Treasure-Hunting in Edgewater

Aside from our obligatory cheesecake, the weekend was ours to do as we pleased. Mom asked me not to book up our weekend with all kinds of plans, as I usually tend to do. So, we let our whims lead us, and a lovely weekend fell into place.

For instance, on Sunday morning after brunch, while browsing in Anthropologie, I fell in love with these green vintage glasses, which I pointed out to my mom. It started with the glasses, then it was the antique-looking drawer pulls, and pretty soon our game plan was born. A swift procession of dialogue, a few taps on my phone, and a lengthy Redline ride led the two of us up to the antique malls in Edgewater. It had been ages since either of us had gone antique-hunting, and I’d never done so in Chicago, let alone venture as far north as Edgewater, so it was a new adventure for the both of us.

Our first stop was Broadway Antique Market. We were immediately greeted by cases of wildly expensive vintage jewelry and bags. I became temporarily lost in the racks of vintage dresses, inspecting hats and old purses along the way (I love vintage purses!). The southern part of the shop had much more affordable treasures, but so many of them were jailed behind glass cases. I was scouring for glasses along the lines of those I had seen in Anthropologie, to no avail. We spent about thirty minutes wandering about, looking at everything, before heading upstairs to check out the retro furniture, which was exceptionally fun for me. Of course, none of these pieces touch the nineteenth-century furnishings housed at the Art Institute, which I love so much, but how can you not have fun viewing the space-cadet lines and crazy colors from the 1950s and 60s? After weaving in and out of bright yellow and orange couches, and dodging some particularly uncomfortable-looking chairs and bar stools, we felt we’d seen enough and were off to the next place.

It took only a few minutes to become completely lost in the Edgewater Antique Mall, and we both agreed that, of the two, we liked this store much better. It was comfy and chock full of treasures that you could touch, as most of their goods are set out on accessible shelves, or tables. The best part was walking down the same aisle ten times and seeing new things each time—it was that kind of place. I always walk into stores like this one thinking that I’m going to find something amazing—that I’m going to dig through everything and find a gem. Only occasionally, however, do I actually walk out the door with something, and I decided to save my cash this time, too. After about an hour in the shop, still feeling that we’d only seen a fraction of the merchandise in the building, mom and I decided to call it a day for Edgewater, and headed back downtown.