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!
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?
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.
Good news! I managed to post one entry of Catching Marbles for every day of October!!! Granted to reach this goal I did cheat a bit, did a few underwhelming entries and some backlogged stuff, but when you have a crazy migraine for days straight, I don’t think anyone’s going to complain. I pushed HARD to complete this goal and since my body hates me for it, I probably won’t be doing it again, but I have decided the boost in traffic was worth at least trying to post more when I could. (My new goal is to hit 500 destinations before the end of the year!)
Because of the aforementioned migraine I was unable to go out and do something spooky for Halloween. I was barely able to pass out candy to the 12 kids who showed up. So tonight, will be another backlogged entry about a cool new shop at the Olde Mystic Village – The Rustic Relic Country Store. It’s a small and pretty typical country store but very cute, very country chic, very warm. I think it provided a nice compliment to the rest of the village and fit right in. I think this would be a great place to do some Christmas shopping for the people in your life who love this rural aesthetic.
The Yankee Flea market was another fun stop because it is enormous with over 200 vendors. As such you never know what you’re going to find! We spent quite a while here picking through the various booths and finding everything under the sun. The great thing about a place with this many vendors is that you’ll find not just a large variety of items but also price ranges. There’s something for everyone! And I came home with a jar of marbles since I have stopped taking marble photos at every location. I guess at the time I didn’t feel particularly encouraged to do so but it was a cute little signature of mine.
We picked through creepy clowns, dolls with vaguely threatening auras, cow creamers in the midst of an existential crisis, bad taxidermy, cast iron everything, hilarious Disney knock offs that looked just the slightest bit off, a model of a human spine, a marshmallow man with a changing face, and even an Old Timey Bottle reading “Cathartic Compound” which I am sure was something that throw you on your ass. Oh, and random “Pin the Pistol on the Cowboy” game and a mug with a naked woman and a wobbly butt. Very weird but hilarious. There were even a couple booths that appeared to be maintained by artists selling their works which is always lovely to see. You get out there!
All and all this was definitely one of the larger venues I’d go back to in a few months or years when everything has rolled over again. Fun fun!
Another thing on our list of to-do’s was to visit an antique store. It’s something we had become accustomed to doing in Rhode Island (where the products are usually quite pricey) and Maine (where every rusty nail is a treasure.) We even discussed potentially finding an antique store with something Civil War related – maybe an old musket ball or something – to see if we could take home something to curse ourselves with. And of course I was on my usual mission of finding the world’s creepiest doll. It’s not a common hobby but it’s my hobby and I like it.
The Antiques Emporium was a great place to stop for all of this. It was huge. Two floors of absolute chaos. Everything from fine furniture to a copy of Marilyn Monroe’s drivers license. And of course there were steam punky things, sharp things, things with faces that shouldn’t have faces, creepy dolls galore, and a painting of an androgynous child I would have totally brought home with me if I had $250.
And some of this stuff was apparently haunted – I can tell because one of my travel companions had to bolt out of the store at one point. No worries, we’re all good now. It was just a case of the heebie jeebies.
After thoroughly enjoying B F Clyde’s Cider Mill we decided to continue the day by going into the more populous side of the city for a little shopping. I’m not really one who normally enjoys shopping for the sake of shopping but I am starting to see this might just be because of the places I end up and the people I go with. I say this because on this day I had a great time!
I guess I was intrigued by the description of the shops there including an Alice in Wonderland themed tea shop and a storefront promising an assortment of sharp stabby things (seriously… who has even heard of a sword shop?! Sounds so medieval.) And all of it was situated in the Old Mystik Village which sounds sooo… witchy. I guess this is what made it all the less surprising when we walked into a series of mystic and magic type shops that had everything a Wiccan or Pagan could possibly want. We spent a good few hours picking shops that seemed interesting and wandering in to poke at things like an enthusiastic tourist. I am going to try and remember all of them and list them below but we’ll see how this goes!
