| Miscellaneous
National Farm Machinery Show and Championship Tractor Pull. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Feb. 14-16, 1-6 p.m. Feb. 17. Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville. Pulls will be at 7:30 p.m. each night. The show is FREE. The pulls are $31-$36. (502) 367-5000. www.farmmachineryshow.org. Greenbo Art Festival. Feb. 16-17. Greenbo Lake State Resort Park, Greenup. Features framed art and sculptures, live entertainment and door prizes. $15 to display. 1-800-325-0063. Fireside Chats. 7 p.m. Feb. 17 (Sat. through Feb. 24). Fort Boonesborough block house. Reservations required. $15 adults, $25 couples, $5 ages 12 and younger. Proceeds benefit Fort Boonesborough Foundation. (859) 527-3131. Speakers are as follows: n Feb. 17: Ann McGinty by Melanie Kintz (Antique appraisal 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; $10 per item, three for $25).
Fish bait, cappuccino: We have it all in Waxhaw
"Fish bait and cappuccino" was the marquee offering at The General's Mini Mart a few years back. The combination has stayed with me over the years because it is a perfect metaphor for the rich diversity of retail offerings that you can find in downtown Waxhaw. Waxhaw's merchandise cornucopia reflects the wide range of interests of its residents. Supermarkets often showcase products near the front door, but I think that the trifecta offering of deer corn, Sweet Treat horse feed and bundled firewood displayed as impulse items on New Year's Day at Food Lion say to me that this merchant certainly knows his customers. In another column, we will visit the panoply that awaits the shopper in Waxhaw's many antique shops. Today, I would like to invite the reader to join me on an imaginary stroll to some of the more unusual shops flanking Providence Road and Main Street.
It's a woman's world to tour
If you're female and tired of quick-hit itineraries, and you don't want to fool with lining up your own tour guides, you might want to take a look at www.gutsywomentravel.com. The five-year-old service was set up by and for women and has designed tours, including cruises, to destinations in Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Latin America and North America. The types of trips are a little different from the usual "adventure" or "culinary," adding niches such as "fine homes and fabulous gardens" and "shopping and antiques." According to the Web site, the service offers travel that is "designed to appeal to the multitasking nature of women." It also provides for no early-morning departures and stays that usually last two days in each hotel. Most trips are seven or fewer days, because "we recognize that women are time-deprived." If you don't like being herded around with a crowd, you might be OK here, too -- free time is scheduled for "individual exploration." See the Web site for more information.
Auctions | Slip into vintage clothing and jewelry (hint ...
William H. Bunch Auctions & Appraisals will be rejoining the rag trade Monday with a sale of vintage clothing that Bunch says, aptly enough, "will knock your socks off." The more than 500 lots to be offered beginning at noon at the Chadds Ford gallery are predominantly women's clothing. But there also are a number of men's fashions, including a Jacob Reed cashmere coat, as well as linens and textiles, quilts and variety items. This will be Bunch's fourth exclusively vintage clothing sale. Bunch associate Andi Charkow, who has been squirreling away items from a variety of consignors, put together the sale and will conduct it. Among the top lots are a dyed nutria fur coat, a Brigitte Bardot signature scarf, a Honeybrook Amish quilt dating to the 1940s, and an assortment of handbags, notably a 1920s art deco mesh handbag that Charkow calls "the best I've ever seen." Charkow thinks the bag should sell for $300 to $400, although, in general, she is reluctant to give out presale estimates, saying - as many auctioneers do - that prices "depend on who's in the room." Bunch thinks the quilt might bring $1,000, noting that a Mennonite quilt brought close to $3,000 at his last clothing and linen sale.
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