On the Road Again

I never really thought Labor Day was super great until this year, you know, since I have a full time job now (since college was lame in that I had to go to class on Labor Day)...3 day weekend! I left work on Friday, headed down Rt. 29 and over 460 W. to Lynchburg, VA then on over 460 W. and down I-81 to Radford, VA, down I-81 to Rt. 100 to Hillsville, back to Radford, Lynchburg and then finally to Charlottesville once again. Sounds kind of laborious, doesn't it? It was the complete opposite; low key dinner-out on Friday night with K.; lazing around on the couch all day Saturday with Jug and Mel; walking around Hillsville, VA with my whole fam on Sunday, and then wrapping up on Monday in Lynchburg once more for a day of running around the town all day with K. and Hanban.

The highlights of the weekend consist of Saturday's eating fest in which Jug, Mel and I participated. We ate at a Mexican restaurant called "Mi Puerta," munched on roast beef with potatoes and carrots that Mel had fixed (which was totally outstanding), made dents in two boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (cake doughnut holes and yes, the chocolate covered creme filled ones) and made break-and-bake birthday cake and chocolate chip cookies. And then we sat on couches. All day and evening. It was glorious, until I caught wind via a sportscaster that William and Mary's football team had beaten UVA, and then I remembered that I went there for academics and not sports and it was okay again. Otherwise, I might have cursed; instead, I just laughed.

Jug, Mel and I drove down the highway to Hillsville "like a band of gypsies" from Radford on Sunday to meet some of our family (Mom and Dad, Christy and Larry, and Ali and Rex) for antiquing. Every Labor Day weekend, the whole town of Hillsville, Virginia turns into a ginormous flea market (complete with a Copenhagen tobacco dealer, gun dealers and the most delicious greasy food you've eaten since the last county fair you attended), with a concentration in antiques. And every year, my family goes to Hillsville on this weekend and every year they tromp around wheeling and dealing for the antiques that they collect, but I think my dad's favorite part is the homemade ice cream. Right after the first bite, he said, "Hm, this is highway robbery!" When I mentioned that I was going to this event to a lawyer-friend for Labor Day weekend, he replied with, "Oh my gosh, that is so southern of you!" I replied with, Southern and wonderful.

Here's just a glimpse of all the yum yums you could buy:


Here are Mel and Jug eating turkey legs for lunch!

I took $113.00 in cash with me to the event, hoping to find addends to my antique tea cup collection as well as my Imperial Candlewick dish collection (first introduced by Imperial Glass Company in 1936 and was a company mainstay for nearly 50 years before the company went bankrupt in 1984). I am proud to say that I stayed under budget by $25.00. Look at all the loot that I bought for $87.00:

My beloved Imperial Candlewick 1/4 lb. Butter & Cover (400/161)

Imperial Candlewick "10.5" Butter and Jam Tray (400/161)

Vista-Pink tea cup by Mason's Ironstone, featuring a pink landscape with a scalloped edge

Fabulous turquoise beads

This is everything (above), excluding a pair of $5 sunglasses (Jug and I got the 2 for $10 deal, since we were both dimwits and forgot ours). I left the glasses on the front hood of my dad's truck Denver when Jug, Mel and I left, so they're safe and sound in the custody of Dad and Mom. I also got some good house-warming gifts and easy-whip-ups for parties or surprise company.

Basically, you can find anything at this Hillsville shindig. For instance, one such tent that Jug, Mel and I ventured into before the others arrived had an older woman having a new nail product appliqued to her nails. Rubber stamps for finger nails. She was so excited to have slot machines on each individual finger nail, that I kind of wondered if the nail lady had hired her to market this to women with gambling problems. Gotta get your fix somehow, right? Somebody must have gotten really bored with scrapbooking one day and thought, "Hey, I should invent a rubber stamp tattoo.....I don't think anybody's ever done that for nails..." Whatever. They were trying to suck Mel and I in, but between our shocked grinning faces, we were able to barely yet successfully exit the tent without buying anything. We then proceeded to the next tent where Jug and I bought our sunglasses for the day. Here are some other great things I saw/found at Hillsville:

I kind of wish I would've bought this vintage apron, since it matched my shirt and everything...This is Dad and me.


Christy found this neat little toy circus train set:

More Candlewick dishes! They're so awesome.

And then, for the oddest piece of the day, I'd have to say this little guy:

I hope that this posting is enough to recommend that everyone should go to Hillsville next year to take a bite of the past and take it home with you. What a great Labor Day weekend, even if a lot of it was spent on the road!