Some days, you just need an adventure day with one of your besties. So Saturday, I was out the door and on the road early with my friend Kelly, heading north to the Michigan Antiques Festival.

This festival was huge! Over 500 vendors, set up and ready to wheel and deal. I actually had no idea you could try to make a deal with the sellers, I was under the impression you had to pay the price that it was marked at. That was my first antiques buying lesson for the day.

We immediately drifted to this item. The seller saw us poking about with it and told us if we could tell him what it was, he would give us a break. We had no idea. Any guesses?

If you guessed pigeon clock timer for racing pigeons, ding ding ding you are the winner. Kelly could not leave such a unique item behind, and I encouraged her to buy it. It was really cool and neither of us had seen one before! Despite the fact that neither of us could tell him what it was, he gave Kelly a price break. While she was deciding though, I found a little horse, sitting there looking sad and lonely. I picked it up and mentioned to Kelly that it was cute – so she got the guy to throw it in for free, which cracked me up. I got a free horsey toy guys!

The weather was atrocious, thanks Michigan. However, we didn’t let that stop us from looking at every single item in every single booth. Neither of us were on the hunt for anything in particular, we were just there for the fun of it. I saw a few things that tempted me, but not enough to commit.

That desk. I almost regret not buying it. Ok, I do kind of regret it. It is really beautiful and it was $150, which is an awesome price. And that armadillo! It was way out of my price range but I LOVE the book A Prayer for Owen Meany (top ten all time favorite right there) and that armadillo immediately made me think of that book.

I ended up leaving with four old maps from the 30s and 40s, which I am going to frame and hang above Harry’s tank, and my free horse. I spent about $10.00. Kelly left with some cool stuff. Two jewelry molds, a glass jar that says cotton, that pigeon clock that weighs a million pounds and I carried to the car which was a million miles away, and an Atlas Dynamite box.

When we had explored every booth at least once, some twice, it was time to head out, onto our next destination – the Goldner Walsh Garden and Home in Pontiac. It is amazing, and if you are a plant person and find yourself in southeast Michigan, make your way there. First, the building and grounds are gorgeous.

I found another armadillo! I left this one behind too though sadly. They are also an event space, and I wish I had an event that I could hold there, because it was a really cool spot. It was all set up for a wedding when we went.

They also have super rare plants – like the royalty of the houseplant world. It was crazy to see such expensive plants – but they were beautiful. I took photos like a crazy plant fangirl. I have seen Thai Constellation monstera and Pink Princesses online, but never in person. And that Dragon Scale Alocasia is gorgeous too! I would never buy one, even if they were in the budget, because I would be too afraid to spend $300 on something that I could kill so easily!

Goldner Walsh also has something else I love – a sulcata tortoise!! They also have a few cats roaming around, and one seems to like Nelson the tortoise, but not paparazzi since it hid its little face.

I managed to buy more there than I did at the antique festival. Not a big surprise there, honestly. I picked out a maidenhair fern, a moon glow snake plant, and a frizzle stick!

I had a fantastic day with Kelly – it had been far too long since we had adventured together. Our purchases arranged neatly and safely in the back of the car, we headed home. Well, not every thing was in the back – my horse rode up front with us.