Monday, September 9, 2013

Michigan-derings Part II, Traverse City



My second stop in a recent trip to Michigan was to Traverse City (if we were conversing in person, I would be showing you where this city is located on my hand). Known for its scenery and its cherries, Traverse City is a very popular destination for Michiganders seeking to spend time “Up North.” I think it’s funny that seemingly every state has a designation for weekend and/or second home destinations. In Oregon, you head to “The Coast”; in New Jersey it is “The Shore”; and Massachusetts has “The Cape.” But I digress…

While in Traverse City, I was able to convince my mother to hit up some antique stores with me. We went to the Wilson Antiques store in downtown Traverse City where I made a couple of big scores. The first was a midcentury modern starburst wall clock. These are becoming increasingly hard to find and more expensive as people continue to renovate and restore midcentury homes. I will be putting this clock in my Etsy store, although it is still sitting in Michigan at the moment since it’s kind of hard to pack a big spiky thing like this in your luggage.

I’ve also recently become interested in Chinoiserie décor. A main staple to good Chinoiserie vignette is a fretwork piece of furniture. I found a beautiful writing desk hutch that appears to be redwood, hand engraved, and has intricate fretwork detail. I’m not sure this piece is going to make it to the store anytime soon as I may end up keeping it for myself; which is a big occupational hazard of owning an Etsy store.



In addition to antique stores, there are also a lot of cool places where you can find non-preowned items in Traverse City.  One of my favorites was a spice store, Spice Merchants on Front Street which was a smorgasbord of bulk spices and teas. I am particularly excited to try a Korean BBQ spice that I bought there. I will let you know how it turns out…

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