Round Top Antiques Week
The area in and around Round Top, Texas, is full of antique shops and malls, but a couple times a year they host a massive gathering of vendors for a week or two - depending on the location - that draws a staggering amount of people. I found this out the hard way last fall when my wife suggested we make a "quick day trip" to the show on a Saturday. It was awful. Most of the places are along a stretch of two-lane highway that was basically a parking lot for hours when we tried to leave.
This spring we decided to head over again, but during the week and early in the show to avoid crowds. Much better!
The first thing you have to know if you've never been before is that it's huge. This map doesn't even do it justice. There are so many places to stop that you could spend every day for a week and not come close to seeing everything. Each of the places on this map aren't just single vendors, they're massive malls or markets with hundreds of vendors in some cases.
Another thing to know is that you get all types of antique vendors in one place here. Antiques fall into two main categories for me. You have the dealers who think antiques are "treasure" and want thousands for everything. Then there are the guys who sort of just sell old stuff. I prefer the latter, but if you want an 18th century French armoire for $11,000, you'll find it here....by the dozens. I can't believe I didn't come home with this chair!
Some of the venues are basically like flea markets, while others like Marburger Farms pictured here have restaurants and facilities and dozens of giant tents. They also charge you to get in. There are only a few places that do that, and we skipped most this spring, but we did pay for Marburger and found some things.
Incidentally - A little tip for the fellas: Don't be so quick to dismiss this event. If you're looking for middle-aged women, you would have a hard time finding a more target-rich environment than this place. There are packs of them! I think it's like a sport. My wife described it like a super-sized version of The Nutcracker Market, where women even tailgate pre-show.
It's a very relaxed atmosphere. Everyone seems to be having a good time and no one seemed to get too uptight about anything.
Yes, the Super 8 has a Jacuzzi Suite......
You may be asking yourself two questions:
1 - Does the Super 8 in Brenham, Texas, really have a Jacuzzi Suite?
2 - How does one end up in the Jacuzzi Suite at a Super 8?
Well, obviously they do have one. As for the "how"? This wasn't really planned as a "romantic getaway" that would necessitate in-room hydrofrolicking (although as I pointed out to my wife - any getaway with me is a romantic one).
The reason we ended up here comes down to Hotels.com. I use the service to book rooms a lot and every time you stay 10 nights they give you a free night. The value of that night is based on the average cost of the 10 rooms you stayed in. We travel enough to save up some rooms and we had a couple of free nights when I booked this. The thing is, most of our last 10 stays were in rather expensive rooms in France. I know you might find this surprising, but hotels in the Texas hill country aren't quite as expensive as ones that overlook the Seine. I could basically book any room in the area I could find for free and it turns out the most expensive room you can get is the Jacuzzi Suite at the Super 8 in Brenham. To be fair, it was actually a really nice and comfortable room, but we never touched the Jacuzzi.
I told Nel that since we had the "suite", I would just go ahead and make it a Five Star Date Night! How do you do that? (These tips are free gentleman.) First off we hit up the K-Bob's Steak House where I treated Branelle to unlimited trips to the "World Famous Salad Wagon"!
Next up, how about a private screening of a Hollywood blockbuster - "CHIPS!" (Okay - yes it was a small town theater late on a Monday night showing a bad movie that's been out for weeks, but still....private screening!)
I didn't stop with date night. I even sprung for breakfast! Now ladies, before you get any ideas, I'm already taken.
Parking in the actual town for all of the antique places is a little tricky. We accidentally parked illegally at one stop and a sheriff walked up and asked to see my license. It was an honest mistake - there were dozens of cars parked there and I guess I assumed there were different rules for Antiques Week, but he was right. He actually let us go with just a warning because, as he said, "You didn't give me a bunch of grief about it." I respect police officers all the time. It paid off in this case.
You'll find when looking around that some places do seem to specialize. In the case of the place pictured above, they had probably 50 or more entrance doors.
Since I'm closing in on having a Man Cave to decorate, I was looking for stuff like this. This little couch was in perfect condition, was well done, wasn't over priced, and would have made a really interesting piece of furniture. I passed, after much consideration, because it was made from a Hindustan Ambassador - a car that I have absolutely no interest in or attachment to.
We didn't do too much damage (in part because we decided at the last minute not to bring our trailer). Here's our haul - a few decorative items, a bench for the end of our bed so our older cat can get up there a little easier, and an old Monte Carlo grill I have plans for.
I have to admit that I enjoyed our second trip to Antiques Week. I'm up for going back but I'm NEVER going on a weekend again like we did last fall. This time through the traffic was minimal, the crowds were bearable, and the stuff was just as plentiful.
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