2013 National Sports Collectors Convention Road Trip

PART 1

2013 NATIONAL SPORTS COLLECTORS CONVENTION

Net54Baseball.com Dinner

The Three Bills Room

Corey Leiby Collection

PART 2

2013 NATIONAL SPORTS COLLECTORS CONVENTION

POST-CON ROAD TRIP

John Gennantonio Collection

PART 2

OF THE 2013 NATIONAL SPORTS

COLLECTORS CONVENTION COVERAGE

- THE POST-CON ROAD TRIP -

Featuring forays into Indiana's Antique Alley, Springfield Ohio

Antiques Malls, Adamstown PA. , and a viewing of

the John Gennantonio Collection

BY CARLTON HENDRICKS

Page 9

THE 2013 NATIONAL SPORTS

COLLECTORS CONVENTION COVERAGE

POST-CON ROAD TRIP

By Carlton Hendricks

n Thursday I checked out of my cheapy motel three miles from the convention center. I had initially planned to leave for my road trip that morning but decided to go back to the convention for one last run thru to see if I could add anything I missed. If you've ever been to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, you know it's huge and getting in and out can be a real hassle parking and all...The parking is like three to four blocks worth of walking away...Being it was my third time there I knew the layout pretty well. As far as I'm concerned the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, which is on the north side of the convention center is the easiest for getting in and out of the convention. All the other big hotels are on the western side, essentially in front of the convention center, across N. River Road, which is a busy boulevard...the kind you definitely wait for the signal light it's so busy. The Hyatt on the other hand, you just walk out and there's a side entrance where you walk into the convention center cafeteria...You walk in past all the people standing in line to pay for food and, providing you have credentials, boom you're on the floor of the convention!

So going back that Thursday I knew I'd have to pay $20.00 or so for parking and have to hoof it in....So then I thought what the heck...I think I know a way around this...I'm not a high roller but I've been a hotel bellman 26 years so you might say I know how it works...So I take a left and pull into the Hyatt...Top down in my snazzy red camaro, I pull up in the busy entrance area like I'm checking in...the valet comes up to me and I go...Hey I have to go over to the convention center...you think you could take care of my car...and I hand him a twenty...Sure no problem he says...we'll keep it up front...and blam I was off to the show...no hoofing it four blocks! And when I came back...boom there it was up front waiting for me right by the cafeteria entrance!...Living large baby!

Later that afternoon I left the convention feeling more confident I had everything I needed to put the story together...And I was finally off on the road trip I'd been planning for months...Had it not been for revisiting the convention I'd have left for Indiana early that morning and would have already been going thru Indiana's "Antique Alley"...So I hadn't even left for my road trip and I was already a day behind...But my priorities were Convention first, vacation second...and I would just have to adapt.

Now you have to understand my view of being on vacation...To most people being on vacation means an exotic location like the Caribbean, Cabo, Europe...But for me...I have this thing about the United States...I really like seeing parts of the country I've never seen...Places some probably wouldn't consider interesting. Oh sure I'd like to see exotic places...but there is so much here I've never ...I'd be happy seeing Brooklyn!

And so...I'm in Chicago...I have a car...I have a little money...I don't have to be to work...I can go anywhere I want...north, south, east, west...It's like being rich! Actually though I had mapped out my route before hand...When I was planning it all out I had to pick a route...I usually gravitate toward where large antiques shows will be...But August is kind of a dead time for shows....spring and fall generally is when the big ones happen...mid summer not much goes on...So that made it a little hard to decide which direction to go...Of course in the back of my mind I'm always thinking "go east young man...that's where the antiques are"...Finally I decided I'd look for an area with a good amount of antiques stores along the way...And even though it's best days are over for antiques...I still always like going thru Adamstown and Denver PA...

So looking around on the internet I saw Indiana had a stretch of about thirty five miles called "Antique Alley"...and...I could stay almost free in Indianapolis at the Alexander Hotel, since it's a sister property to the hotel I work at in California...I figured after Indiana I'd head for Adamstown PA., which is in Lancaster County about an hour west of Philadelphia...and along the way stop at the huge antiques malls around the Springfield Ohio area...Then after Adamstown/Denver it was only about a 2 hour drive to the Seaview Resort in Galloway New Jersey. Seaview is another sister property to the hotel I work at where I get the employee rate.

Carlton's first stop

THE ALEXANDER HOTEL

Indianapolis IN

FINALLY BLASTING OFF

So there was my plan and off I went...straight into the Chicago freeways...heading for Indianapolis...Since I lost pretty much the whole day I just headed straight for the Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis figuring I'd get an early start the following day for this "Antique Alley" which was about an hour east of Indianapolis...Early start....right... Carlton doesn't do early starts after three days of the National except in his imagination...And so I get to the Alexander around midnight...Naturally the next morning I didn't get on the road till about noon...and since it looked like I would only have time to see part of the "Antique Alley" I figured I'd start in Richmond...then head to Centerville...

ABOVE 34 PHOTOS OF RICHMOND AND CENTERVILLE INDIANA AREA - CLICK ANY PHOTO

Street scenes, antiques stores, and essentially what I saw along the way.

Don't miss the green 1960's Ford Fairlane hot rod!

INDIANA'S ANTIQUE ALLEY

Richmond was a bomb....I saw maybe three stores...pretty lame ones at that...I was told about one store in particular that had a lot of advertising...On the other side of town....drove there and it was closed...dud two...I got into the town of Centerville and found just the kind of store I was hoping for...stuffed full of old advertising...but the prices were like New York City and there wasn't anything I really wanted...so essentially dud three for the day...By then it was getting toward 4:00PM and I headed for Webb's Antique Mall, which was supposed to be "Antique Alley's largest mall...Well...it wasn't too bad...really a pretty good mall...85,000 square feet...But it was all pretty typical...a lot of ordinary stuff...I bought a barber bottle for $25.00 I thought I could put on eBay...woohoo!

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