Bonesteel's and Bokie's

While in upstate New York in August visiting with Sam's family, his mom took us to Bonesteel's -- a local gardening center. In addition to plants, though, the establishment has barn after barn full of salvaged furniture, machinery, odds and ends, and other totally random items. Some of it seems like precious antiques, some of it like total junk...and I'm not well-versed enough in these things to distinguish between the two all the time. We only had time to see a small fraction of what they have, but I snapped some photos of some of my favorite things. I thought you might enjoy too.

A very cool chandelier, though the backlighting makes it a bit hard to photograph...

A large type tray/letterpress tray, as high as my waist. Only $25.

Dozens of old lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and hundreds of old bottles lining the shelves (only a few of them in this photo).

A business machine. Frankly I feel a little guilty that I don't know how to use this given that I am a student of business, Harvard what have you been failing to teach me?

I have no idea what this is, can you identify it for me?

One of a pair of matching greek key lamps, both for $25.

One of the many buildings filled with endless odds and ends. They wouldn't let Sam buy the golf clubs because the patriarch wasn't on the premises and he couldn't estimate by phone how much to charge for them. So back into the pile they went....

In the back of this particular greenhouse was this. In case you can't tell, it's a huge log surrounded by thousands of onions. I'm as baffled as you are.

Here's the corner of the store where they kept thousands of live bees. Like you do.

We also visited my favorite establishment in Malone, NY several times: Bokie's. It's a drive-in diner that has amazing retro decor and, most importantly, amazing soft serve ice cream. As you may have heard me rant about in the past, I love soft serve ice cream and it's impossible to find in Boston except at Fenway Park (frozen yogurt is not the same thing, though it's definitely good). For some reason, rural areas (like where I grew up) seem to excel at having huge quantities of soft serve, whereas urban locations are obsessed with trendy things like Berryline and you can't find normal soft serve ice cream to save your life. If I could live in Bokie's, I would be a very happy (and ice-cream-filled) woman.

(NOT in Michigan, don't know what that sign is all about)

Bonesteel's and Bokie's: two establishments that speak to my rural roots and remind me that for all the amenities of urban life, there are some things you just can't get in the city.