Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Emma and Una wait
for us to return from shopping

Our last day in Bellefonte, Monday, June 28, The Gryphon and I were both off work for the day so we could take our time getting back home.

After walking the dogs and checking on the cats' food and water situation, we took a nice walk downtown Bellefonte.

We started with coffee at the Cool Beans coffee shop, where we took time to write a couple short lines with a magnetic poetry kit.

 

recall life as symphony goddess
adorable demitasse with luscious skin shake fluff please him
languid storm behind purple puppy in garden show surprise

Then we got subs at a little Italian place, Bonfatto's, and walked down to the park to eat them. The park was filled with wildlife in the form of ducks and koi, but dearth of people. There were a couple men, apparently on break from a nearby construction site, and one family playing on the playground equipment. It was getting humid but nothing compared to Philly, so I wasn't uncomfortable.

From there, we visited a store my sister had told me about. It's got a huge floor space, because it used to be an old movie theater and has since become a sort of antique and craft consignment store. Different vendors rent spaces where they sell their wares. I'm not certain what it was called, since I can't find it in the yellow pages, but it might have been located in the old Plaza Theater.

The first room on the ground floor was primarily antiques and collectibles. On the second floor were more flea market items and crafts. On the other side of the first floor were a lot of goods by local candlemakers and herbalists, as well as more antiques and collectibles. The second floor on that side was more of the same.

My sister had told us it would take us some time to go through the whole store, and sure enough, it was like being in a little museum. The Gryphon had a great time looking at all the old books, many of which he'd read as a kid, and checking out other cultural artifacts, such as albums on vinyl. I told him that, since I'm not a DJ any more, I only buy stuff on vinyl if it seems rare enough that I can't get it in another medium. After all, vinyl does take up more space than CDs.

I was primarily interested in looking for antique brooches and vintage clothing. I was also looking for a jewelry box, but although there were many in there, none really suited my needs.

It took awhile to find any clothing I liked. A lot of it simply wasn't my style. There was a lot of '50s stuff. And if it was too old, I didn't want it because I wanted to actually be able to wear it. But that decision was made easier by the fact that most of the garments were heavy wool winter garments, and I don't buy clothes for a season in advance, since I'm still working on reaching my ultimate weight goal, about 15 pounds lighter than I am now.

Plus, many of the vintage clothes I liked were simply too big. Finally, after wandering through the entire store, I found one vendor who was selling several vintage Hawaiian dresses that were exactly my size and flattering, as well. I ended up buying two of them, a floor-length one in purple with a pink and yellow flower pattern, and a knee-length one in Blue, green and black, with an abstract pattern.

Upstairs, I also found a little pink clutch purse with bright flowers on it, very funky looking, for only $4.

We found a vendor of homemade dog biscuits, so we picked up a bag to give to my dog, Una, and my sister's dog, Emma, this week. We got a mild flavor, a chicken and herb variety, because Emma has a sensitive tummy. Plus, for some reason, she doesn't seem to like peanut butter.

We actually spent so much time in the store that we were hungry again by the time we left. Since we'd had subs for breakfast, we decided to get breakfast items for lunch. We ate at the Waffle Shop, which I informed The Gryphon was a must while in the State College/Bellefonte area.

Then it was back to my sister and her husband's place, where we carefully went down the list she'd given us on how to get the house ready for the cat sitters. We loaded up the car, loaded Emma and Una into the back, and made our way back to Philly.

We got hungry on the way, and since we'd eaten way too much this weekend, we opted for some veggie burgers from a Burger King at a rest area on I-76. It was good to know that at least one fast food restaurant offers a nice alternative to their usual fatty foods. Of course, I'm not sure what's in the sauce they put on it, but I suppose if you wanted to be absolutely safe you could ask them to hold the sauce.

After we unloaded the car, Una showed Emma around our place. They had a good time running up and down the stairs. We had bought a dog bed for Una and Emma to sit on during the trip home. Usually, Una sits on the back seat and is strapped in with a dog safety belt. But Emma won't abide such things, and what's worse, she moves around the car and once even got herself trapped under my sister's brake pedal. So now when she travels, she has to be put in the back of the hatchback, with a car fence blocking her access to the rest of the car.

We put the dog bed at the foot of our bed and put down some of Emma's toys. Between that and having her sister around, Emma didn't seem too forlorn. The last time I watched her for my sister, she seemed really depressed the whole time, but at least for now, she seemed to regard it as an adventure.

More from the wedding weekend:

June 28, 2005 - Finishing Touches

June 29, 2005 - Show Time

June 30, 2005 - The Story of Love

July 1, 2005 - More Wedding Pics

July 5, 2005 - Beach Baby

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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