Category: Stores

The Berkshire Emporium – Antiques & Snack Bar – North Adams

I rarely need reason to go back to the Berkshires, a gorgeous portion of New England that I have scarcely gotten a chance to poke at (mostly because it’s so damn hard to get to.) No worries the four-hour drive was still worth it, well worth it!

We started at the Berkshire Emporium, our plotted out starting point. From the descriptions online it looked big which is always a plus when you are making a day of it. And I have to say getting there was just as much of an adventure. The scenery was out of this world as we drove a grumpy Prius through the mountains!

When we eventually got to the cute little town of North Adams we found the Berkshire Emporium without any troubles in part due to their greeter – who happened to be a velociraptor standing in front of a basket of props you could put in its mouth, or in its talons, or the top of its head if you wished. Just inside the door there was a little mini bakery cafe which was decorated with lots more dinosaurs, some were featured in portraits done by a local artist! There were also cookies. Big ones. I nearly fell to temptation but beyond that delicious distraction was the antique store…

Of course the emporium was another winding maze of absolutely random things. One of the first things we came across was Bigfoot in all his glory. Or rather a costume of Bigfoot chilling in a big room with The Bumble…. which I’ve been calling the Abominable Snowman for like… 38 years… my bad. The next room to them had all kinds of cool instruments and an old off-key music box which played Farmer in the Dell in the same way a horror movie might. In fact this place seemed wonderful inspiration for such a venture as I also found the creepiest box of antiquated plushies, some Halloween memorabilia, a flying monkey, and a number of disquieting art pieces made from melted sneakers poured over manikins and clothes. Quirky.

We had a lot of fun at this place but it wasn’t quite as big as we’d anticipated and we didn’t spend too terribly long, though we did take a moment to give the velociraptor a fish. It only seemed right. From here we’d do some ambling to see what other trouble we could get ourselves into.

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The Red Lion Inn (restaurant) – Stockbridge Massachusetts

To be honest we would have eaten at Alice’s restaurant if it was open that day (because I’m that big of a nerd) but just down the street there was a brooding inn with gift shop and food and it was just about to open to hungry diners. We were told we could wander the lobby for half an hour while we waited.

This place was… something else. We were immediately greeted by the newest staff – one of two hotel cats, who seemed bewildered at the amount of attention it was getting. It’ll settle in, I am sure. Beyond that there was this crazy metal cage elevator that I couldn’t help but think was haunted. The “lobby” was a set of rooms in a Byzantine maze set up with a series of quirky antique chairs. Beyond that there was a gift shop that was small but entertained us for way too long. It had 1950’s styled colored small appliances, expensive candles, some soft plushies, a nice selection of cookbooks, and apparently the rape whistle to end all rape whistles which came in a moderately decorated box saying, “Your mama will want you to have it!” Apparently, it was less of a whistle and more of a pocket-sized flashing siren. Weird choice of a gift shop item… everything else seemed normal!

Just outside the gift shop there was a chessboard set up next to the most anguished looking rocking horse (unicorn?) I have ever seen in my life. Though I took several photos during this visit it was only the rocking horse who came out. Haunted? Maybe. A patron asked if I was allowed to take photos of the rocking horse, staff assured him I could. Not like anyone was on it??

Anyway, when the clock finally timed out and they started letting dinner patrons in we meandered to the dining rooms. One was a proper dinner restaurant with duck on the menu. The other was a little mini pub with bar food. None of us had planned for this so we went with the cheaper option. I had the fish and chips which was… odd! I expected it to be beer battered like fish and chips normally are but no, it came out in breadcrumbs like a piece of chicken?? It wasn’t bad, it was just different. And I was unable to peel the batter off as I would have been able to do with a beer battered fish (because I’m weird and don’t really like the batter, just the fish.) The chips were also good. My companions were also happy with their options, a smash burger, some “spicy” carrot soup, and something I can’t remember. The only complaint we really had was the fact we were some of the first patrons of the day in a not-very busy setting and it still took us almost an hour to get served. But you know… the ambiance was worth it in this preposterously old building with original wood floors (square nails still visible keeping them down!) Decorations were odd and there was even a stain glass window. Again, all my pix came out blurred to the point of not being able to recognize anything in them despite having worked the rest of the day. Maybe the ghosts like their privacy.

