Weekends Are so Much Fun When You Go Out Of Town And Indulge

So we went on a little weekend getaway to the
Prairie Du Chien/McGregor/Marquette area 
last weekend.

In addition to consuming a mammoth amount of onion rings, we also visited a few favorite places and a couple new ones,
including one place that spooked the crap out of Tim.

This is an antique mall in an old three story schoolhouse
in Marquette.
This is not the place that spooked Tim. 
I was thinking, every antique mall should have a stuffed deer head,
don't ya think?

The old Schoolhouse
 Antique Mall is on this main street in Marquette.

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From the,

ahem,

women's powder room of the antique schoolhouse,
 
one could see a church just steps away built into the hillside.

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Still in Marquette but down the street is Tim's and my favorite spot in the whole Prairie Du Chien/
Marquette/
McGregor area...


It's the old
Marquette Hardware store that also now houses antiques too.

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And this is why we love it

so much!

...original

70's

and

80's

hardware
 
inventory,

still brand
 
new ..

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Combined with this 1970's Christmas area...
I LOVE CHRISTMAS!
AND I ESPECIALLY LOVE VINTAGE CHRISTMAS!

Think that tree will be in my house next year?

I don't know...
I did NOT buy it. Yet.

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This tiger
there wants
to go home
with you....

"Hey Good Lookin"
he says.
 
"Whach ya got cookin?" 
he inquires.

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And this cool 1980's bar/buffet really, REALLY wanted to go home with me.

But alas, it didn't.

Bye-bye super
 cute 80's buffet. 
I will always think about you and how I didn't have a pickup truck that weekend and because of that we will never be together.

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And this is the awesome daughter of the original owner that continues to make sure this local landmark store stays open,

if not just for old time's sake to honor her dad.

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We  started to get hungry, (SHOCKING I KNOW), so we drove over into the RiverView Resturant in McGregor.

Doesn't
 
look like
 
much
 
from

the

outside.

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But it's so charming on the inside, in a riverview/bar/restaurant way.

We walked to the downtown district of McGregor and passed this sign that is so vintagey and cool,

yet functional still.

These cowboy dudes were holding the fort down at a local saloon down the road.

They weren't super friendly when I asked if I could take their picture.

I think the guy on the right was pondering how to smack the camera out of my hands. 

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Apparently the three annoyed amigos out front didn't stop Tim and me from having a little fun inside though.

We continued to walk the streets of McGregor.

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And we stumbled upon this building,
 
which looked fun and funky on the outside.

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And it was fun and funky on the inside too!

We
 
squirted

past this first room....

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And moved into some darker rooms that had cool stuff in them,
but it felt freeeezing cold in the whole entire building.

Tim was getting a little owly as we walked through these cold, dark rooms.
 
It WAS kind of creepy.
 
And it smelled a weird smell.

Tim said the hair was standing up on the back of his neck and something wasn't right. 
Tim said we needed to get out of there.

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I was having a hard time containing my laughter...this was fun although it was rather freaky deaky plus Tim was totally creeped out.
I finally told Tim we can leave after we follow this "Flea Market 3rd Level" sign that kept showing up in all these back rooms. Tim was not pleased.

So we snaked through all these weird creepy rooms, including this one...

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Until we found these stairs that were super steep.


And the faded hand written sign directed you up there,
to the 3rd story
Flea Market.


Quite frankly,

 by about this time,

 I was getting a little, uh,
scared.



But that didn't stop me from making Tim go first.
Duh.

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So we climbed the stairs and entered the Flea Market...

And the "Flea Market" was rather "unorganized" at this point,

but they are hoping to have it up and running soon.

At least it was kind of warm in that attic compared to the rest of the building.

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So  we went back downstairs and waited forever to pay for my vintage temperature guage, because there was a large dog at the checkout counter intstead of a human being.
And the large dog kept swinging these swinging doors back and forth, back and forth, staring at me.

I would have taken a picture, but really,
do you think I'm THAT STOOPID??!!

So I took the price tag off the guage and left the correct amount of money with tax on the counter and Tim and I high tailed it out of there, out into the open of the clear blue sky and this cool old laundromat sign.  

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We stopped at several other stores and popped into this place because we heard a banjo/guitar player playing...it was a museum...and they had COOKIES, real good ones too, and real good hot coffee too!
Did I mention their cookies were fantastic?!!!
Totally homemade!!

 By the way, the tiny storefront museum was really quite interesting.
The Ringling Brothers used to live in the McGregor area in the late 1800's when they were just starting their circus.
Their tiny house is still located around Pikes Peak area I think.

Okay, I'm sure you're sitting on the edge of your seats still engaged in my boooooring recap of our trip.

Well, anyway, we grabbed beverages on a patio, enjoyed the 70 degree day and drove back to Prairie Du Chien to my
OTHER FAVORITE PLACE!

PANKA SHOES!

I love this shoe store!!

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How 'bout this storefront eh?

This shoe store has been around for like eighty years and has had only two owners. The current owner lady is so nice and she has worked there since she was 18 years old. The inside is vintagey but the shoes are cute and current and definitely not cheap.

I know they aren't cheap, because I bought a pair.

Can you say
"so not cheap"?

At least in Angie's Cheap World O Rama,
these weren't cheap. 

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So to wind down the day, we went to a Supper Club and inhaled a fantastic steak dinner.
Oh yeah. About those onion rings.
Did you know that it IS humanly possible to eat onion rings three meals in a row and not have any side effects other than having to unbutton the top button of your pants? Yup, tis true.

Don't they look marvelous?

Well...
THEY WERE!!!!

Okay, I have a couple recipes to share..hope to get one posted tonight or tomorrow but my website server (is that what it's called?) is having major issues today, so we'll see.

Have a great weekend!!!!
Talk at ya soon!