Ice Imports: This was the promised stabby things store but it didn’t look like it when we first walked in. In fact it looked like a rock shop with all sorts of geodes and shiny rocks. Some were natural others were in bracelets and rings. The whole middle of the store was dedicated to magic bracelets – made with rock beads of your choice – each listing what magical purpose they were good for. None of the labels said anything about their more utilitarian use – they were GREAT fidgets! Especially if you buy two or more and play with them together. My companion was happy to find more hematite rings… to replace the ones he bought in Salem… I am absolutely perplexed how he keeps breaking them but I guess that’s part of their charm. Their sellers claim they break when they have absorbed all the negative energy they can. Convenient… I can’t say I am convinced but I respect the beliefs of others. There were also a bunch of ADORABLE knickknacks and a counter full of shiny stabby things!! So basically you could buy a baby dragon and a sword to slay it all the same shop!
Dharma Jewels: From there we walked into Dharma Jewels which describes itself as a gift shop full of handmade Tibetan and Himalayan goods. I couldn’t help but see the parallels between this and the witch shops as they also had a lot of space dedicated to things like lucky coins but also an assortment of colorful clothes, weird bags, and more recognizable religious artifacts like prayer flags and posters of Krishna. The women working the counter seemed very happy and the place had a uniquely pleasant smell, not sure what it was.
Alice in the Village: I just had to go to this little Alice in Wonderland inspired tea shop. I mean come on, it’s obvious I love the story – I draw a weekly comic based on the hookah smoking caterpillar’s ill-begotten grandchild. ANYWAY, the place was adorable. It had Alice in Wonderland mugs, knickknacks, and decorations lining the walls. The decorations to the place added to the sheer whimsy of it. It was a small place with a tiny seating area and a counter full of colorful macaroons…. which I had to try because I’ve never eaten a proper French macaroon. They’re crunchy and filled with goo. I was not expecting that but they were good! And they went well with the magic disappearing Cheshire Cat mug that ended up going home with me.
Alice in the Village
Bestamors: This shop was HUGE and weird. It was a shrine to everything Nordic/Northern European. Warm clothes, creepy trolls up the wazoo, gnomey gnomes, swarms of nesting dolls, and another counter full of stabby things listed by country! It just went on and on with no lack of things to poke at. I was thoroughly amused.
Extra Virgin: This place was another bizarre niche store that I couldn’t help but adore. As you walk in there is a row of dispensers for their flavored olive oils and vinaigrettes. And the other side of the store is dedicated to their flavored honeys – all of which you can try and we did! I ended up coming home with a bottle of blackberry bramble vinaigrette which is going to up my salad game hardcore.
Kitch: Kitch was another shockingly enormous store that really didn’t look big from the outside. Inside it was full to the brim with all the latest in kitchen gadgetry as well as a counter dedicated to a line of hot sauces. They had everything you could want here… pots, pans, tea kettles, cooking gadgets, unidentifiable tools, the whole lot! “I could lose several paychecks in here.” My companion lamented with plate-sized eyes. “I could too…”
Angel Haven: Once you’ve already been through several shops dedicated to lucky charms going into one dedicated to personal angels didn’t seem so weird. Lots of shiny pricey jewelry and some $600 steam punky clocks that opened up and showed all their gears once every hour while singing a different tune for each hour of the day. It was quite a display! And hey, someday if I ever become rich enough to dump $600 on a wall clock who knows, maybe I’ll be back. Never did figure out who my personal angel was – though if there’s an angel of anxiety and pointless distraction it’s probably that one.
Raining Cats and Dogs: I’m not going to lie – I find it pretty depressing I am currently not owned by any pets but seeing as both my travel companions had cats we all went in to see what damage we could do in that department. This place was mostly for dogs, small dogs at that, with all sorts of little coats and toys and whatnot but there was one corner dedicated to cats. And let me tell you the catnip toy that ended up coming home must have been some strong shit because the kitten just about went rabid when it was given to her.
Franklin’s General Store: I loved this place. It smelled kinda weird as general stores frequently do and it had everything from a fudge counter to a pile of zombie rubber ducks. It was a maze of eccentric old timey items and always fun to rifle through. I ended up buying a little encyclopedia of oddities because why not, might give me some inspiration.
Irish Eyes: Finally we went into an Irish themed store that was totally mental. I don’t know why I didn’t take any photos – maybe because it was a tiny cramped shop. Anyway, it had EVERYTHING you could possibly want Irishwise – funny T-shirts, cribbage boards, sheep galore, and even a music kit for starting your own Irish folk band that included several Irish instruments. It was weird and kind of sweet.
And that was our day shopping… from here we’d make our way to an escape room in Warwick RI because why not end our adventures there?
