National Cheeseburger Day...And More!

This post is for the weekend of September 19th and 20th. We are just the slightest bit behind but we will catch up this week! 

It came to our attention that Friday, September 18th was National Cheeseburger Day. far be it from us to ignore that most important holidays! We knew that we had to celebrate in the way that was most important to us. It took very little thought. We knew what we had to do!

On Friday night, dinner would be at All American Hamburger Drive-In! The restaurant has been around since 1963 and is still owned and operated by the same family. It is one of our favorite places to stop for a quick bite and we were just talking about how it had been months since we were last there. National Cheeseburger Day became our inspiration to visit again!

The place is always busy. It always has been! We each ordered a quarter pound cheeseburger, an order of french fries and a strawberry shake. Okay, maybe Rob ordered a second cheeseburger too. 

All American Hamburger Drive-In always makes us smile! 

Saturday morning arrived and that means saling. The list compiled during the week had lots of sales with some potential though none were "can't miss" opportunities. The one we liked best was forty minutes away to our east and we were determined to get there pretty soon after its opening. With a list of potential sales ready and our first stop decided upon, off we went! 

We arrived at stop #1 not long after its opening hoping to find some good things at the "moving sale" that had some pictures of old stuff. We knew, from the pictures, that the backyard was littered with lots of statues including several flamingos. The pictures were not that great and we could not tell their age or their composition (we were hoping for old concrete garden flamingos). The other thing that sparked an interest from us was a gravel art black cat. We have one already but a second one would be nice. Plus, this sale was run by one of our favorite tag sale companies. Our fingers were crossed.

The basement was our first stop and there was much to search!

It had so many things all over the place

Hiding in the basement was this pole lamp. We passed on it since we have so many others that we like much better.

And, not surprisingly, was the mounted pencil sharpener in the basement. We already knew that this sale was pretty good but a mounted pencil sharpener in the basement always confirms that we are in the right place! 

As it turns out, the flamingos that we saw in the picture were plastic, not all that old and falling apart. We did see a concrete "drunk guy against a pole" but he had suffered a broken leg at some point in the past and had been repaired. We didn't think the asking price was worth the purchase. We did, however, get some tiki mugs, a ceramic squirrel, some mini Mexican hats, some records, a few Christmas things, some gravel art cats (though not the black one in the picture) and more!

After a quick stop for breakfast, we headed westward to continue our saling adventures. We weren't sure which stop we would go to next but we knew that every other sale was to the west. Along the way, we decided where our second stop would be.

Sale #2 was the closest to where we began our day and it seemed like the logical second stop. It was listed as an estate tag sale and we knew that it would be privately run since the ad was not prominent and there were no pictures. Since "hospital bed" and "wheelchair" were listed among the items for sale, we thought that this sale might have some old stuff. As we approached the door, we were told that the sale had been cancelled and that someone had come in two days prior and bought everything. They thought that they had killed the ad but, evidently, it did not work. The sale was a bust.

We were now moving towards our town and our third stop was advertised as a three family garage sale with vintage items. We arrived to find a three family garage sale as advertised. It was run by a vintage shop owner in town whose prices we consider pretty high. This garage sale was no different. Very little of interest and nothing at a reasonable price. Time to move on.

Sale #4 was also a garage sale though we did not know that in advance. It was advertised as an estate sale with the contents of the "whole house" for sale but most of the items were set out in garage sale style in front of the house with only the furniture remaining inside. We did better here than at the previous sale. We walked away with a couple of records, a ceramic poodle and a great vintage chafing dish which will be perfect for warming cocktail wieners! They originally had two of these chafing dishes but the top of one was lost long ago. They through in the remainder of the second dish for free.

It was at this point that we knew that we would not be able to make all of the sales on our list and we chose to go to the closer ones since none of the remaining ones stood out and by going to the two closest, we would have the best chance at success. The other ones were spread apart and choosing one of those would mean that it would be our last stop. Sale #5 was a "renovation and estate sale" and, like the previous one, it was a privately run garage sale. The things for sale were in the driveway and, though there was not that much, we did find a couple of things. A ceramic angel and a record came home with us.

The last sale of the day was run by a tag sale company that we know and it was evident in the picture that there was old stuff here. As we approached the house, we saw that the next door neighbor was taking advantage of the free advertising and was running a garage sale. We stopped to look and the one thing of interest was these really cool 1960's astronaut trading cards but the price they were asking, while fair, was not in our budget. It was time to move along.

The last sale had some really cool pictures in their ad. We saw a great starburst light fixture which was long gone by the time we arrived, though we have two of them already and had no plan to buy another. We also saw a pretty cool lamp in the picture which was still there but was greatly damaged. Our trip through the house was quick since it was a very small house but we did not leave empty-handed. A cookbook, some playing cards and a record came home with us.

Here are some of the things we brought home with us:

A cookbook

A 7-inch record

Some 12-inch records

Some 12-inch Christmas records

A vintage beach towel

A ceramic squirrel for mounting on the house (marked Japan), a Flintstones glass from 1962, a vintage bowl and a pair of small Mexican hats (for our annual Cinco de Mayo parties)

Some old decks of playing cards, a pair of old ashtrays, an old plastic indian and an old pennant.

Some old tiki mugs. One is unmarked, one is marked Hawaii and the other is marked 1962. 

A vintage chafing dish and some spare parts for it.

A pair of gravel art cats

Some Christmas things

It was a day filled with fun and we left the chores and errands for Sunday, all of which we completed with ease even with a two hour block reserved for watching the Manchester United game (Rob never misses a game). Two day weekends seem to go too fast but we always cherish the time we have together. Next week is a three day weekend and that is something to look forward to together...for saling and for simply giving us an extra day for us.