Anyway… I do think this place was well worth a good poke. I do wonder what the rooms in the inn look like!

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Williams & Sons Country Store – Stockbridge Massachusetts

After the cemetery we decided to check out the center of town to see what was there. To my absolute joy we ended up parking directly in front of what used to be Alice’s Restaurant back in the day, you know, the Alice’s Restaurant the song was named after? DELIGHTED, I tell you! But it wasn’t open so we continued ambling down the street and the first thing we saw after Alice’s was this country store.

This place is part old timey general store and part weird hippie niche shop and I loved every second of it! There were TONS of old candies to chose from as we entered. They even had candy cigarettes which I haven’t seen in a dog’s age and Sugar Daddies! The only candy I really remember growing up as my mother never bought us candy except when I had a tooth that was way too loose that I refused to pop out. Then she’d diabolically feed me a sugar daddy in the hopes I’d get the ill begotten tooth stuck in that sticky sugary mess and rip it clean out of my head. Twas more pleasant than my brother’s suggestion of tying the tooth to a door handle and slamming it. Brothers!

Anyway, beyond the usual general store items there was a lot of novelty things – rag dolls of various famous personalities – Michelle Obama, Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Rosie the Riveter, Ghandi. And then there were novelty games and trinkets and bizarrely a whole wall of what looked like Catholic candles but instead of saints they had even more random actual people on them. Ruth Bader Ginsberg merch was strong here but there was also an Edgar Allen Poe saint candle? Sure, sure, for the Goths and raven lovers, I get it. And then of course there were a bunch of Normal Rockwell books which is what the town is famous for…

This place was such a happy jaunt. It is the perfect summer vacation shop with just the right amount of weird mixed in. And the shop keep was lovely and talkative! Definitely check this place out if you are looking for some nostalgic candies, random general store goods, or a chuckle.

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A’s Aquatics and Pet Store – North Kingston RI

I had tried earlier on in the morning to check out Moonstone Beach to see if I could find some cool rocks for my fish tank but as I drove up I found the road and probably parking lot beyond flooded. Well… since I’m in the area anyway let’s see if I can find some other destination to spoil my fish. And boy did I find it!

From the outside it looked like just another plaza pet store so I wasn’t holding my breath for anything special. However, when I walked in I was greeted immediately with a very long wall of well stocked healthy fish of all kinds. And plants! Sure, the plants were mostly the super common beginners plants but my God were they cheap and healthy looking. $3.99 a bundle. I had been routinely paying $12 for bundles half the size. And these extremely reasonable prices seemed to extend to the fish. $6 for a rummy nose tetra and there was a whole tank of them. Having lost two batches of those, one to ick, one to a power outage, I had to talk myself down from buying more on that specific day (though I will very likely be back some day before going home to NH the same day!)

I looked around the rest of the store and found a small critter section. There I found the biggest zebra finches I’ve seen in my life, almost as big as the budgies they were housed next to! The feeder section also had enormous crickets, just huge. No idea what they were feeding them but wow! They were almost as big as the also exceptionally low priced (70 cents a head) dubia roaches.

Beyond that was a small quiet reptile section with two boas, a few empty enclosures, and an adorable fuzzy tarantula chilling in a nice actual enclosure, not a tub like you usually see! I must say the fact pet shops are starting to take an active part in helping people buy appropriately sized enclosures is really refreshing to see!

I was also happy to see this place had a tank full of live brine shrimp as a food option for the fish. I really suck at raising these myself so I was intrigued by finding a fresh supply. They also had a small saltwater section with a 40-something dollar Picasso clown fish I would have totally wanted if I had a saltwater set up. Gorgeous. Their coral frags were $20 a piece but larger than you’d usually find in that price range. Dare I say their goldfish section was also really decent and had some very pretty ones – which I don’t normally say as I’m not the biggest goldfish fan.

