Sunday, March 14, 2010

Baby's First Book Fair





Oh, it's Green Valley Book Fair time! We went on opening day--busy but fun. Kim and Justin came away with lots of good regional titles from History Press and other treats, with Kim being especially pleased with some Road Food selections and some new board/picture books representing a whole host of cultures and concepts for Mr. Elijah's exploration. If you go this set of Book Fair dates, expect some new shelving sub-catgories--don't let them throw you off. For example, travel writing (downstairs, near architecture) is not with the travel guide books (upstairs, traditional location). We learned that Elijah has inherited his parents' cloak of invisibility when shopping in crowded locations, but hey, we always wanted to avoid being intrusive people who believe their stroller has the right of way in all circumstances, so it's all good.

We skipped our usual visit to the Dayton Farmer's Market and went searching for antique malls instead. We found Rocky's off I-81 (exit 235) and were not excited--lots of expensive items and glass/silver but little for our taste. The Factory Antique Mall in Verona (exit 227) was much, much more exciting, its happy-looking orange building being a bonus. We enjoyed extended time in a wonderful old book dealer, getting a "new" book on JP II and assorted other treasures from the kindly proprietor. Kim came away with a substantial number of new postcards, including foldouts for Jamestown and Bethlehem. There was a substantial amount of old paper to browse in this mall, and it was spacious with varied vendors--many of whom were on site and offering discounts. If you are travelling this way, we also recommend Alpha and Omega near Shenandoah Harley Davidson, but we didn't stop there today.

We ate at Rowe's (say Rawl's) in Staunton, one of Justin's favorites. If you're not familiar, it's a reasonably-priced, home cookin' kinda place that has been reviewed in publications like Savor and has its own cookbooks you can buy. Elijah recommends the exceptional mashed potatoes.

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