Roundtop Antiques 2017

Last month, I posted each day for the Instagram Challenge, however, I rarely posted what was going on in my life since that took so much of my brain energy. So I thought I'd do a little March re-cap over the next few posts. Fresh on my mind is my annual trip to the Roundtop Antiques Festival. It is something I look forward to all year long, and this year did not disappoint. For the first time, I did not take my DSLR, so all of my photos were taken with my iPhone.

Valine and Troy drove up on Wednesday and we had lunch with Callie and babyD2 before doing some local shopping.

We headed to Henderson in the late afternoon, only to discover that Pam was feeling "under the weather".  Poor thing! She was trying to will herself to be well, but it just didn't happen for her. She left with us Thursday, but ended up having to drive back early because she felt so lousy. Fortunately, she is now on the mend and will be stronger than ever next year.  

This year, we made a slight detour from our usual route to stop at the Magnolia Silos in Waco. 

What fun! It was warm and VERY breezy, but that didn't deter the crowds at all.

We walked around, taking in everything. It was incredible to see how Chip and Joanna were able to bring about their vision into such a welcoming, efficient space. 

There were foods trucks,

and a lawn where kids could play, complete with lounging cushions for the adults.

The line for the bakery was quite long, so instead, we joined a much shorter line at the bakery food truck to get cupcakes. Delicious! My favorite part was the "the seed company"--an area with tiny fairy gardens, herbs and beautiful flowers.

After picking up a quick lunch, we were on our way, stopping in Rockdale at an antique mall there. Ron and I had stopped there several times on trips back and forth to Kerrville and San Antonio, but had never been during operating hours, so it was fun to browse before continuing our journey to the Hill Country. 

Our home-away-from home for this trip was new to us--a cute blue cottage right near the town square of Fayetteville. It was not fancy, but had everything we needed, with room to spread out a little. 

The only drawback was the train tracks that ran right behind the house--trains traveled past several times each morning, but in the end, it really didn't bother any of us enough to keep from reserving the same place for next year.

Friday morning, Pam headed home and we prepared to shop. Storms were predicted and the weather forecasters were right this time, the first time it has ever really rained during our shopping.

We began in Warrenton, dodging the rain in between shopping in various booths. 

Eventually, we took shelter in a large pavilion until the rain had slowed enough for us to make a run for the cars.

We did some a bit more shopping down the road and once again got caught in the rain.  

We both had rain shoes/boots in the car, but for some reason, never thought to put them on.  

It was late though, and we'd had a great day (despite the storms), so we headed back to the house.  On the way home, there was a giant rainbow stretching out over the fields.

We woke up to beautiful weather on Saturday. After a hearty breakfast in downtown Fayetteville, we hit several of our favorite shopping spots, and explored a few new ones, as well.

Each day was packed to the brim, and a highlight is always our "show and tell" in the evening after dinner. This year, we initiated Troy with some impromptu silliness. (What happens in Roundtop stays in Roundtop.)

We packed up Sunday morning, with hardly a space to spare, and headed back home. 

 Just outside of Industry, we stopped again for pictures in the wildflowers.

I came back with several treasures--nothing huge, but all fun.

My favorite purchases were probably the vintage planters I bought to hold our cell phones. I gave the squirrel to Ron and the birds are for me!

We had such a great time and can't wait until next year! In fact, I think Pam is going to need to do double-the-shopping since she missed out this time!