out together.

I can hardly wait to plan our next one.

Tell me… have you been on any new or fun adventures recently? Do you like road trips or exploring off the beaten path places?