Labor Day Weekend

Glass Flower Frogs

Labor Day Weekend was the perfect weekend to hit the road. As everyone and his brother headed south to the Gulf, Buster and I headed north on Interstate 65. We wanted get a little time on the road Friday night but we didn't last long on the interstate. We soon headed off on the backroads. We spent the night in North Alabama. We really wanted to stay at Mount Cheaha but the state park requires a three day stay on holiday weekends. Mount Cheaha will have to wait for another time.

Saturday



Some of the $5 dinnerware



Hand Painted Creamer and Sugar



We left the Birmingham area and took I-65 north turned onto the backroads towards the Huntsville area. We stopped at one yard sale after another.  Buster found a small old toy car that had a pencil sharpener in the back for 25 cents. Another stop and I scooped up three glass flower frogs for 50 cents. (I wonder why they are called frogs...) A flea market produced a hand painted sugar and creamer (Blue Ridge?), a whole box of dishes with thirty pieces of dinnerware with a yellow flower motif for $5.00, and a b b gun for Buster. (Are those dishes really going to fit in the BMW? Buster talked me into buying those. I hope he remembers that later. We rearranged and got everything to fit.)

A pencil sharpener for Buster



Woodland Gold Dinner
Plate and Platter



We stopped at a very small building that was supposed to be a yard sale and found a small metal plant stand for $1.00. Then we stopped in a town called Silverton. I found a great junk sale by the side of the road. After digging through a ton of dishes, I found a Woodland Gold dinner plate in perfect condition and the gentleman wanted 50 cents for it. That was definitely a bargain! Oddly enough, I have found a number of serving pieces of Woodland Gold but that was my first dinner plate.



Glass Refrigerator Box

 On down the road, a really nice lady was having a yard sale and I purchased a glass refrigerator box for $2.00. There are so many reproductions these days that I don’t really know if it is old or not but I thought it would look really pretty with brightly colored buttons inside of it. Although we don’t usually go in stores, we made a concession and went in to ask directions. Of course I had to look around and I found three more pieces of Woodland Gold - a platter for $7.00, a creamer for $4.00, and a covered vegetable dish for $6.00. I thought all were decent prices and I don’t run into Woodland Gold very often.



Woodland Gold Covered
Vegetable Dish

 I have heard for years about a “lost luggage” place in Scottsboro. I have always wanted to visit so we headed off in that direction. I was very disappointed. They had some great merchandise but, for used items, the prices were very high. We got back on the road and headed toward Tennessee. Somehow we went the wrong direction and ended up at Rock City. It turned out to be one of those good mistakes. We stopped on the road up the mountain for a great view of the sunset. Aaahhh, the good life! That is what the backroads are for. We went up to the railroad at top of mountain then headed down to find a motel outside of Carlton, Tennessee.

Sunday

The next morning we headed out. We left the motel and took the backroads towards Hwy 411 went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to meet our daughter. We had an enjoyable lunch with her and her boyfriend and his family. On the way out of town, we hit a flea market held in a former drive in theater. We were a little late to find any bargains. Everyone was packing up. When we left out of Maryville, Tennessee we ended up on a very curvy road over the mountain. The Dragon’s Tail has over 300 curves in 11 miles. The BMW loved it and so did I! What a great end to the day.

Monday

After several days of leisure, we have some hard driving to get home today. We had to forego the backroads and head for the interstate. No bargains today, lots of hard driving, but what a wonderful weekend. I can’t wait for the next one….