Travel is all about learning. Sometimes it involves becoming immersed in a foreign language or culture...
And sometimes it involves critical life lessons. Like new insights into how, when the breeze is particularly strong, dining outside in a tropical setting can make one unexpectedly vulnerable to...
Well, let's just say it:
Pelican poo.
Pelican poo AND scampi butter blown onto the front of one's shirt.
Travel is about leaving a restaurant trying to be casual with your purse strategically cradled over your torso.
So learning. Travel is about learning.
And I learned a great deal about a great many things on my trip to Florida over Thanksgiving-- only a fraction of it, thankfully, related to wind currents and the digestive habits of local waterfowl.
I learned that when prepping for a trip, you can get some great paperbacks at the thrift store to take along with you. I bought these at my local Goodwill and together they still didn't cost what one of them would have cost new.
Perfect to keep a person occupied in between disrobing for airport security!
I learned a lot about the kinds of vintage items available in the Sunshine State, too. I can see now, for instance, why the Florida members of TheThriftshopper.com forum are so crazy about mid-century modern decor-- in Florida, this architecture is all around them.
Here in Pittsburgh, we have old homes. You pretty much can’t swing a Terrible Towel without hitting a house that’s seen the tail end of the Victorian era.
But in Florida, aside from ol’ Ponce deLeon’s early tourism, many of Florida’s communities weren’t built until the 50s. And streamlined design abounds.
This meant that while I was unlikely to uncover much from Queen Vickie’s time, I did find some fun vintage things.
Like this hankie bag. I admit, I’d never seen one of these before, and if it hadn’t been cleverly printed with its function, I wouldn’t have recognized it for what it was.
I got this at the “Antique Mall Y’All” (I never tire of saying that name. Okay, say it with me, folks... “Antique Mall Y’All”... Hahahaha....)
Ahem.
I also scored big in finding some entertaining retro cookbooks.
I hope to share the culinary... er, creativity... of these with you in a future blog post, but at just a buck or two, suffice it to say the humor value makes them well worth their price.
And you know me: if it makes me laugh, it’s likely to come home with me...
I’ll be in real trouble if a stand-up comedian convention ever comes to town. :-)
Anyway, I learned during my travels a few other neat tidbits. Like my aqua vase pictured here also came in pink.
(I didn’t buy the pink ones-- at $30, this cheap chick simply would not lay down the dough!)
I learned that I’m not QUITE so far gone in my glassware addiction that a good deal on jadeite leads me to try to transport an entire dish set in my carry-on bag...
(It was close for a moment or two, but once I overcame the fever and my hands stopped trembling, I rallied.)
I DID, however, snap up this little creamer which matches my thrifted carnival glass set. I’ve never seen a matching creamer in my area, so this was manageable to wrap-up and stow in my luggage.
And lastly I learned-- well, no, it can’t hardly be called LEARNING...
Rather, I was REMINDED that my dad likes to buy things particularly if he has no idea what they are. He showed me this item which he thrifted recently...
Do YOU folks have any idea what this thing is used for? It’s not a paper towel holder... It’s too big to hold rubber stamps... Ideas?? Guesses?? Help?
So that about wraps it up for my Thanksgiving adventures. I need to head off to do some cleaning and Christmas decorating. I apologize this post is a little short this week-- but I must set sail.
See you next week, when we talk Christmas decor! Take care.
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