Our Trip to Trade Days

First Monday Trade Days

The other night while visiting with besties, Tom and Judy, they mentioned they planned to go to Canton the following weekend.  I quickly responded.  "That sounds good, we'll go with you."

You can do that with friends.

Hubby and I laughed together and shared the last time we had been there.  Kinda sorta there!

Many years ago when the kids were pre-teens, as we were planning our two-week vacation trip to New Mexico, we decided it would be great to get up early on Monday and go by the renowned First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas.  Our daughter was not crazy about getting up early, but she was not a morning person; otherwise, we were excited about seeing all the "old" stuff together.  It wasn't always easy to find an adventure that didn't cost much.

Somebody didn't do their homework!  Just sayin'!

When we got there, we thought, oh wow, we're the first ones here.  No parking issues for us!

Well, neither was there any old stuff, or an open booth or building.

Just because it advertises itself as "First Monday" it doesn't mean it is open on Monday.

Lesson learned, so we kinda had to beg for forgiveness apologize to the kids for the needless early morning rising.

For this trip, Judy asked me to make the overnight arrangements.  I figured the small hotels would be taken and none of them had more than two stars, so I thought B&B might be an answer.

I found one with Five Stars *****!

Five stars in rural east Texas should be something to see, so I called.

The nice lady explained that they had closed their B&B a couple years earlier and surprised that it was still showing up on Google.  But she was delighted to hear that they had finally won the 5th star  they had worked so hard to achieve.

After talking a while she said, "You know, we still have a cabin behind our house and it was cleaned this week if you would like to come and stay here.  There won't be any breakfast, but you are welcome to come inside the house and fix your morning coffee."

After making sure they had running water, heat and air and actual indoor restrooms, I agreed to take her up on her generous offer.

Phyllis and her sister Mary made us feel so welcome and yes, the little two bed/bath cabin was small, clean and perfect for us.  We had plenty of room to stay up until mid-night playing Mexican Train and the guys said the coffee and early morning visit with the owners was most enjoyable.

Risky?  Perhaps, but it worked out better than we could have imagined.

We also enjoyed walking and seeing what we could see of the Trade Days on Friday and Saturday.  If you like "old" stuff and some new as well spread out across acres and more buildings I could count then you must plan a trip.

 I am not a Shabby Chic and vintage type person and really don't want much of it in my home, but found that my camera evidently loved shooting pictures of it found everywhere.

 

 

 Some of the display areas were beautifully appealing.

 True Texas leathers!

 How many ways can you use branches?

 We were captivated by the beautiful wooden inlay patterns for these islands.

It didn't take me long to find my favorite item! A swinging bed.

We had a great time with friends Tom and Judy at Canton's First Monday Trade Days.