Our Weekend in the Adirondacks Part 2

(Part 1 is here)

So we end up driving pretty much all the way through town and ended up parking at the northern end, one block over from Main Street, which was fine really, because we wanted to walk from one end to the other and back anyway.  We parked near my favorite Warrensburg, NY "landmark".  It's "The Ashes".  I don't know why I love this building, but I just love "The Ashes".  I've never been in it, I've never been able to find out anything about it's history in a rudimentary internet search - I just like to see it.  Doesn't seem like "Garage Sale Weekend" unless I get to see "The Ashes".  This year we parked right nearby, so I got my fill of seeing it, but other years my thoughtful DH would go out of our way just to drive by it because he knows I like to see it.  Here's a picture of "The Ashes":

 
So we got out and bundled ourselves up (it's chilly up north in October ya know!).  Loaded our stuff, including DD, in our trusty wagon and set off.  Now although DD is 9 and could certainly walk, we wanted to walk the whole thing and there is just no way she was going to survive that without getting tired and complaining.  So, when she outgrew her stroller we just started bringing this big 'ol wagon we have and since DD is petite, it's still doable and DH and I get to enjoy the entire garage sale, and DD is happy because if she wants to walk she can, and if she gets bored or tired she can ride in the wagon and read a book or listen to music or whatever.  And I figure pulling around a wagon with 50lbs off DD in it helps me burn off whatever "bad" food I partake of during the day.  (Well that's what I tell myself, anyway.)

There were some decent garage sales on the side streets, and then we made it out to the main street.  Here's a pic, but it really doesn't accurately depict the size and scope of this town-wide affair.

 

It's pretty crowded usually, as long as the weather is good.  It's not always easy to get around with the wagon, but I'm pretty good with it.  There's also lots of other people with wagons and strollers and carts, so we all fight our way through as best we can.  DH was wishing, as he does every year, that he had a "suit of knives" so he could get through the crowds easier.  Normally I scold DH when I feel he's not being patient, but I must admit, after a few hours of people stopping right in the middle of the sidewalk, or people stopping to talk to a friend and blocking everyone, or stopping with a stroller in a tight spot instead of "pulling over" where there was room to let others by, even I was getting a little exasperated. 

 

We had a very enjoyable day walking and browsing.  We bought a few things, nothing that exciting except for this really cool hiking stick DH got.  Check it out!

 

 

  

Here's a close up:

  

 

  

I'll try to remember everything I got: white tissue paper - 40 sheets for $1, an old white round Anchor Hocking dish with a blue floral design for $5, a long, coat-like off-white wool sweater for $8 (that was my garage sale bargain of the day!), a candle in a pretty tin from a new "Adirondack" store for $10, a bar of pine scented soap for $2, and a long brown and black cashmere (don't know if it's REALLY cashmere or not, but it is very soft and pretty) scarf for $8.  I was very happy with my purchases.

  

Warrensburg is a nice little town to walk around in.  Except for the hilly part.  When you're pulling 50lbs of DD around.  Here's a shot of a mural on the side of one of the buildings:

  

  

  

There's also a bandstand in the middle of town, though there was no band in it this year!  

(There's a geocache there.  Can you guess where it's hidden?)

Wondering what the heck Geocaching is?  Check out my other blog here.

  

 

There are lots of "dealers" there as well as people with garage sale stuff selling all the usual - socks, towels, tools, etc.  We noticed there seemed to be an awful lot of designer handbag booths, which I commented upon to DH (knock-off purses are pretty common to find at flea markets and such, but I didn't remember in the past them being so prevalent at the Warrensburg one).  I happened to be reading an Adirondack news blog yesterday morning and saw that the police arrested a bunch of the vendors for selling fake purses and got charged with felonies (article here)!  Ha on them!

 

So to give you an idea of how big this "World's Largest Garage Sale" is, we parked at about 9:15am and didn't get back in the truck to leave until 4:30pm.  Yes, we were tired.

 

So we drove back down to Lake George which took awhile because of the traffic.  When we got back to our hotel, DH told me there's a geocache nearby, and suggested we go try to find it since we were still waiting for his Mom and her friend to get back.  The geocache was located in a very picturesque setting.  Nothing like sitting and signing a log with a view like this, huh?

 

 

  

When DH's Mom and friend got back and unpacked their garage sale treasures, we decided to go out to eat.  We decided to try the Barnsider - my SIL had mentioned it in an email - you know, one of those emails where you answer a bunch of questions and then forward it to your friends and family to answer too?  We feared there might be big crowds because of it being Garage Sale Weekend, but we were fortunate and got seated right away.  I had to snap a pic of the funny sign outside the front door of the restaurant though:

  

  

We had a nice dinner and instead of more Uno afterwards at the hotel, we all decided we were very tired (and DH and DD were somewhat under the weather as well) and decided to make it an early night and go to bed.  We agreed to meet the next morning at Hojo's (Howard Johnson's) at 10:30 for their breakfast buffet (this has become somewhat of a tradition).

 

The next morning during breakfast, DH asked his Mom what they were planning on doing after breakfast - because if they weren't in a hurry to leave, he said, we'd like to show you something neat we'd found, and did they want to follow us in their car so we could show them?  Surprisingly, they didn't ask a lot of questions, but I guess by now they know that you never really know what to expect from us, and so after breakfast, with them behind us, we took to the road.

 

To be continued...