I was noting, in the middle of the Hudson Antique Mall in the middle of a weekend trip this past weekend, that it seemed like we — T and I and our Troy friends the McPivins — end up spending a lot of our visits looking at other people’s old junk.

When Cal asked me if we went to an antique shop every time we visited the McPivins, I realised it really was almost every visit either way.

We don’t always buy anything — this time we didn’t,  although I did seriously consider this cabinet with narrow split drawers.

But, ah, it was a bit big for the car, especially with 4 of us in there,  and until finish the attic, I don’t really have a place for it…

…really, really tempting,  though.

Antique stores run the gamut from flea-market stands with estate-sale stuff — old kitchen and shop tools, old board games, cast iron pans, and knick knacks — to curated and restored actually antique furniture.  Costume jewelry, books, tables, sewing kits… if you could buy it or make it sometime in the last 200-300 years, there’s a chance that it’ll show up at one of these places.

Which is like ⅔ of the fun:

It’s like an exploration of history via stuff, a treasure hunt, a library dive, and a sort of dusty amble.

And sometimes — when you’re lucky — it’s a  bargain hunt and you end up with something nobody else is likely to have for a few bucks.

I mean, okay, sometimes the things we end up with don’t get used, but since the shopping is a huge part of the fun, I never really feel like the $5—$20 is too wasted.  After all, these places have to make money to stay open.

And now, photos from this trip: