My New York Holiday : Chapter Six

At the end of the last chapter we had had a fabulous (and late) night of cocktail drinking at some amazing New York Bars.  Guess how I felt the next day....

Not hungover (surprisingly) but VERY tired with hair that didn't dry.  So yes, I actually went out on the streets of New York in rollers.  Hang my head in shame!

In my defence, I didn't spend very long on the street - just long enough to put my suitcase into the hands of the bus driver and board the bus - and it was 7am... so not too many people noticed.  We were up early and on a bus because we were headed out of New York City into Massachusetts to go to the Sturbridge Vintage Fashion and Textile Show, and the Brimfield Antique Show.

Sturbridge and Brimfield (which are really close together) are about 5 hours from New York City... and the bus ride was pretty quiet... we were all either tired, hungover, or both.  But we found a second wind when we hit Sturbridge, because it was time to SHOP!

The show was in the same hotel where we were staying, so we were able to leave our bags and head straight there.  I will say that it was a bit confusing because there was two rooms... but no signage to say there was two rooms.  I thought it was just the small one and wandered around and was really happy I'd seen it all - then someone said there was a big room... OH MY GOD!!!  There were some truly amazing things.  I fell in love with some incredible victorian and edwardian clothing that I just wanted to take home and display as art.  So divine!

You will notice that there aren't many photos... thats because we were all distracted and didn't take any!!!

I bought quite a lot of things, but the most important thing was this.

A bakelite "MacArthur Heart" brooch.  For most people, this is the most collectible piece of bakelite in existence.  It was featured on the cover of Life magazine on the 28th of April, 1941, and sells for A LOT when it comes up for sale.  I got a pretty good deal on mine, but it wasn't cheap...

I now need a copy of this magazine...

Most of us were done well before the show closed - we were just too tired.  Thankfully our hotel was in the most beautiful location, and our rooms opened up onto this view.

About half the girls (including me) sat around on chairs in the sun and chatted and watched the world go by... it was such a peaceful time after the noise and constant buzz of New York City.

After a good nights sleep we were up early again the next morning to head to Brimfield.  None of us really knew what to expect, other than it was outdoors, it was massive, and there would be a lot of walking to do.  I had purchased a special outfit.

A vintage rayon playsuit and a vintage straw hat

This is my first playsuit, and I love it!  I didn't know how I would feel about showing this much leg, but I was so comfortable all day!!!  And can I say that that is saying something - because this day was the hottest day they had all summer... and it wasn't technically summer anymore!

Brimfield basically turns itself into a giant outdoor antiques mall for 6 days, with stalls lining about 1 mile of road, and then out from the road quite a distance.

I have never seen anything like it!  You could pretty much find anything.  Marianna and I gave up on trying to see everything and decided just to shade-hop instead.  If a stall had shade, we would look at it.  If it didn't, we weren't going there.

We found a stall (there were a few actually) that sold freshly made lemonade - oh god it was so good!  We went back for a second one later in the day on our way back to the bus!

We managed to find somewhere air conditioned for lunch - and we found Joy!

This has got to be the worlds biggest salad...

Right when we needed to be boarding the bus, a massive rain storm came through - it had been building for a while and dumped down at about 1.30pm.  It did serve to make everyone get back to the bus as quickly as possible!!!  Everyone had had an amazing day and had found plenty of treasure.  Show and Tell on the bus as we headed back to New York City was lots of fun!

That night I decided to take it easy and bought myself a bottle of Verve Cliquot and sat in bed and enjoyed it and some chocolate chip biscuits after a much needed shower.

So, have you ever been to Sturbridge or Brimfield?  Ever had fresh lemonade?  Ever sweated so much that your hair dye has run into your shirt and your hat?  Ever had a bottle of Verve for dinner?

Beccie
xxx