Round Top Texas–Part 2

I was able to make a whirlwind trip through Round Top, Texas to see the antique festival recently when my husband had a business meeting in Texas. The meeting was in Dallas and we were able to add a few days at the end of the trip to venture down to Round Top.

Round Top is tiny most of the year. There is no “town” to speak of. There is no hotel, only a few guest houses which obviously book to capacity well ahead of the twice yearly antiques festival.  Initially, I booked a room in a chain hotel in a town about 35 miles away. Then I found an alternative in a town 50 miles away for $200 less than the chain hotel. I decided to take my chances and use the $200 savings for shopping money. I did not shop with a “budget” in mind but my purchases ended up costing right at $200!

We stayed at Rainbow Courts in Rockdale, Texas. It was about 50 miles from Round Top but the speed limit is 70 most of the way and it was a very easy trip.

The cottages were sooo cute and the lobby was absolutely vintage gourgeousness!

Our little cottage had a full kitchen which would be great if you stayed there all week and tired of take out food.

On our first day at Round Top we browsed the southern end of the festival at Warrenton. In my opinion, the merchandise in the Warrenton area was lower end and the merchandise at the northern end toward Carmine was a little more high end including some fine period antiques. Unfortunately, the Marburger Farm show was not open while we were there. We missed it by one week so maybe next time. There was a TON of stuff there. There were fields and fields of tents. It was almost overload even for me!

There were plenty of food vendors.

This is not a good photo, but we had lunch on day one at Reba’s Upstairs which is the porch at the top of the photo above. They had a variety to choose from, and they had a restroom! (Some buildings had restrooms but tent areas usually just had port-a-johns!)

I had a great salad and my husband had brisket.

On the second day we were there we ate at the Methodist Mens Barbeque at the Blue Hills show. It was excellent!

I love unique vehicles so I had to have a photo of this coffee bug.

Speaking of vehicles, the one below was one of my favorite things from the entire show.

It was a 1957 Fiat for $850! Call me crazy but I love this car. It even had suicide doors! It reminds me of my first car. My mother bought me an Austin America for $100 at a yard sale. I don’t remember the model but I loved it. At the time, Austin made the popular Mini before it was sold to Cooper and the America model was made for the US. The fuel pump went out and my daddy refused to pay $89 for a part for a  $100 car so they sold it instead of repairing it. I would LOVE to have that car back!

We enjoyed looking at these vintage campers in the Warrenton area.

Some of them had already sold.

There were rows and rows of stuff for browsing.

There were also rows and rows and fields and fields of tents packed with goods.

The local sheriff was on hand to keep law and order.

Some of the combinations were quite interesting. The tent above had a variety of carnival rides, Greek statues, and garden urns.

Since our summer cottage is on a small lake, I am always drawn to little boats.

Where do you find a life size Buzz Lightyear?

There were lots of goodies regardless of your personal taste.

These vintage olive buckets were reasonably priced at $35 each.

This kid size church pew was so cute.

I would love to have added this Delft rolling pin to my collection but didn’t want to pay $175 so I just enjoyed looking at it.

I also loved this coat rack with the Delft tiles. I think I will be using this photo for inspiration in an upcoming project using the vintage tiles that we purchased in Belgium.

I loved this beautiful tent above and especially the shoe trunk. I can see it repurposed as a unique foyer table. It would look great with my parrot lamps on top!! The green and blue shades would even work!

Have you ever seen such a cute fitten’ room as the one in this tent?

There were many repurposed items including this gas tank with the attached mirror.

This tailgate was repurposed into a swing and the armrests were repurposed fenders. Notice the bumper below the seat. Very creative.

Zapp Hall was great. It was filled with very well styled booths.

The ceiling of Zapp Hall was fabulous.

My photos focus more on the unique items rather than furniture but there was plenty of furniture there to be had. In my opinion, a full size taxidermy bear is very unique.

I have collected rabbits for years and loved this one but at $1495 it was a little pricey.

This beautiful French sideboard was 11 feet long.

According to the tag, it was found in an old winery in France.

So, what did I buy? I’ll have photos later but I actually purchased very little. I purchased 6 Limoges fish plates, a set of copper measuring cups, and a pair of vintage door pulls. The biggest purchase was the set of plates and I bought them from a dealer from South Carolina! It’s a good thing that I found him on the second afternoon we were there or I would have been negotiating with him for transportation of a few big purchases! I did see a table that I liked and a grandfather clock but did not want to deal with cross country transportation. After we left, my husband told me that he had seen a shipper there with a booth. Funny he didn’t point that out to me!

Here are my notes if you have any interest in going.

This festival is HUGE. It involved lots of walking in the heat.

Comfortable shoes, clothing, and water are essential.

I chose comfort over cute and am so glad I did.

This website was very helpful. I printed the map to take along.

As stated earlier, there was a wide variety of items and prices. Lower end items were toward Warrenton and higher end items were north of Round Top.

I did not get to visit Marburger Farm as it is open for fewer days than the other venues. It is in the middle of all the venues and from what I heard and have read it is higher end. There is also an admission charge and maybe a parking fee too.(All other venues are free)

Cole’s was very big and very cool (as in temperature). All quality dealers with no junk. Bonus—clean restrooms.

Junk Gypsies- way to crowded for photos- packed full of women- More Junk Gypsy brand merchandise that actual junk

LaBahia was a good show with no junk.

We had to pay $5 to park in the Warrenton area.  All of the other venues that we visited had free parking.  There was a trolley going from one end to the other with stops along the way but we just drove our rental car.

Blue Hills was an excellent show with quality dealers- no junk. The Methodist Mens Barbeque was there and was excellent. It also had free parking and clean restrooms.

Arbor show- very high end big items

Round Top Hill was very low end with mostly junktiques

I enjoyed everything, both high end and low end. Please don’t think I’m being negative about the junk dealers. I love junk as much as the next chic who comes along and have plenty of $20 jewels to prove it. One day I am going to do a post dedicated to my $20 finds.

You can read my previous post with more pictures from Round Top by clicking here.

I think fall has finally arrived to my area. I hope that you are enjoying cooler temps too!

I’ll be linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, to the Scoop at Stone Gable, to Inspire me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, and to Grace At Home at Imparting Grace.