Bargain shopping in Hendersonville
• Second Time Around, 121 Indian Lake Road; 822-6961 or www.secondtimearoundbypeggy.com. This shop has been around for 25 years. Owner Peggy Armstrong has about 400 active consignors and a 50-50 split. In addition to casual and ladies' business clothing, she has a wonderful consignment bridal gown boutique — at any given time there are at least 200 dresses with none costing more than $400 — and a huge assortment of prom dresses and other formalwear. She also has shoes, accessories and new jewelry.
• Up and Down Closet, 237 E. Main St. next to Kmart; 264-6569. This is a plus-size specialty consignment shop featuring sizes 14 to 28 and up to 6X. Operated by Sherry Lawler and Jackie Biggers and friends, it has two rooms full of shoes, accessories and clothes, including mother-of-the-bride and cruise wear.
• Kids Clothes Basket, 386 W. Main St. (across from McDonald's); 431-2562. Owner Julie Montgomery has been in the bargain boutique business for five years buying boutique closeouts and merchandise from going-out-of-business sales and other suppliers and holding temporary public sales.
Earlier this year, she decided to make it a full-time retail operation and opened her permanent shop with the boutique lines as well as a growing consignment section.
• Sunflower Thrift, in the NSI center at 143 New Shackle Island Road, 826-5441, is a for-profit thrift shop, with owners Jeff and Laura Davis buying the contents of storage units and merchandise from individuals. Don't miss the 59-cent rack of clearance clothing items.
• An interesting combo store is the Sears Outlet at 393 E. Main St., 822-6515, which also houses Tuesday Morning and a Lands End outlet with some clothes and a few linens and household items.
• Then and Again, 235 E. Main St. in the Kmart center; 264-5594. Julia Proctor describes her new home furnishings consignment shop as "purveyors of antique, vintage and consignment furniture and home décor and accessories.'' It's a small shop but is full of interesting pieces and has every price range.
• Little Ones Children's Boutique consignment shop at 235 E. Main St. in the Kmart Center, just down from Then & Again, 826-0026, has been in business for eight years. Owner Sue Layne has newborn to size 16 girls and boys clothes as well as some new accessories such as bags and bows.
• Hendersonville Samaritan Association Thrift Shop, 116 Dunn St.; 824-5652. This is a new location for this shop, which generates funds that are used for the Help Center's crisis ministry in the Hendersonville area to help the needy with expenses such as rent, medicine and utilities.
• Ms. B's Used Books and CDs, 330 W. Main St. (next to KFC), 824-9624, has 50,000 books, as well as CDs, DVDs and some video games. Most books are less than half of the original price. Owner Belinda Bledsoe buys, sells and trades. Don't miss the bargain racks of 99-cent and even 25-cent books. A large children's book section has lots of titles under $5.
• Goodwill has a large store in Hendersonville at 291 New Shackle Island Road, 822-0307.
Explore Hendersonville
• Drakes Creek Park/Memorial Park. This park on the lake on Gallatin Pike has a wonderful wooden playground, a fountain, lots of ducks to feed and picnic areas. You cannot swim here but you can fish, play tennis, walk and just loll around enjoying the lovely lake setting.
On the other side of the road are ball fields, a sand volleyball court, and walking and bike trails. There's even a bridge to a tiny island in the middle of Drakes Creek.
• Sanders Ferry Park at the very end of Sanders Ferry Road also has a great walking trail by Old Hickory Lake, a fishing pier, picnic shelters and disc golf course, all free.
• Trinity Music City USA at 1 Village Blvd., which was originally built by country superstar Conway Twitty, offers free tours of the Trinity Broadcasting Network studios and a free religious film in the Virtual Reality Theater. You can also tour Twitty's home, and there are often chances to be part of a live studio audience such as the 7 p.m. taping of a nationally televised program next Tuesday. 826-9191.
Dining in Hendersonville
• Demos Hendersonville, 161 Indian Lake Blvd., is an area favorite with a $4.25 daily lunch special on weekdays that includes an entree, salad and bread. There are lots of $5.95 lunch deals, too. 824-9097.
• Ruby's Country Kitchen, 75A New Shackle Island Road, 824-9826. Ruby's is known for a wonderful breakfast for about $5, and lunch is a meat and two veggies for $4.99.
• The Manis family (Charlie, Dave and Linda) operate a fun, new beachy restaurant in Hendersonville, Barefoot Charlie's, at 122 Sanders Ferry Road. It has an island theme, with indoor and deck dining on the lake. There is a $6.99 daily lunch special and a good happy hour 4-7 p.m. daily. 431-2859.
Bargain shopping in Gallatin
• Roxanna's Closet, 100 S. Westland Ave., in Gallatin; 452-4416. Owner Roxanna Polk has been in business for 20 years. Her shop has a triple focus — it's a prom and formalwear boutique, a high-end children's clothing shop and a ladies consignment shop. Don't miss the wall of formal dresses that are $50-$99, including some that were originally as much as $500.