I decided to buy a couple plants and a couple packages of frozen food. This is the first time I tried buying anything with spirulina mixed in so I wasn’t sure my spoiled fish would want it. A baseless fear. They went NUTS for it!!

The man at the counter signed me up for a rewards program – a dollar off every 40 spent – and told me they have fish shipments usually twice a week, plant shipments once a month, and are open to special orders. Dangerous. Looks like I’ll be coming back to this place…

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Re Antiques and Interiors – Kingston Rhode Island

By now my companion was looking a bit off and not feeling up to his usual so we decided this would be our last stop of the day. Really, he just wanted to go out on a high note and the last antique store was… underwhelming.

Luckily, we hit another treasure with this one! It seemed to be all the weirdness of the first antique store of the day combined with all the respectability of the second, in a larger space. Fancy paintings adorned the wall with old foreign ad posters. We found cultural items from all over the world – some which I still maintained probably came with a free curse for the white people buying them, but I digress. There were African statuary, a bunch of scary masks, and even full Samauri armor. I was also mesmerized by this gorgeous swinging baby cradle. Other hits were a writing desk fit for a wealthy historical fiction author, a wire rat Halloween decoration, a country chic armoire, and a tin Easter bunny from the bowels of hell.

A woman sat in the main part of the shop and kept an eye on customers, and I knew my photo taking was making her a little tense but me being me I wasn’t about to say anything. I swear to god, I’m not casing the place, and the things I am taking photos of are not the most valuable items, more like the most random. Congrats on that Easter bunny!

As I was leaving she finally asked if I was having fun taking photos or something along those lines and I said, “Yes! I’m taking them for a travel blog.” The ensuing conversation honestly just served to confuse her more, but she did say if I ever get the chance I should go to England. Touché. My companion seemed more entertained by this conversation than myself who resorted to self-depreciating humor because I lack the imagination to see myself financially well off enough to go overseas again and I also suck at lying. Especially on the spot. These things take planning. And need crazy detailed back stories. No? I guess I may be the odd one here.

Maybe someday I will visit England. Or all the countries on those two little islands half a world away where all my ancestors seem to have come from. Or perhaps I can see the Oracle at Delphi, or revisit the Parisian catacombs, or sit with the rats at the Karni Devi waiting for a white one to approach. It is nice to dream, isn’t it?

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Corner Cupboard Kingston Rhode Island

Onto the second antique of the day we decided to hit the Corner Cupboard. It was yet another one of the shops we had not hit because they were not generally open on the two days a week we were out and about. But today was Thursday! Glorious Thursday!

It had a nice little parking lot right off the street and although the traffic on that day was near suicidal I got there just fine. Inside the shop was very country chic. In fact, that seemed to be the theme of the entire place. It even had a Norman Rockwell birdhouse. I didn’t even know those existed!

Still, it was small, and lacking in the creepy and depraved things we usually look for – haunted dolls, “satanic” photos, portraits of tuberculosis-addled Victorian children, and the like. This place seemed… respectable. And there were plenty of people in it which is why I didn’t take almost any photos. I was already getting weird looks from other customers best not make a scene.

No shade to those that like this sort of thing it just wasn’t what I was looking for. In any event if you are in the area and looking for the perfect country chic item I still strongly suggest this place.

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Antiques at Old Tiverton Rhode Island

It was an unusual circumstance in which my companion had an illustrious Thursday off. A Thursday that all the antique stores closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays would be open. AHA! A BUCKET LIST!

And this first one was a riot. We drove all the way there (GPS fucking with me the entire time, because why not) and when we got there we found a building with a very small parking lot of sorts fitting about five cars. It was full. Luckily one of them was leaving, an old couple who seemed VERY confused I was waiting for their spot.

We checked out the yard first. The yard which legitimately had a fire exit… In case all the junk spontaneously combusted I suppose. It was fun junk too. Yard decorations, old street signs, a cross gravestone (with no name – probably either an extra or replaced by something else.) There were some big ceramic jars and a wild assortment of random things all packed into a very small area. It was like being in Maine again!

