Cindy, both kids and both grandkids went to Pigeon Forge, TN this weekend for a beauty pagaent. I figured since I was paying for everything any way I might as well go along and check out the antique stores. Since I don't really approve of beauty pagaents I needed to kill all day Saturday. I started at the flea market near I-40 and worked my way back to the south end of Pigeon Forge where our hotel was located. I actually hit every flea market and antique store in Severville and Pigeon Forge Saturday. I only passed on 3 items all day. One was at the first flea market where a coin dealer wanted $17 each for Silver Strikes. Yes they are worth that much but I don't buy them unless I can get them at a decent discount. The second pass was at an antique store where I thought I hit the dice motherlode. They had about 100 pair of dice for $1 each. Only problem was that there while they looked like casino dice there was not a casino name on any of them. I know they were very old since the green ones were falling apart. The third item I passed on was the hardest. There was a set of 100 bakelite chips in three colors with initials on them for about $40. I just knew that if I bought them I would not be able to sell any of the duplicates and would be stuck with another box of chips. On the positive side I picked up all sorts of chips and other non-casino related items. The first item was a belt of all things. Last few years I have bought several $25 belts at regular stores that wear out after a few weeks. Well we are going back to the $5 belt from the flea market that normally last about five or ten years. Got some nice Starbucks coffee for less than the regular crap they sell in the grocery stores. Good timing since the coffee I bought at the worlds largest yard sale last year is about gone. Got four 12-packs of gum for a buck. Great for keeping in the car. Another find was a very nice 7" Roseville vase for about half of what it is worth. I even managed to buy a few chips. One dealer had some common sample chips, another guy had some $20 Hard Rock LV brass gift shop tokens that I have not seen before. I started my day at around 7:30 AM and by now it was almost 5 PM. Cindy called and said we couldn't go out for dinner since the girls were going to be in the pagaent until after 7 PM. We had a kitchen in our suite so I plugged Kroger into the GPS to pick up some quick dinner. I am two miles away when I see one last antique store and figure "Why not?". So I turn around and go in and they say they are closing in 10 minutes. I see something in one case that says token but is 90% hidden by other items so I can't tell exactly what it is. I ask the clerk, who is counting the days take, take to open the case so I can see what the token is. Turns out it is a French(?) MOP with CC initials and 5F on the back. Not bad for $2.

I did OK and the results of the pagaent were mixed. The 4 year old did not place but still got some nice prizes. The 9 year old came in third which was great since this was the strongest competition they have ever seen. Later this month they are doing a Toddlers and Tiaras pagaent in Clarksville, TN. You may even catch a glimpse of them on TV although they declined to be one of the "special" people the cameras follow all day.