You all know by now if you’ve followed along for very long that I travel a bit for my job. It’s not always to great places but I always try to see something local where I am heading. It’s generally varied and often in places where conferences are held…Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orlando, Chicago, etc….what is unusual however is travel to the same city multiple times a year…that being said It’s been a very unusual year already. I was back in Charlotte this week for a very quick meeting (and will be heading back again in May).
It was very quick…flight landed Tuesday at 5 pm and I left to return back to Boston Wednesday at 6 pm with a dinner and full day meeting between.
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| This was the dessert for my lunch meeting...oh my so amazing...and no I couldn't eat all of the frosting (it is a triple decker after all) |
Who has time for anything else when booking it that close? Well, much to my surprise (and pleasure) my meeting broke a couple of hours before expected and luckily I had brought my handy little “shop hit list” with me. Perfect!
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| My NC shop list. I keep a separate worksheet for restaurants & sites as well |
Since I travel a bit I keep a handy dandy excel spreadsheet with info on all the places I read about on other blogs, magazines, Yelp, or my good friend Google. It really comes in handy when I have an impromptu trip and don’t have time to do digging to see what I want to do.
Well, after going down the list I picked Century Vintage and headed that way. Since my “hit list” is gathered over time often I don’t really remember the details of the shop I put on the list so sometimes I’m never entirely sure what I am going to find…it’s like its own little adventure.
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| Central Ave....surprise, surprise there were several shops in this little neighborhood |
Century Vintage is what I would categorize as a “junk shop” (in the best absolute possible way) not really antiques but lots and lots of really funky interesting vintage things. With my limited (as usual…insert scoff here) suitcase space I was very selective and didn’t end up buying anything. Fun looking though.
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| Some of the fun I found at Century Vintage on Central Ave in Charlotte |
Right next door is Ten Fifteen Antiques, much more of a hybrid of a traditional antique shop and a junk (ie thrift) shop. If you are looking for a huge selection of plates for the ubiquitous decorative plate wall Ten Fifteen is the place to go…they had an absolute TON of dishes. Now you know me….it took everything in my being but I stood strong and left with just the money in my pocket and headed toward the airport to catch my flight (she says optimistically since ANOTHER storm was due to hit Boston).
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| China, Blue Transferware, Milk Glass and a fun gumball machine display at Ten Fifteen on Century Ave in Charlotte |
One of my little tricks in cities where I am not entirely familiar but want to explore is to set my Garmin to avoid highways. This keeps me on the side roads and usually I get to see something of the city and you never know what you are going to find along the way. This is how I stumbled into Clearing House.
I was driving down the road and spotted this sign and slammed on my brakes (note to fellow drivers, I might not be the best candidate to tailgate :-).
And oh my gosh I’m so glad I did…beautiful, beautiful, beautiful things and really fair prices. Clearing House is a consignment shop so they have a little bit of everything decorative but all of it really great.
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| This little beauty did come home with me....I have been struggling with an arrangement of pin trays and this one I think will add just the right color/balance to the collection I have...stay tuned for pics when I get them all hung |
Funny thing, there was a lovely older lady dropping some small items off to consign and chatting with the shop manager while I was lurking around sneaking photos. She was inquiring to whether or not they were accepting china or if they were over stock (is there really such a thing?) she thought that with all of the “old ladies” passing on there must be an over-abundance of inventory because the “younger generation doesn’t really buy as much china do they?” I assured her that there really is a market of china addicts out there in the “younger set”.
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| Oh my this was just magnificent in person...the prettiest shade of pink! |
No question I am heading back to Clearing House on my next Charlotte trip...maybe I should just bring an empty suitcase next time.
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| I am still kicking myself for not bringing one of these repurposed vintage jewel cuffs home with me! I guess it's something to look forward to for my next visit. |