• Upscale Boutique, 108 N. Water Ave. on the square in Gallatin; 451-7761. Owner Deborah McNelley opened her shop 10 years ago and has added new prom and pageant wear and new jewelry to her original inventory of mostly name-brand consignment clothes to create a nice mix of merchandise.
(4 of 5)
• The Secret Garden, 114A W. Main St.; 206-0027. New owners Dwayne and Janeen Reynolds continue to sell pre-owned children's clothes, toys, shoes, books and accessories as well as maternity clothes. Instead of being a consignment shop, the couple buys merchandise outright, paying 40 percent of what they'll charge for cash buys and
60 percent of the store price if you want store credit. E-mail secret
gardenkids@hotmail.com for sale info and coupons.
• A new children's consignment store called Polka Dots and Pigtails opened in June at 153 Witherspoon Ave. off South Water Avenue. It has clothes for newborns up to size 16 in girls and size 7-8 in boys. 989-1671; www.polkadot
snpigtails.com.
• Grapevine Books, 223 N. Water Ave.; 451-1231. Owner Nina Jackson buys, sells and trades books and some videos and DVDs and has 45,000 books. Most are priced at about half of the original retail price. Don't miss the sale room in back. If you have books to get rid of, she is particularly interested in history, Civil War and classics.
• The Blue Barn, 809 S. Water Ave.; 230-7990. The shop across from historic Rose Mont mansion is a junkers' delight with everything from furniture and appliances to shoes, dishes, figurines and iron skillets.
It also has tools, fishing and sports gear, and just about anything else you could imagine. Owners Margaret Dutile and James Sherron have been in business for
19 years, keeping the store stocked by buying whole houses full of stuff and items from individuals.
• Gallatin CARES thrift shop, 241 W. Eastland in Gallatin; 452-5732. This warehouse store has lots of stuff and great prices —
10-cent dishes, 25- and
50-cent books, lots of clothes for $1, plus an assortment of bread for a donation.
• Rugged Wearhouse, 825 Nashville Pike, features name-brand-apparel housewares. It has tons of good discounts on clothing for the whole family. Its particularly strong junior area has lots of jeans at great prices. No phone.
(5 of 5)
• Goodwill has a nice store at 670B Nashville Pike; 452-7886.
• The Habitat ReStore, 241 W. Eastland, opened in September carrying new and used donated home repair items, hardware, appliances, sinks, shutters, tile, doors, windows and cabinets. The prices are amazingly cheap. 230-3032; www.habitatsumner
county.org/restore.
Exploring in Gallatin
• If you visit Gallatin on the weekend, plan to catch a movie at the old-fashioned Palace Theater, 146 N. Water Ave. on the square; 452-5692. Admission is $5, $2 ages 10 and younger, and popcorn is $1.50. Shows are Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.
• Lock Four Park on Old Hickory Lake near the intersection of Hwy. 31 and Hwy. 109 has a walking trail and mountain bike trail, along with picnic shelters.
• Sumner County is loaded with history, and historical sites such as Trousdale Place (452-5648), Rose Mont (451-2331), Cragfont (452-7070) and Sumner County Museum (451-3738) are all good bets with admission just $3-$5. Call for hours and other details.
• Bledsoe Creek State Park off Highway 25. This
164-acre park is situated on part of the U.S. Corps of Engineers Old Hickory Reservoir near the old 1780s settlement of Cairo. Construction this summer makes parking a challenge, but there are some great trails and other facilities. 452-3706 or www.tnstate
parks.com/bledsoecreek.
• Keep going north to Sumner Crest Winery at 5306 Old Highway 26 in Portland off I-65 at exit 117. You can always get a free tour and tasting. Mark your calendar for Aug. 29 for the 10th annual Grape Stomp (3-6 p.m.) and concert
(6-9 p.m.) on the lawn. They'll have two tons of grapes for your stomping pleasure and music by Chill. 325-4086 or www.sumnercrestwinery.
com.
Dining in Gallatin
• The Lunch Box,
1176 Long Hollow Pike. Owners Ken and Pam Tucker offer cafeteria-style lunches, good home-cooked food and yummy banana pudding. A meat and two veggies is $5.25 including dessert. 451-7648 or www.thelunchboxtn.
com.
• A great bet is the Cajunish Larriviere's, 102 N. Water Ave. on the square; 451-2772 or www.larriv
ieres.com. Weekday lunch specials are $5-$6. Most other lunch selections (soup, salads and sandwiches) are in the $6-$8 range, and there is a no-tipping policy.
Contact Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282 or at mscheap@tennessean.com.
Now on to Decorating Ideas...
How do you make your house your own? The answer is different for everyone.