Antiques in Collins, MS

Thursday, April 22, I wake up with a kink in my back. As I'm sipping my coffee the weird, older couple from yesterday comes by walking/jogging. They are out there at 7:15 for another hour. After breakfast I use my new brass cleaner on the shower hose. It works great but my knees only let me do the first 12 inches of hose-and I was standing up! Maybe I'll do more later.

We take the bikes off the truck and put them under our new 'carport.' One of the things we liked about switching to a 5th wheel is having a dry carport area to park the bikes under. We head to Sumrall to browse "Things In The Attic." I find a wine bottle recipe holder that I will use for postcards. We like two black framed old bathtub prints but she wouldn't break up the set and we only have room for one in our compact bathroom. I walk across the street after we leave to mail a card at the post office and the gal comes out and flags me down to say she called her Mom, the owner, and she says she'll sell us one. But when I get it down off the wall it has a pane of glass on the front and the back in order to suspend the print. That is why I liked it but it also makes it way too heavy for RV purposes. I thanked her for her trouble and we head to lunch at Lau-Tori's.

There is a big local crowd as usual. I enjoy their homemade vegetable soup. Bob has the grilled chicken pita with cucumber sauce that I liked so much the other day. A young boy about three years old behind us had a meltdown when they brought his food; something was not like he expected it to be. His Mom took him outside and said they were leaving. A few minutes later they were back and he was all happy and sat down and ate every bit of his lunch. His Mom had his number!

A 40-something guy who was eating at the table next to us got a call on his cell phone and told them where he was. He said "Oh no it's not new, I've been coming to this place for 20 years. Hell, my first wedding party ate here.!"

We take 589 north to 49 to Collins and find Collins Antique Mall on Main. What a great place. They have a great, life-sized old time bicycle planter for $150.00. If only we had a yard-Not! We find an art deco puzzle and a neat bicycle clock that will look great in the RV. We also find a few books and cheese knives. She says the mayor owns this mall and Collins is the only debt-free city in Mississippi. She directs us to Galleria Antiques on 49 just north of town. It is an upscale decor and antique place. I find two polka dot plastic iced tea glasses and a book by Caleb Carr (right now I'm reading his "Killing Time.")

Bob tries General Dollar next door for SoBe's but they have no sugar free ones. We get a paper at the gas station and head home by 4:30. What a fun day. Back home we have leftovers. I walk to the office and pay for two more nights at $30.00 each. We'll leave on Sunday. This turns out to be a great decision as a Category 4 tornado sweeps across Mississippi just north of here for 150 miles on Saturday! Today's high is 83 after a low of 55. It's 5:40 p.m. and 80 degree but it feels like 70 with only 30% humidity. After a week they have reopened Europe's airports after the Iceland volcano erupted and spewed ash into the airspace.