The bluebonnets are beginning to bloom, spring is upon us, and around here that means one thing – Round Top Antique Week! I just went to the Preview last week, but the main event is this very weekend, Thursday through Sunday.
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| Texas Rose Antique Show |
I love going to the Round Top Antique Show, and I look forward to it every April and October. For a long time, I would hear people talk about going to Round Top, and I wanted desperately to go, but it seemed like a long drive into the unknown. I had questions… lots of questions.
Which venue I should I attend?
Is it difficult to get around?
Where should I park?
How much money should I bring?
Do vendors take credit cards and checks?
Will there be real bathrooms?
Will I be forced to eat a hot dog because that is all they have?
Is everything spread out or close together?
Will there be a place to wash my hands before I eat?
I think you are getting the picture. I am flexible so long as I get to eat what I want and have a place to wash my hands, OKAY, maybe I am not THAT flexible. So what’s a girl to do?
The show information truly overwhelmed me. When you see the schedule (click on the link) you will see what I mean. Round Top Antique Week Schedule Where do you start? Which venues are not worth going to? Where should you go, Fayetteville, Warrenton, Oldenburg, Burton, Brenham, Shelby, Carmine, or Round Top? Do you have to pay to go? What about parking?
I needed information. But no one was answering my questions, so I knew I was just going to have to make it my mission to find out. So, I went in, and I am happy to tell you everything I know… about that.
(Major digression here) you see, my mother one time told several of us, something about something that was going on. Please don’t ask what it was because I surely can’t remember now. Any way, I am not sure I am even paying attention, until she ended her monologue with, “…and that’s all I know.” But then she decided that made her sound like she didn’t know anything else and felt the need to let us know that she did have other knowledge beyond the subject. So, about 30 seconds later, she added the now famous (at least to our family) phrase “…ABOUT THAT.” So this is all I know….ABOUT THAT, Round Top Antique Week, that is.
Here’s what I recommend that you bring;
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clothing appropriate for the afternoon outdoor temperatures, in our case, it was hot, so shorts and short sleeves. My friend Peggy, wore jeans, (rookie mistake) and I got hot just looking at her.
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comfortable shoes good for walking on uneven ground. (A lot of people wear their cowboy boots to Round Top. It looks cool, but you are going to be hot, and NOT in a GOOD way.)
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a backpack or roller cart (for toting purchases) with big wheels to accommodate the uneven terrain (bags with small wheels will make you want to cuss like a sailor)
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sunglasses
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hat
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lots of drinking water (even more for washing your hands if you are uber-clean)
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hand sanitizer
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snacks, if you are a picky eater or have to eat often
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sunscreen (personally I don’t use the stuff, since I like my Vitamin D, but I know other people do)
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a big SUV (seats removed preferably) for serious shoppers to haul stuff home
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| Texas Rose Antique Show |
Now let’s discuss your route. (Place Disclaimer Here – these are my recommendations based on my experiences. If you have different information, please share!!)
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| Warrenton |
Get a guide book if you like, but you truly don’t need one. Now having said that, I think the best way to go is to take 290 (past Brenham if you are coming from Houston) and turn left (South) onto 237. My biggest tip is to be sure to check out what is on 237. I typically spend two days on 237, and there is more than enough to do without going elsewhere. And here you will hit the most famous Round Top venues, including The Big Red Barn, Marburger Farms, Round Top Square, and Warrenton. Then if you are still on your feet and want more, you can go to other places like Fayetteville, Carmine, and Burton. If you have several days then go for all of the venues. If not, then be sure to at least check out what’s for sale on 237.
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| Texas Rose Antique Show |
Soon after you turn onto 237, you will soon see The Big Red Barn (BRB) on your left. They charge for admission, so be advised. A few places do charge like Marburger Farms and The BRB,, but most do not. If you only go to Paris once, then I think you should see to see the Eiffel Tower, and if you just go to Round Top once, then I think you should visit The BRB and Marburger Farms. I have bought items at both. My farm table came from Marburger Farms and the feed sacks I used to make pillows for the girls’ country bedroom came from The BRB. The BRB is also air-conditioned, so if the heat is getting to you, but you still want to shop, go to The BRB (and Cole’s, further down 237). The BRB also has another advantage, Royer’s! Royers is, dare I say, an internationally known restaurant, famous for their exquisite pies. They have a tent there and the food is excellent.
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| Texas Rose Antique Show |
After you leave “The Barn”, you will see several places on the left and right side of the road. Stop by any place that looks good to you. As you get closer to Round Top, be sure to stop at the Round Top Hill Antique Show, on the right. My friend Peggy found several items there. I found some silver-plated flatware (shown below), a vase, and a rug for Cedar Hill. The rug guy, Johnny Waddle, with 5J, was great to work with. He says he thinks this particular cowhide is Longhorn and maybe part Brahma. Here he is hiding behind the cowhide rug I purchased. This was a photo we sent to Mr. CH, to see if he approved the purchase. He did!
