Antique Extravaganza in Mt. Dora: Counting the days!
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 8:00PM | Wrenda It is one of my favorite times of year in Florida: the fall antique extravaganza at Renningers in in Mt, 
Dora. I have been going there every fall for the first one of the season (Nov. 20-22) for many years and it is about this time of year, I start to count the days!
Shopping for myself and for clients looking for the pefect, unique accent piece (that can't be found in a store), it is a ritual that I have come to treasure. Acres and acres of this beautiful location are taken
over by up to 1,200 dealers from all over the U.S. Friday is "dealers" day and I try to be the first one there in order to have first bid on the "best" deals. Of course, they allow anyone in that day, but there is something so much fun about being there just as the dealers finish setting up their treasures. I have my favorite dealers and I race to their stall first to say hello and to checkout what they have aquired since I saw them months ago.
Over the years, I have made wonderful purchases (see photos) from this show: 
pie safes, washstands, ice boxes, stools, benches, vintage kitchen tables, a postmaster desk, a civil war trunk and so much more. You never know what you will find and of course that is the fun of it all. Many of my clients have said, "I love this but don't know what to do
with it." My advice that has never failed me: "If you love it, buy it." Your decorator will find a place for it!
Then after hours of searching and often finding, it is off to charming downtown Mt.Dora for lunch on the lake and a walk around town for more shopping. It is a return to the past in this quaint town and I like to spend as much time there as possible.
For me, this is fall in Florida and it one of my favorite rituals. If I don't find something at this show, there is always
January. And February.
Heading home at the end of the day, my husband and I talk about our purchases and try to imagine the history of each piece. Who made it, who used it and what its story might be. And then we make plans to come back in January to search for more treasures.
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Reader Comments (1)
I normally don't respond or make comments but after visiting the Antique extravaganza once or twice a year with my dear friend Lorna for the past 11 years we have seen the changes. The days of filling our shopping grocery wired cart and renting a trailer are gone....
Not sure if it's that folks have educated themselves from traveling television antique shows or just that lots of the "good stuff" is gone, over priced or reproduced.
Even the entrance fee has gone up and this past November there were fewer dealers-
Thinking twice about attending in February...