Inside was much the same. Just really random things all piled up in a small space, the people in the shop talking about how they have to sell things for the price they’re at to make a profit. I don’t know why anyone would try to haggle here, everything already seemed cheap considering the other prices in the area. There was even a drawer full of glass apothecary bottles I had to pry myself away from. Yes, they’re cool, what would you do with them though? MAKE SPELL BOTTLES? You’re not a witch, cool your tits.

There was also a little area for a local glass artist who had some adorable sea creatures. The rest of the shop had everything from old can labels and coupons, to a few creepy masks, to a seriously cool old leather cat carrier. It looked like it had been custom made for Hannibal Lecter’s cat and I looooved it. But alas, I am catless. Woe is me.

All and all I liked this shop. It clashed violently with all the other chichi froufrou upscale antique stores in the area. This was a common man’s store. And there’s nothing wrong with that!

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St Paul’s Thrift Store – Newport Rhode Island

Another day, another small exploration. After exhausting all the antique stores in the area it seemed only logical to move onto thrift stores so we checked out this one.

It was a cute little store off a busy street. Initially upon entering I didn’t see much and pondered if this place just opened. No, it was just lacking baubles (save from some creepy dolls and clown bric-a-bracs which are to be expected.) Several other rooms were less underwhelming. One was dedicated to old books and clothes. It wasn’t much but there was an entire aisle dedicated to flannel which is really weird because flannel is so… not Newport. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone wear flannel here. Not even ironically. Still, this thrift store probably just knew it’s clientele. Thrifty lesbians. They make up a huge section of customers at any good thrift store- except the Salvation Army because they’ve made it their goal to be absolute dicks to the gay community, even going so far as to fund anti-gay and anti-trans legislation. Fuck em’ these little independently owned thrift stores are where it’s at anyway.

To prove my point the furniture here was VERY decently priced! I didn’t see anything over $200 and there was some nice pieces! Just look at this funky green chair. $68. I’m not going to lie, if I had a place of my own and was in need of a weird chair it would have come home with me.

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Generations Antique Mall – Rockport Maine

This was supposed to be the last antique store we’d went to after several days of antiquing and it was a nice way to round everything out as it was small and clearly independent. It was more on the thrifty side of things than the overpriced chic markets near the coast we had been poking at.

My new cheap phone did a terrible job taking photos (I guess my hand had to be tripod still and the lightning needs to also be perfect.) In any event we did find a cast iron cauldron, coincidentally just the right size to sit one baby, ‘case you’re into that kinda thing. It was pretty neat. I ended up going home with a record and a lobster cookie cutter because who makes lobster cookies?! I brought it home right before Christmas and used it to cut out some Christmas Crustaceans. If elf on a shelf can be a thing I feel we should at least try and make Christmas Crustaceans a thing too.

Anyway, if you happen to already be in Rockport or are just whiling away the hours this place is nice and cozy but not large by any means so probably not worth travelling very far unless you’re nuts like I am. I will say however the staff were adorably sweet. So, there’s that. I’ve included photos of my Christmas Crustaceans.

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The Rock and Art Shop – Bangor Maine

I love it when we go to one shop and the people there recommend something completely different, we have to go to. That’s what happened when we were out antiquing, and I struck up a conversation with the cashier who thought I “looked like someone who’d like a rock shop.” I don’t know what that means exactly but I’m not going to argue, I do like shiny things, fossils, and bones.

And as far as rock shops go this one was darling! It was streetside so great for if you’re already ambling about the city. It had the usual crystals and charms and quite a bit more utterly unique things – the skeleton of a bat, a number of bizarre games, some really chic ornaments, and some good old fashioned girl power notebooks. I loved this place! So much so I bought a book hoping to find more leads of places to go. And the girls at the counter were burbly and friendly. This is definitely the go-to shop for witchy items and whatnot. If that’s your thing by all means take a looksee!

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