My egg scale find and it works

                In spite of the awkward name and capitalization (I'm an unrepentant English major), It's The Berry's (812-448-8250) is one of best antique shops I've been to in a long time. The Berry's barn is located in Brazil, Indiana, roughly 30 minutes from Terre Haute. You take Wabash Avenue where the Hilton is located and drive east. Wabash Avenue becomes US 40. Watch for where State Road 340 intersects US 40 and turn left. The shop is on the right going north on SR 340. It's mostly "smalls," that is, not many large pieces of furniture to speak of, but great "smalls," lots of tools and stoneware. I picked up a terrific egg scale and what I believe to be a genuine Mississippian Native American clay pot used for cooking fresh water mussels. Frankly, I didn't know the Wabash River had mussels. I also found a really cool metal wash board. I collect wash boards and wash sticks. The owner Peggy Berry is an antiques and collectibles addict, one of those dealers that we amateurs hate to see at an auction. The shop is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10-5 and by appointment.  

 

                The Country Store Antiques (812-847-9023) is located in a real country store converted to an antique shop. To get there you take US 41S, the main highway through Terre Haute, to SR 54W in Sullivan. You follow SR 54W about 10.5 miles toward the town of Linton. If you reach downtown Linton, you've gone too far. The Country Store Antiques is a good place to look for vintage and antique furniture as well as old washboards, churners, toys and tools. Owner Carolyn Ballard told me her husband Bob loves nothing more than refurbishing old furniture. It's a very good shop, probably on the same high level as It's The Berry's, but the latter has more of what I'm looking for.  The shop is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10-5.

Butter churns at the Country Store Antiques

 

                If you want to extend your Hoosier weekend, I suggest driving further south to New Harmony, Indiana which is a little over two hours from Terre Haute on US 41 again and then west on Interstate 64, just north of Evansville. New Harmony was founded in 1814 as a utopian Christian socialist community by the Harmonie Society that later sold it to the Welsh social reformer Robert Owen in 1825. Owen, who had made a fortune in manufacturing in Scotland, invested the bulk of his money in trying to build a utopian secular socialist community in New Harmony that would consist of like-minded intellectuals, artists, and social reformers, but, like most communes, his experiment fell apart after two years. However, Owen and his children enriched their adopted country with a progressive legacy of social reforms like free public education, the notion of an eight-hour work day, and the Smithsonian Institute. Owens' youngest son became the first president of Purdue University.

                I highly recommend combining a trip to Terre Haute and then swinging down to New Harmony for a couple of nights. The best time of the year is in the fall when the trees are at their colorful best, but spring is also wonderful. That part of the world is too hot and humid in the summer if you like the outdoors like Noel and me.