World's Longest Yard Sale - 2012

How was your weekend, my friends? Our days were spent searching for treasures at the world's longest yard sale. Over 400 miles on the odometer later, I'm sad to say that we didn't come home with much, but had a good time nonetheless.

 Saturday's Route: Outskirts of Dunlap, TN driving north to Crossville, TN.

Pretty much the coolest gimmick for a typewriter ever:  This Royal Swinger typewriter has an AM radio built in! I wanted it. I mean, I really wanted it. Priced at a reasonable $100, and the dealer even said he'd come off that price, but I just couldn't make myself pull the trigger. 

One dealer had a lot of neat signs, pedal cars, and vintage sporting goods, but his prices were way high. The sweet Orange Krate Schwinn Stinger was $950. Yep.

 We parked in a cow pasture.

 Vintage women's clothing in a mobile store. Cute!

 Lunch was a really tasty cheeseburger & tots at Little Maggie's Cafe in Pikeville. This cute restaurant is owned by members of Mr. Cheese's family, and the building was built by Mr. Cheese's grandparents in 1947.

Sunday's Route: Lookout Mountain, TN driving south to Gadsden, AL. We had never driven this route before, and had no idea what to anticipate. For the first he first 40 or so miles we saw only about a dozen vendors set up. But then... 

 Things got a bit more exciting when we arrived in Mentone, Alabama - a cute artsy town.  I'd love to have visited this place on day one of the sale (Thursday).

 We took a wrong turn, which took us off the mountain, but it was a lovely (if accidental) side trip.

One thing that we spotted over and over in Alabama were vendors selling tires. This was the most sculptural tire display.

 Cute little old store - I cannot remember where in Alabama this was, but it was definitely rural.

Although the 2012 yard sale proved to be mostly just scenic driving, the hunt is always fun and it's an adventure to travel down new roads. The tentative plan for next year is to take the trek up north to the Ohio and Michigan leg, where the surely the midcentury treasures are easier to find.

Stay tuned for some exciting news this afternoon...

The World's Largest Treehouse

Yesterday my friend Megan and I made a trip to the world's largest treehouse in Crossville, Tennessee. I had visited the treehouse with Mr. Cheese last summer, but I could return to this remarkable place a hundred times and still find something new to see. 

The (awesome) grafitti collection continues to grow and grow. Names, quotes, and little drawings cover the interior walls of the treehouse, left by visitors from all over the country (I even saw a couple of passages in German). Those images will appear in a future post - it's a collection good enough to stand on it's own. A winter trip to the treehouse is definitely in order, as the trees mask the bulk of the structure.

Oh, and a word to the politicians out there: I could totally see one of you guys ripping off my flag/Jesus field image for a political ad. Don't.

A weekend of good simple eating

As usual the weekend flew by far too fast. Mr. Cheese and I took a much-needed day off on Saturday and drove up to Crossville, TN for the Homestead Apple Festival. We brought home some regionally made and/or grown goodies that I'm super-excited about (yes, I get that excited about food): Mutsu apples, hot sauce, 4-year cheddar from a local cheesemaker, and blackberry jam and pickles from the Mennonite community in Sparta.
We also bought some Norwegian Ski Queen Gjetost cheese at the cheese shop. I sampled a tiny cube of it at the cheese shop and was intrigued, but it was the cool packaging that convinced me I had to have it. Ohhhh myyy....If you're a cheese lover, you must try this unusual cheese. The creamy texture and caramel color and flavoring are unlike anything I've ever tasted. We tried it sliced super-thin on a crusty wheat baguette and it was heavenly. I could eat this every day. Mmmmm...breakfast cheese...
How was your weekend?

