Meandering

Somewhere between Atlantic City and Park City, UT sits the little town of Cambridge City, IN. Starting out just south of home, my friend Cindy and I head east on Rt. 40, making our way down the National Road to this little city.

It’s my favorite way to spend a beautiful Saturday. This road takes you past small town America in action. Yard sales, tractors, cows, ball fields and clothes lines all stretched out for miles. The sights along the way instill a feeling of joining forces with a different style of living. Spending the day on Route 40 is therapeutic for me in a way I can’t quite explain.

Not a serious antique hunter, I am in love with the little shops along the way of one of the earliest highway projects in the United States.



Walking down Main Street in small town USA, I can remember walking downtown in my own little hometown as a child. I can remember pausing at store windows and feeling a nostalgia I didn’t understand then either. My antique store affection comes more from those childhood memories than any serious search for matching Waterford glasses and decanter set. My love is for the plundering. Spending the night at my grandmother’s house always included plundering a drawer or two in her bedroom, a cabinet with my Aunt Brenda’s old dolls or going through those old books on the shelf. Those nights filled me with appreciation for small treasures and anticipation of finding something that was once meaningful in someone’s daily life. It helped me understand that something doesn’t have to be valuable to be valuable.
.


On the trip I touched items from a different time, like the vintage baby bonnet from 1832. And some not quite vintage items like a Starsky and Hutch lunchbox. There were rusty old tools, glassware in every color, and rustic tables. I found several scales (my favorite) with chipped paint, wooden bowls and pre-prohibition barrels.



These shops are testament to the adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.



All this pillaging leaves one ready for lunch and this old trail doesn’t disappoint. The Hilltop just above Cambridge City offers a “walk up to order” window for the best burgers around. Sitting on the bench facing the road, waiting for the hand patted burger to cook, is just another treat the day has to offer. Sipping a vanilla coke-another favorite-and eating without feeling rushed at the old stone picnic tables, makes for some much needed time off your feet. There is something small town café’s and eateries offer that you can’t satisfy at McDonalds, Applebee’s or Olive Garden.


Enjoying the wares of one antique store my friend states; “I would love to have lived back then, wouldn’t you?” “No” I reply, “I like cell phones and microwaves.” And indoor plumbing for that matter, but there is something about the ancient that makes my soul feel at home. There is some connection or joy my heart feels among all these items from another era.



It’s the simplicity of a different period. It’s the opportunity to walk down the street with a friend and feel like you are steeling away a few moments in Mayberry. The calm of the pace, the friendliness of the townsfolk…it's a darling way to unwind your mind.

*some photos were found via google search and not the property of any Figley