A Day With Mister - McKinney

I woke early this morning and since it is Saturday, tried to creep quietly out of the bedroom to let Mister get a chance to sleep in.  A few minutes later, he walks into the office and says that he wants to spend the day with his Sweetie.  Ah, gotta love this man.  I had mentioned an estate sale in McKinney earlier in the week and today is the last day for it.  He has remembered and asks if I want to see if anything is left.  Heck yeah.  After a quick search, I locate a couple more sales in the same area and we are off.

I absolutely love this little city.  When we arrive at the sale, most of the sewing items are already sold, but there is a ton of fabric.  Everyone would be so proud of me -- I walked away from it all.  I have a ton of my own to use up.  I do spot a scooter in the garage though and Mister comes along to help me check it out for his mother.  Yep -- we make the purchase and move onto the next sale where we find a light for Mister to use in the studio while working on machines.  The last sale is a bust but now we are free to explore McKinney for awhile.  First stop is the Farmer's Market.  I love this little market as it "feels" like a farmer's market should.  It is in a cute little historic area of the city and has music, face painting, and much more.



The market crosses a road about halfway through and it is here that I spot a place for a coffee.  Mister has fallen behind and has purchased a "coffee" from somewhere else.  He frowns at me when he sees the coffee truck as I laugh and say that he should have waited.  Oh well, he orders an espresso anyway.  As we are waiting, a lady comes by and asks if we want to take the historic downtown trolley tour.  I really want to walk today, but we put it on our list for another time and perhaps bring Mister's mom with us.  The area around us is so festive and happy with people visiting and vendors selling their wares.  Don't you just love the bell tower in the background of this pictures. (It's a crappy picture, but I love the content.)

Finally, my Salty Caramel latte arrives and the barista inside the truck is talking to Mister about why his espresso is missing. Turns out that the man thought the order taker said to combine them.  I now have a "quadruple" coffee.  He makes Mister his espresso and tells me that I'll be buzzing until Tuesday.  No doubt.  We turn into a little area where "Dixie's Store" is and having read about it online, I wanted to check it out.  What a cool little shop inside -- too bad they took out the pot bellied stove that used to sit in the middle of the room.  (Again, you can tell who is taking pictures today -- ugh.)

As we are leaving the store, Chester - the cat - arrives.  He, too, is online as locals talk about how he showed up here in 2011 and has been in Chestnut Square ever since.  Hence the name.

He is quite friendly and simply adds to my desire to have a cat.  The only thing that holds me back is the dang cat hair everywhere.  I do not miss that.

We walk back into the main market area again and scan the tents one last time.  Just as we are about to leave, I spot a fire in a corner of the square.  I want to go and check it out.  Look what I find.

There is a young blacksmith hobbyist practicing his skill.  He is still learning but shares some information with us and gifts Mister with a handmade nail that he has produced while we watch.

This is such fun.  One last turn before we leave the area and I discover goats.  I wonder if they belong to the same people who were selling goat cheese and goat's milk soap.  Hmmm.

Asking Mister if he wants to see anything else while we are up here, he responds by driving back into the "main square".  We park and walk towards the square, stopping in a very cool store called the Local Yokel - with all locally produced items.  Dang, wish we lived closer and could take advantage of this place.  I remark to Mister that Amanda would love it and he agrees.

As we round the corner onto the square I realize Mister's destination.  There is a little antique/clock shop on the corner that he just loves.  Once he enters, he is in clock heaven.  I leave him to his love and explore the store a bit.  It is an old bank building and the vaults are still there, housing more lovelies to look at.  I find a Merritt hand crank inside the vault and have a sit down to check it out.  I pass because I just don't know enough about them.  Mister is now thoroughly involved in a conversation with the clock repair dude so I wander outside, take a few pictures and have a sit down on a bench to wait.

Another cute bench idea - love the name badge made of cut-up license plate letters.

The courthouse across the street.

Once Mister finishes, we keep walking and make a stop at Happiness is Quilting, a wonderful little quilt shop, where I have a chance to visit and let him wander.  I leave with a  yard of a beautiful neutral batik and a promise to return.  My tummy is now grumbling so we decide on lunch at The Pub before heading back home to tackle the chores that are waiting.  Thanks for sharing our morning.