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| 5J Cowhide Rugs |
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| New Rug at Cedar Hill |
I love the rug although it may be a little small for this table, but I thought it was a “must have” for a Texas ranch.
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| Fiddle Pattern Silverplate from Round Top Hill Antique Show |
Our favorite booth at Round Top Hill Antique Show was Fragments, shown below. Sharon Taylor did a lovely job with her booth. Peggy bought something here, but she bought SO MUCH stuff, that I can’t remember what she bought. Poor Peggy ended up carrying my purchases a lot of the time, since my hands were tied up taking pictures. It would be 20 minutes later, and I would realize that poor Peggy was still carrying my bags and I had forgotten to ask for them back. In my defense, I did have a headache from dehydration. See what I mean? You better bring some water!!
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| Fragments @ Round Top Hill Antique Show |
When you leave Round Top Hill Antique Show, continue South on 237, and pretty quickly you will reach the center (really the entire town) of Round Top. Keep your eyes open because otherwise, you might miss it. If you are interested in hand-made and/or gift items, definitely stop here at the Square in Round Top. When you leave Round Top Hill Antique Show, Round Top Square will be on your left. They have lots of clothing, jewelry, and hand-made items here. I found some jewelry here once for myself and my daughter. This is where Royers, the restaurant, not just a tent, is located. BTW, be sure to get some Royer’s pie while you are here, yum. (The BRB and Warrneton Royer’s locations serve lunch but sometimes the Round Top one doesn’t serve meals until dinner. But check with Bud to get the real scoop on Royers. Click here to go to their website Royer’s.)
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| Texas Rose Antique Show |
After Round Top Square, continue South, and you can stop at The Texas Rose Antique Show on the left. I like this place. Peggy found a ton of things here for a friend’s birthday. I didn’t get the owner’s name of the booth where we shopped, but we loved her booth and the prices!!
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| Texas Rose Antique Show |
Directly across from Texas Rose Antique Show on the right side of the road is Marburger Farms. There is a fee here, but they have beautiful things and many country French antiques. As I mentioned before, the old farm table on my back porch came from here. And last fall, we found some great vintage linen napkins (new) that were from a closed factory for $1 a piece. Loved those!
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| Our Farm Table |
After Marburger, drive a short distance, and you will see Cole’s on your left. It is a metal building. Go ahead and park here, since it is the last free parking for a long time, and you can walk from here to Warrenton. Cole’s has no admission fee, it has free parking, and even better on hot days, it is air-conditioned, not mention – real toilets. You laugh now, but YOU’LL see.
They do have plenty of things besides dishes, really, but I found two different patterns of dishes from my childhood, the ones my family had, and the the ones my grandma had.
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| Vintage Fiesta cups and saucers like Grandma’s (at Cole’s) |
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| Vintage Fiesta Candlestick holders (at Cole’s) |
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| The dishes my Mom and Dad had when I was a kid (at Cole’s) |
You can walk from here toward Warrneton and and have plenty to do for the rest of the day. The amount of vendors from Cole’s to Warrenton is amazing. There are no entrance fees in Warrenton, but you will have to pay to park there if you move the car. That is why I recommend parking at Cole’s since you are going to be walking no matter where you park. There is a store near Cole’s called Clutter, that I also like. Junk Gypsy has a booth in Warrenton, and you can also see their pink SUV there, Large Marge, the Party Barge. They sell interesting t-shirts and other clothing items.
They even have their own blog http://junkgypsyblog.com/
There are many other great places in Warrenton, like Zapp Hall and Campbell House. Finally we get to our favorite vendor of Spring 2011 (drum roll please) Nance, of Nance’s Dream, in Warrenton.
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| Nance’s Dream Booth, Warrenton |
Nance from Nance’s Dream
Nance was wonderful and we loved her!! I bought the transferware pitcher below from her. She says if she buys something for a good deal, she will pass it along to her customers. Now how can you not love her?
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| Mason Blue Transferware Pitcher |
Warrenton has an assortment of interesting things from antique furniture to new imported items, to the really odd. I thought this dynamite crate was really fun. (Maybe I have seen too many Wile E. Coyote cartoons.) Well, hopefully the dynamite wasn’t used to blow up some unsuspecting critter, like
Mr. Squirrel. There is also another Royer’s outpost here.
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| Dynamite box found at Warrenton |
If you want used boots, there are plenty to choose from here. And if you don’t have any, then what are you waiting for?
