It has been an adventure weekend. The husband fit all his hours into a 4 day week, so I finally took off Friday. It flt like playing hooky. It felt great. The weather was cool and the sky was clear. The original plan was to go to Weeki Wachee Springs. I knew it wasn't going good for us making it there when it took us until noon to find something for breakfast.
We wandered and wandered our way south. When we were near Citra we called the in-laws to ask where they had those good scones. We stopped at Old Tyme Bread store. We went in only to be told they are not selling food, just bread. The in-laws said the lady didn't have food when they went. There were promises of BBQ and home cooking to come. We will wait and see. We bought cheese/herb bread and a couple cookies to hold us over. Thank goodness since it was a while until we found a place to stop.
I managed to get the husband to hunt for the Hospice Thrift store. We haven't been to that side of Ocala in our travels and I seem to have a partiality to Hospice thrift stores (some have such great stuff). This one was small, but the staff were friendly. They had buy one get one on books so I found an old cookbook and The Stepford wives.
(from their website)
The husband saw a KMart down from it so he had to look at diecast cars. I found 50% off Halloween pot holders. Hey, my old one caught on fire. I am still grieving. Now I must stop with the pot holders. I am up to 5.
(from urbanspoon.com)
Red's Restaurant in Hernando, Florida is a place the husband has drove by and found intriguing due to the monster truck that is usually out front. It wasn't there when we stopped because it was at a show. The restaurant was packed. It is covered in wood and license plates, gas signs and a variety of people - families, regular folk and ladies all dressed up but wearing a sparkly skeleton. They had plenty of sandwiches and home cooking on the menu. The husband went with country fried steak since he is always on a quest for the best. I had the Beach Bum, with pastrami, fries, coleslaw, tomato and lettuce all in one huge sandwich. It was good and filling. The portions from what we received and from other people's plates were huge. The prices weren't bad either. The husband was happy with the bill.
We followed the road south with all intentions of seeing mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs. By now it was after noon. The husband made a mistake by stopping at a thrift store. It was one I hadn't been to, a Key Training in Inverness.
I found the lazy susan I was looking for, actually two - green and yellow. I also scored a Beatles 8 track and Pavarotti for my mother in-law. We wandered further down the road and went to another Key Training Thrift store in Crystal River. It had the biggest Christmas room I have ever seen in a thrift store. It was like a wonderland. Christmas music played and it was mainly lighted by the lights from the trees. Unfortunately I did not get anything there. The husband found a tool.
As the day wore on and the husband commented that we weren't going to make it there I gave up on mermaids and focused on thrifting. I have been using the Google Maps app on my phone and depending on it to search for stores. We had 3 in a row that were listed, but did not exist (at least not where the lady said it should).
I was excited to visit two more Sheriff's Ranch Thrift store locations. I was so enamored with the Sheriff's Ranch in Live Oak. I wanted to see what the others had to offer. They were not as huge and not as chocked full of everything, but they weren't bad. The Dunedin location had a ton of furniture. We found a holiday 8 track, a few old books and a cool gadget that plugs into an 8 track player to play cassette tapes. The Crystal River location was chocked full of this and that, but we didn't purchase anything.
We also stopped at a Habitat for Humanity Restore on the road. It seemed newer. They didn't have much by way of home improvement, but had most everything else (thank goodness no clothes). I found 2 Statler Brothers 8 tracks for the mother in-law and a San Francisco tile trivet. I have finally came to a decision about my tile trivet collecting problem... I will purchase on travel tiles and use them on the back splash when we redo the kitchen. I was thinking getting ones in blue and green to make it go with the colors of the kitchen, but then changed to something that will be more interesting and prettier. So far I have San Fransisco and Greece.
This location also had a cool console stereo radio/record player (with storage for records) that was playing the music for the store. If I didn't already have one I would have snagged it for $75.
I think it was the Crystal River store, but the one we went to was on Highway44. Oh, their website says it too. They just moved in July.
Unfortunately no other Habitat Restore for me that day :(
Our last thrift stop at dusk on Friday was the strangest Goodwill store I have ever seen. It was a new and beautiful building right near a Lowe's. It was not anything like a regular Goodwill. It was more of a retail store. They must have gotten the inventory from several stores. It had enough Halloween costumes, accessories and decorations to fill a store. They had all types of household goods. Of course there were racks and racks of clothes. The husband gravitated to the Gator inflatable goal post. The only one they had left were two inflated ones, so he did not hesitate to carry the about 6 foot tall goal post to the register. He also found a Jimmie Johnson dry erase/bulletin board. Those are his addictions (Gators and #48).
I only found a car/plane kids shower curtain to be used in the car bedroom, probably in the closet since that room has no doors.
(from waymarking.com)
We finally broke down and followed what billboards had told us all day, go to Cody's Original Roadhouse. After a long day of wandering and thrifting we unwound with steak and a buffalo chicken sandwich. I liked that they give every table crayons regardless of age. I sometimes wish I could get to color while I wait for my food like the kiddies.
Somehow the husband has caught the bug of thrifting. Saturday we were driving to town and he did a u-turn to go to a neighbor's yard sale. He almost bought a 60s chainsaw, but resisted. I found a $1 West Bend Poppery II. When we opened it at home it had never been used. I felt so dang lucky.
(the only image that matched came from an asian site)
I managed to get the husband to check on a local thrift store that I found my green Tupperware containers, Avis' Attic. Good thing we went since they are moving next month to a larger location in downtown Starke. I found a Hot Wheels car and a car bank for the car room. But the find that I wish I could have taken home was the 1971 Electrohome Saturn Record Player. It is beautiful, as you can see.
When I got home I tried to look it up. I am a dork about researching and learning about things. Electrohome is a Canadian company who are still making electronics. They made this model from 1966 to 1971. It is made to look futuristic. I think it is beautiful with its tulip base and round speakers. The seller says they are firm on $100. If only I had money to blow. I better go check my Powerball numbers.
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