a quick look around

This morning, I had an appointment in Portland, Maine and was supposed to meet up with a colleague at 8:15, before we headed to another locale where a meeting was to take place.

And, given the distance between Rockland and Portland (about an hour and forty-five minutes), I left a few minutes after 6…

Being September, there are still a fair amount of tourists around, so there can be some traffic.

So, I am meandering down the coastal route one, when it occurs to me that it is Wednesday.  And, Wednesday is the antiques day at Montsweag Flea Market.

I couldn’t speed up, as there are cars in front of me, so I figured when I got close, I would check the arrival time on my iPhone, and make a decision on whether there was enough time to wander around, or maybe I could come back on the ride back up to Rockland later in the day.

As I crested the hill, I could see all of the vendors setting up, and given that I was about 10 minutes a head of schedule, I probably had enough time to make a quick walk through and hope that there is a corkscrew (or two) worth buying amongst the various wares.

As I pulled in the lot, there was a space right up front, which would also allow for a quick getaway.

I pulled in, and scampered off.

Making my way up one aisle — no corkscrews.

Then circling up and back down the other side — no corkscrews.

On the opposite side of the field — no corkscrews.

And, I am running out of time…

Then, as I was walking by one table that was still setting up, a corkscrew was soon within my reach.

Me:  “How much for the corkscrew?”

Dealer: “$ 20.00”

Me: “Do you have any others?”

Dealer: “A brass key, and the corkscrew goes in it, but I don’t know where it is.”

Me: “No worries,” handing the dealer a $20.00, bill and hustling back to the truck with my new found treasure.

Back on the road, according to my iPhone, I was going to be rolling in right on time, but I would be cutting it close.

But, apparently through the magic of iPhone/GPS mileage v. time on the road, I pulled in 2 minutes early.

One corkscrew in the field to be had, in those early hours of dealers setting up.  But, the early bird did get the worm!

And, it’s a Frary!

Frary’s Self-Extracting Corkscrew to be exact!

Now, I am pretty sure this is a double (or a triple), but how fun to find a Frary corkscrew on a few minute detour from your appointed rounds!

 

 

Advertisement