Gone Junkin' in Round Top Part 2: JG World HQ

We're on a "junket" to Round Top, Texas and Texas Antiques Week.  In my last post we drove down through Round Top past miles and miles of stuff until we spotted the "can't miss it" pink suburban known as "Large Marge" and turned in through the winged gates for Junk Gypsy World HQ, the home of the Junk Gypsies of TV fame.

Gone Junkin' in Round Top: Part 1

Welcome to Round Top, Texas (Pop. 90), where in a bit of departure from garden visits and plants, I'm taking you on a "junket" to Texas Antiques Week when we were there in March.  It used to be just one weekend and over several decades it has grown to more than two weeks.  The twice-yearly market is on again from now through October 4th so it's a good time to show you what you might see if you decide to go.

No surprise to regular readers, I love to add stuff to my garden so back in March when we spent a few days visiting my family in nearby Chappell Hill we took a side trip to Round Top.  I've already shared several posts on the gardens at Festival Hill in Round Top and now we'll take a look at some of the chaos that goes on along a usually sleepy road known as TX 237.

Turn off U.S. 290 onto TX 237 and the show begins.  At first we just cruise along deciding where to stop...the choices are endless.

Taking the road less traveled fom San Antonio to Dallas

While we enjoy our annual visits to Dallas we don't enjoy five hours of dodging trucks on I-35.  As a major route running 1500 miles from Mexico to Canada, I-35 is pretty busy most of the time so this year we avoided the traffic and headed to Dallas by way of US 281 through the beautiful Texas Hill Country.  This route was so much fun we returned along the same route a few days later even though it takes a bit longer.

It's a two-lane road much of the way with passing lanes on the hills so traffic moves along quite well.  We stopped a few places along the way, especially when checking out ranch gates like this one which is a favorite way to pass the time....



...and at other times I snapped photos out the window at full speed because there is no safe place to pull over.  This photo of native yuccas and wildflowers blooming on ranch land is an example of the latter.  Those fuzzy white spires behind the fence are all yucca blooms and this view went on for miles.

Garden Junking - Lakehills, Texas

The Texas Hill Country north and west of San Antonio has many unique aspects, from interesting plants, such as the Texas Madrone tree I posted about earlier, to plenty of little shops and small towns along the way.

Last week my friend Ragna and I headed west to Lakehills, TX about 45 minutes from San Antonio to enjoy a day of thrift shopping and views of the Texas Hill Country.  Today's post is for thrift shop and garden junk fans.  There are a lot of you out there because Yeya's in San Antonio has been my most popular post by far.

Our first stop was the Lakehills Trading Post at 12410 Park Rd 37, right by the sign for Hill of Contentment which I found quite fitting for this adventure.

The exterior fits the western style of most buildings in the area.

The owner, Sharon Spears, has put together great selection of vintage glassware, collectibles and plenty of other nice items.

Plenty of pretty options for garden stakes, fairy gardens, totems, and dish flowers here.

The prices are good and less than similar shops in San Antonio.

I was thrilled to find more green insulators to add to my collection in the garden.

Very nice Hill Country style iron and wood pieces on display.

The inventory changes daily and she also sells special finds on ebay as well.  Lakehills Trading Post has a facebook page and you can also reach Sharon at 210-771-0663.

After we loaded up our purchases from the trading post, we walked across the road to Cherokee's Shop.

Rozanne Martinez features lots of rust and old tools at her shop

I liked this floor inside the shop

A different approach to bottle trees

Rusty cultivator, tricycle and other items

Old signs, tools, and barbed wire displayed on the garage

Just in case you forgot we're in Texas!

You can reach Rozanne by email at cherokees99@hotmail.com

I enjoyed our visit to both these shops and came home with cool stuff for my garden.  We headed next to nearby Medina Lake and I'll share views of the lake and plants in a future post.