~Curiouser and Curiouser~Lewis Carroll

Goodness kiddos, but from the looks of the red X's on my calendar...we are two weeks out from hitting the dirt running.  The Marburger Farm Antique Show officially opens October 2nd, but we'll be throwing up gravel next Friday morning.

~Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!~Lewis Carroll

The trailer is filling up quickly and I've just about finished all my...ahem...projects. If I don't mention my oh mylanta-almost-not quite-give me a couple of days-good grief-law-what so soon-I'm not ready for prime time-may not make it to the show projects, y'all will never know the difference...right?  Believe you me...when it comes down to a coupla piddly projects that won't make or break our show or picking out the right accessories to help me shine like new money...y'all get two guesses each on which I'll tackle first!

~Why this watch is exactly two days slow.~Lewis Carroll


(Remember...Tent H, Space 9.  I'll be waitin'!)

You know, when I talk about Antique Week, Marburger Farm and Round Top, I just assume everyone knows all about it.  Well you know what they say about assuming and what it makes outta U and ME?  Yeppers...seems I'm guilty as charged of being the rear end of a rented mule.  I get so caught up in my world that I forget junk/antiques aren't the center of everyone's universe.  Fact is, I was recently asked on FB about our business and what the big deal is with Round Top and Marburger Farm.

I'll be honest.  I assumed it would be a piece of cake to explain the shows and the love of antiques, both selling and buying, but after 5 tries at this post...seems I'm now the front end of that rented mule too!

How do I describe trying to catch white lightning in a bottle or carrying moonshine home in a mason jar?

Well y'all...here goes nothin'!

~Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.~Lewis Carroll

Twice a year, in the little town of Round Top (pop. 80+) and the surrounding areas, people from near and far flood tiny Hwy. 237 in search of antiques and a good time.  They come to pick and choose from hand selected, fine antiques and to dig in piles of rusty, crusty treasures.

I can't even begin to guesstimate the number of vendors there are at all the venues.  Merchandise is squirrelled away just to be brought to the shows...and it's always the best of the best.  I guarantee you one thing...you can't see it all in one day...nor should you want to.

There are circus tents in the middle of pastures where a few weeks before cows had been grazing.  There are charming buildings and dance halls reinvented into shows.  Marburger Farm itself is a collection of old buildings and football sized tents, crammed jammed full of treasures to rival the Comstock lode.

Front yards, store fronts, anywhere a tent can be pitched...it's pitched.  These are all individual shows and they don't always start on the same date.  Some of these folks are down there two weeks before us.



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The Zapp Hall Show always starts the last weekend in September and March.  Marburger Farm starts the Tuesday after that.  Like I said...it's a lot of shows, dealers, and great stuff.  The Show Daily is a great resource for show dates, times, etc. and is available at all the show locations. The Howdy is the official Marburger guide. Both are excellent at guiding you through the shows.

But it's not just the antiques and junk that lures folks in...although there is plenty of both.  Seldom does anyone go home empty handed.

~So come with me, where dreams are born and time is never planned.  Just think of happy thoughts and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land.~Sir J.M. Barrie

No...it's more than the antiques.  It's a feeling that sneaks up on you as you exit off I-35 in Waco and make your way down the backroads leading to the fields of dreams.  As the hustle of the city slips away in your rear view mirror, it's the realization that your neck suddenly doesn't feel as stiff as it did on the interstate or that stressful situation in your office doesn't matter quite as much.  It's a peace...and a giddy excitement...that fills your whole being, making the hair on the back of your arms spring to attention.

It's something akin to the wonder Dorothy felt as she stepped out of her black and white Kansas and rubbed her eyes at the glorious technicolor world of Munchkin Land.  Sitting on a bench, listening to a live band with a Shiner in your hand, the hurried world melts away like the ice crystals on your longneck.

It's Lone Star Beer, Lucchese's, and long prom dresses. 

It's laughing out loud for no reason other than you want to.

It's dancing in the moonlight (all by yourself if you got the notion to) and feeling like a tumbleweed.

It's handsome Texas sheriffs mounted on horseback and shoppers jaywalking like crazy, dodging vans, trucks and bikes.

~There is a place like no place on earth. A land full of wonder, mystery and danger. Some say to survive it, you need to be mad as a hatter.
Which luckily, I am.~Lewis Carroll

It's wearing petticoats on the outside of your skirt, turquoise bracelets up to your shoulders, cowboy hats, raggedy jeans with silk shirts, and believing you're beautiful.  'Cause at the shows...everybody is somebody and everybody is beautiful!

You find yourself strutting 'stead of stumbling.

Dancing 'stead of sitting.

Smiling 'stead of sulking.

It's eatin' slices of Royer's pie with your fingers 'stead of a fork with a big ol' glass of sweet, iced tea. It's lickin' your fingers to catch every crumb while grinnin' like a possum, knowing everything tastes better when you're sittin' on the back of a tail gate.

It's decadent, homemade ding dongs guaranteed ring even Quasimodo's bell.  It's cinnamon rolls the size of a catcher's mitt.  Cheesecake fresh from a kitchen, so perfect you'd slap somebody up the side of the head if they tried to get between you and your fork.

It's tangy BBQ the likes of which you can only find in Central Texas.  It's bitin' into a Jethro-sized pimento cheese sandwich and hollerin' Yee Haw...with your mouth full!

It's bluebonnets in the spring, hay mazes in the fall...and Blue Bell all year long.

It's a week long costume party, elegance in the dirt, and people watching at its best!

It's antiques, ancestry, and accents...Southern, Texan, and all points in between.

It's looking for an excuse to say y'all and down yonder ways in your best drawl...even if you're from Ohio.

It's getting dusty dirty one moment...bathing in the rain the next...and loving every minute of it.

It's stomping through the pastures during the day, amazed at all the vintage goodness to be found and relaxing at night, blanketed under an endless Texas sky, amazed at all the stars the heavens hold.

It's big skies, big hair, big jewelry...and bigger dreams.

It's a meeting up place for old friends and the opportunity for finding new ones.

It's Never Never Land, Wonderland and Oz all rolled up into one big ol' playground folks 'round here call Antique Week.

It's over the rainbow and...

it's Texas at her finest.

To get here, the directions are simple.

~Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.~Lewis Carroll

Just step through the looking glass, follow the Yellow Brick Road down through the Rabbit Hole to the second star on the right and straight on till morning.

You can't miss it.

Just listen for the sound of laughter.

That'll be us and about a gazillion others having the time of our lives. I hope I've enticed you to join us...if not this time...next.

~All you need is trust and a little bit of pixie dust.~Sir J.M. Barrie

From Warrenton to Fayetteville to Round Top and all stops in between, folks this ain't no flea market.  It's friendly business by day and an office party every night.

Tucked away like a well loved diary, this my friends, is where one goes to get lost from reality...and find their way to back to what makes 'em happy...a well lived, joy filled life. 

~Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.~Frank Baum

Any other questions...Y'all?


(For those of you who are Texas history buffs like me, here is a link to a wonderful interview in the Round Top Register with Miss Emma Lee Turney who created this remarkable gathering over 44 years ago.  Not to drop names, but Miss Ima Hogg was also instrumental in the creation of this Texas legend.  Round Top...a legend that continues to grow in the fertile pastures of Central Texas.)