Sunday, October 10, 2010

Artist Date: Elephant's Trunk and Merwinsville Hotel

I didn't have a very productive weekend. I barely cleaned; I barely worked on my resume. But I still had a good weekend.

Today I went on an artists-date. I also did another thing that I've been wanting to do for a long time: I went to Elephant's Trunk. Elephant's Trunk is an outdoor Sunday flea market running from April through November.

After a cold start to the morning, the day turned sunny and warm. I spent about an hour and a half wandering up and down the aisles of jewelry, china, glassware, clothing, tires, musical instruments. I didn't buy much--a few political pins, a small carved wooden dog with his head raised in a howl, two sets of fork and spoons made from china. You can make a day of it at Elephant's Trunk--there are food trucks offering hot dogs, sandwiches, fried dough, pretzels, chili, and donuts with tables and chairs nearby so you can sit down to enjoy your food. But you can't linger for long; around noon, I saw the first vendor start to pack up his goods.

I left the flea market and headed to the Columbus Weekend Art & Fine Crafts Show at the Merwinsville Hotel. The Merwinsville Hotel is worthy of a post of its own. It served as a meal stop for passenger trains going through Gaylordsville from the 1840's through the 1870's.

Jeff and I found the hotel one weekend when we were exploring the area and made a wrong turn. I became fascinated with the place and we've gone back several times. Attempts to restore the hotel have been continuing since 1971. While there is still much work to do, Jeff and I have seen a lot of progress since we first found the hotel in the mid 1990's.

Today I purchased some hand made Christmas cards and a few souvenirs--a new Merwinsville Hotel tee shirt and a pair of wine glasses with the hotel logo. I previously purchased Christmas ornaments, tee shirts, a print of the hotel in its heyday and a trivet.

I'll be back in December for Christmas in Gaylordsville.

Back home, I picked up Spike for a long visit to the dog park. All-in--all a great fall day.

No comments:

Post a Comment