We had friends visit us in Knoxville for the long holiday weekend. Since the weather was on the hot and stormy side, and the fireworks weren't going to start until late, we decided to cruise up the interstate to a little-known antiquing heaven- Clinton. It's only about 20 minutes up the road, and being that our friends were from downtown Atlanta, we were excited to show off the mountains of east TN.
There are actually about 10 or 12 antique shops in the old historic part of Clinton (downtown). There was even a train that went through the center of the town which gave it a nice small town, "old-timey" feel. Although it was a holiday weekend, the town was in full-swing with a 4th of July festival going on (great sales!), and fantastic bluegrass music, which our friends loved.
The antiquing was really pretty good, with a lot of different stuff to look through-- all sorts of knick-knacks up to gorgeous pieces of furniture. We found The Antique Market to be our favorite. The shop owners were incredibly friendly and knowledgable. The shop was not too big, but there were a lot of spectacular old antiques that we were told were from all over the north and midwest including Europe.
Our favorite items were the various unique lamps made from all sorts of antiques like teapots and old tins, and even one that is a parking meter! Definitely worth the trip! A true antiquing gem. read more