I have one last suggestion for you, if you are wanting to find a specific vendor or go to a specific venue, check the shedule to be sure that the location will be open or the vendor will be there when you are. The link for the schedule is shown above, but I will show it again here (I know how tedious it can be to scroll all the way up to the top of a page.) Round Top Antique Week Schedule
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| Boots at Warrenton |
Back to my original questions, let’s make sure I answered all of these questions.
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Which venue I should I attend? My opinion here is to at least make it to Marburger Farms, The Big Red Barn, Cole’s Warrenton, Round Top Square, Texas Rose Antiques, and Round Top Hill Antique Show (Mr. CH only made it to BRB for 20 minutes and he was done. Lightweight!)
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Is it difficult to get around? No, but the traffic can be bad, and most venues are far enough apart that you will need to drive from one to another. The exception is that once you reach Coles’ at the intersection of 954 and 237, you can walk from there to Warrenton, where you will find an endless sea of vendors
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Where should I park? You will need to park at each venue until you get to Warrneton, there you can park and walk to so many vendors, you will get tired before you see them all.
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How much money should I bring? None, if you have credit cards! Seriously though, you will need cash for parking and maybe for some other things, so do bring some.
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Do vendors take credit cards and checks? I paid with cash, credit cards, and checks, but some vendors may not accept credit cards.
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Will there be real bathrooms? In Cole’s yes, and I am guessing any where there is an actual building there will be real bathrooms, but most of these places are just open fields, so expect porta-potties.
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Will I be forced to eat a hot dog because that is all they have? Not if you eat at Royer’s in Warrenton or the BRB. The ladies dining at The Texas Rose Antique Show, swore by the food there, but we didn’t try it. We ate at a wonderful restaurant in Warrenton called Hilltop “something”. (Sorry, can’t remember the “something.” Next time I will pay attention.)
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Is everything spread out or close together? Most venues are spread out but Warrenton is wall-to-wall vendors, but without the actual walls.
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Will there be a place to wash my hands before I eat? Again, LOL, if you are one of those people (like me) that actually expect to eat a meal with clean hands, I highly recommend that you bring hand sanitizer.
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Where do you start? I would start at 290 and drive south on 237, or start at Warrenton and drive north on 237.
- Which ones are not worth going to? I actually do have an answer here, but I better not answer this one.
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Where should you go, Fayetteville, Warrenton, Oldenburg, Burton, Brenham, Shelby, Carmine, or Round Top? Again, I go to Round Top and Warrenton. Fayetteville is a darling town though, so that might be worth checking out. I love Brenham, but they have adorable shops in town all-year-round, so you can always go there later.
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Do you have to pay to go? Marburger has a $25 or $10 fee depending on when you attend, with free parking, BRB has an admission fee, Harmonie Hall and the Rifle Hall charge admission, and pretty much everyone else has free admission.
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What about parking? Parking is usually free except in Warrenton.
Well, we had a blast (sorry for the dynamite pun) and I highly recommend that you go, especially if you haven’t ever been. There really IS something for everyone here. At the end of a long day of shopping, we were exhausted, but in a GOOD way.
P. S. Tell Nance we said, “Hi.”
Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.
Mark 16:12, NIV
Mark 16:12, NIV
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I’m Peggy – the shopping friend (and friend for other things as well – like life!). Just want to say I am on a very tight budget (single woman raising a large rescue dog)and I did buy a lot of stuff – but it was cheap – really! Most of the goodies I purchased were for a friend’s birthday – but I did buy myself a few things, an antique painted bread box, framed monogramed B on burlap, tole tray and tole tissue holder – all at great, cheap prices. Hope you are blessed to find great deals like I found. Oh, and really truly heed the advice about jeans. I am so hot-natured to begin with that I truly thought I was going to burst into flames wearing jeans. That won’t happen again!
Thank you for posting ALL the good tips about shopping at Round Top. I had heard “I got it at Round Top” before but I thought it must be just one location…I had no idea it was a such a large area to cover. Did yall go to all those places in one day?
Hi Anita, you are probably wondering why I am leaving a comment on such an old post. Well, I just discovered your blog and loved it so that I’ve been seeing all your older posts. Wow, you’ve got a lot of great info. here. I’m a vendor at Zapp Hall, Nancy is a friend of mine and the pink settee you showed belongs to her niece Cindy. My booth is next to theirs but I have my own tent right in front of Zapp Hall. I hope if you come out this Fall you’ll please stop by, I’d love to meet you. I have a blog party each season, on Sunday Sept. 25 is the next one and Michelle Delgado is going to be my featured guest. She’ll be demonstrating how to use the Annie Sloan chalk paint. I can’t wait to see this since I have so many questions. Anyways, sorry this is so long, but I just had to tell how much I’ve enjoyed reading your past posts. I’m your newest follower. Have a great day, Theresa-Garden Antqs Vintage
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