Road Trip to Columbus, Ohio: Vintage Life at Flower Child!

Summer road trips are awesome. For me, they bring back that wonderful and exciting feeling of the last day of school - jumping on your bike, heading home with the sun on your face, and a huge expanse of summer ahead of you. What adventures would lie in wait around the next corner?

Greg and I drove to Columbus, Ohio, to visit his sister and her family this summer and had a great time. We were there in time to celebrate my nephew's 12th birthday with a pizza party and red velvet cake.

My nephew, M., loves antique and vintage things and is a proud "kid picker" (a great program established by Mike Wolfe of American Pickers to encourage young people to be interested in antiques).

He saves his allowance to hit garage sales every weekend and absolutely loves to explore thrift shops, so I was quite excited when he wanted to take us to his favorite vintage shop in Downtown Columbus, Flower Child. From the first sight of the 1950s metal porch chairs out front, I was smitten. But when I walked inside, I knew I had found 1970s vintage mecca.

You'll find a huge accumulation of vintage stuff at Flower Child - furniture, art, housewares, kitchenware, clothes, shoes, and jewelry - I hadn't see this much 1970s stuff in one place since my own house growing up in the 1970s! But I'm certain we didn't have that many macrame owls.

I wound my way through an almost maze-like sequence of vintage life showrooms, each more colorful and vibrant than the next, and squealed with delight, "Look at that! I remember that! We had that!"

M. beamed at me and boasted, "I told you this place was awesome!"

I wanted to buy it all, especially when I found the kitchenware room, but as we still have at least a year to go before we finish our bungalow renovation, I resisted the temptation to begin decorating. I definitely will be back though!

There were rooms filled with vintage clothing, shoes, jewelry, sunglasses...

And then I found out there were not one, but TWO! basement areas filled with more vintage clothing - it was overwhelming!

S., my 15-year-old nephew, immediately put together a totally fly outfit - complete with purple top hat.

And then I saw them - a pair of late 1960s purple platform heels in nearly mint condition - and gasp - they fit! That was it - I had found my summer road trip souvenir.

But with which outfit would I wear my dream shoes?

I raced through the racks, searching for the perfect vintage 1960s dress to match my shoes - and it nearly jumped off the rack at me - I think you can see why...

I had so much fun picking out this outfit and spending the afternoon browsing through Flower Child with my nephews. It was one of the highlights of my summer road trip.

If you love vintage stuff and you're in the Columbus, Ohio area (there's also a store in Cleveland), be sure to stop in and admire the world's largest collection of macrame owls.

Do you have a favorite vintage/antique shop that is a must-see in your area? Tell me about it!