Mid-Century State Park Goodness

As much as I love my state parks today (see my prior post for recent pics), they were even lovelier in the 30's, 40's and 50's. These images of Cumberland Mountain State Park make me long for a different time. All of the images have some great details - be sure to enlarge so you can soak it all in. The big stone house next to the dam was built by the CCC, and I believe that this picture was taken during park construction in the late 1930's. Its original purpose was to serve as a mill for the New Deal "Homestead" community in which the park is located. It was never used as a mill, but the name "Mill House" stuck. I've only stayed in the Mill House once. The building really needs some work, but is still for rent, and sleeps 16. Such a cool old building, and other than a 1970's kitchen remodel, it is fairly original.
Picnicking on the peninsula. The structure of these tables is made from pipe, and although the tops have been replaced, the bases are original and are still in the same spots.
Lounging on the terrace, overlooking the swim beach on Byrd Lake. The beach is no longer there (Some bureaucrat decided a pool was better than a beach. Rubbish.) The backs of the metal patio chairs have hearts on them. Hearts! I think that pretty much sums up my entire feeling about this scene.
The old bath house. This now-dilapidated structure was pictured in my prior post. There are holes in the roof, broken windows, trees growing inches from the walls. The building is all boarded up. Very sad.
One of the most awesome pictures ever. Check out the olympic calibur springboard diver in mid-air. Beach babes, beach balls, and lifeguards in boats!
The old restaurant, since torn down (or possibly burned down) and rebuilt. A round dining room with wood ceiling and orb lights. Dreamy. Just wait, it gets better...
'Coon Hollow stands all by itself at the end of a long road, 1/2 mile up from the other cabins. This was originally a Homestead house that at some point was donated to the park. I love staying in this place, with its wood paneled walls, floors, and ceilings.
An original "rustic" 1 bedroom cabin, built in the late 1930's.
The 1 bedroom "rustics" still have screened porches and have maintained the original floor plans.
Interior shot of a 1 bedroom "rustic". The ceilings are now sheetrocked, the light fixtures were updated with wagon wheel fixtures in the 50's, and the bedspreads and drapes are now unattractive aztec-patterned fabric. The cabins still have the wood paneling and floors, and use the same bed and the little bench at the foot of the bed.
There is now a door between the tiny bedroom and large living room, and the bathrooms were completely remodeled in the early 80's for function vs. aesthetics. Think plastic shower stalls and dark wood vanities.
The kitchens have also been remodeled and now have sheet vinyl floors and early 80's cabinets. (upper is still an open cabinet)
Several more cabins were built in the 1950's, and while the exteriors are not a charming as the original "rustics", the interiors were mid-century fabulous. The screened porches on the backs of the cabins are now second bedrooms. The renovations were done well, and the layout doesn't look like it was altered when you're inside the cabin.
I promised you mid-century interior goodness, and here it begins! The living room is still arranged like this. Unfortunately, the black and white linoleum floors were replaced with similar high quality neutral colored linoleum squares. We rented this cabin (and I do believe it was the one pictured here) several years ago during a severe record-breaking cold snap. About 6 inches of snow fell, the temp dropped to -11 degrees F, and even with a fire, central heat and air, and all of the old wall heaters going, we couldn't get the temp in the cabin above 60 degrees F. The bedrooms were too cold, so we pushed the twin beds together in front of the fireplace and bundled up with tons of blankets. The cabin was built on a slab, and of course the pipes, being in the ceiling, froze. We went for a long drive and several hikes around the Cumberland Plateau, and while the rangers had the big heaters going to thaw out the pipes, they managed to flood the cabin with an inch of water. The weekend was quite an adventure, and still one of my favorite weekends in my entire life.
One of three "Timberlodges". The exteriors of these look a bit more like log cabins, and the logs are stained bright red. They are sited on the hill just up from the lake, and each has a deck that runs the length of the back of the cabin.
Although we've stayed at this park about a dozen times, we have never been able to snag a timberlodge. They stay booked constantly. The interiors cannot possibly be as cool as this now...
That lamp, that floor, those drapes...
Love the beds, the table, the lamp...
The beach at night.
I wish I had been able to experience the Cumberland Mountain State Park in all of her 50's grandeur. Happy, yet slightly sad sigh...
Photos courtesy of State of Tennessee Archives.

Weekend at the Cabin

Our backpacking trip was rained out again, but we were really craving some time in the woods. For us, "the cabin" is more a state of mind than a specific place. It can be any cabin in the woods, although most often, as it was this weekend, we stay at Cumberland Mountain. We have our routine when we visit the area, which usually includes a trip to the cheese shop, Vintage Inc., and the Stonehaus Winery. We go for a hike or two, visit the Homestead Museum, sometimes play Scrabble, and my husband always sleeps too late while I enjoy some quiet time on the screened porch, drinking my coffee and reading. This weekend also included a frenzied though unfruitful search for Polaroid film, visiting lots of thrift and antique shops, and fried pies from the Homestead Apple Festival.

Sunday was a glorious perfect-weather day. This is the dam at Byrd Lake (the largest masonry structure ever built by the CCC, who completed the park construction in 1940). You drive across the dam to enter the cabin and recreation areas of the park.
Back side of the dam, viewing a huge volume of water rushing into Byrd Creek due to the heavy rain we've had.
A crazy Fu Manchu looking caterpillar.
Raised terrace adjacent to the restaurant. The terrace dates to the 1930's, although the original lodge and restaurant that once stood here were torn down (due to a fire perhaps?) and a new restaurant was built in the 70's.
Red berries and huge & unusual fungi (also attributed to the immense volume of rain lately). The decaying structure is the old bath house. I'm not sure what the park's plans are for this building, but aside from the stonework, all else is surely lost to the years of neglect.
Striking wildflower bloom. Too lazy to search my Tennessee Wildflowers book for this right now.
Byrd Lake. There used to be a beach to the right, but in the 70's or 80's the park built a giant swimming pool, so now lake swimming isn't allowed. At least the pool is hidden away in a corner.
Upturned mushroom cap holding a pool of water.
Rounded wall of the terrace, blue skies on Sunday (after 3 inches of rain on Saturday), a "rustic" 1930's cabin, Canadian Geese.
Sunday morning I enjoyed a bagel topped off with unbelievably fresh and decadent cream cheese, and far too many cups of coffee. I'm certain it is just because this is the dinnerware at the state parks cabins I visit, but I have such an affection for this Buffalo China pattern.

This afternoon I will be posting a bunch of pictures of the cabins in the 1940's and 1950's. Prepare yourself for some mind-blowing mid-century interiors.