World Oddities Expo - 2023

For the four years it was on, and the several years of reruns we got to enjoy, I always loved watching Discovery’s Oddities TV show, which followed the staff and antics of patrons of the Obscura Antiques & Oddities shoppe in Manhattan’s East Village.  I have a love of antiques, and the grim and spooky and offbeat, and I’ve sadly never been able to make it to Obscura Antiques & Oddities (which has since closed their NYC location and shifted to online-only after the COVID-19 pandemic) so naturally when I heard about the World Oddities Expo, I made sure not to miss it!

The World Oddities Expo is apparently not the only oddities expo on the scene, but it was the first I heard about, and is one of two that visit semi-locally.  The event itself wasn’t quite what I expected based on the website, but I was still very pleased - the WOE is more of a flea market than anything else.  But when the vendors are offering posed taxidermy, embalming supplies, obsolete medical instruments, steampunk treasures, and relics of the spooky and supernatural, of course I’m in love.

See a few photos of some of the offerings - out of respect, I didn’t photograph everything I saw.  At the end of the day, I had picked up a witchy gift for one of my best friends, an emerald green pinned butterfly in a frame for my own wall, and some smaller specimens in vials - the beginning of a collection I hope to slowly grow.

The World Oddities Expo visits the Baltimore-DC region at least once a year, and in 2025 will be here twice, and this isn’t counting other similar expos with many of the same vendors - I sadly was busy the day of 2024’s expo, but can’t wait to add to my collection in 2025!

Fredericksburg Antiquing

Heading to the DC Big Flea tomorrow? Kick off your weekend with some Fredericksburg antique shop finds from last weekend!

I didn’t pick anything up this time, but window shopping in antique shops is exciting to me enough on its own, plus I discovered a new favorite singer in one of the stores, so I have new albums I’m eating up as a result.

Always bring home memories, even if they’re not physical.

Katie's Cars and Coffee: November 23rd, 2013

It's been a few weeks since I've been to Katie's; last weekend I shot an awesome wedding.  This weekend brought in a cold front, which, predictably, kept some folks from coming out.  While eating breakfast inside Katie's you could overhear conversations; "Ive put the Ferrari away for the Winter, so I just brought the Porsche."  The weather today was cold and blustery; it made for a short show, as most people gathered inside for coffee, and promptly left, avoiding the 35°F cold + wind chill... all while yesterday it was 65°F.

Jake (Bengal55) and I also ran into Patrick (Jagvar), and we toured the show together.

There was also this guy drove up to me in his Daimler and asked me if my camera records sound. I said, "it can" and proceeded to record him as he drove off.  Not sure what that was all about... but hey, if you find this video, here it is!

This blog post has been republished by J. David Buerk onto Oppositelock.  For the full set of photos, view the album at his Facebook Page. All photography is by J. David Buerk, and is copyrighted All Rights Reserved.

Jalopnik at Katie's Cars and Coffee

UPDATE:  This blog post was featured on Jalopnik on August 26th, 2013.  See the full story and comments there. It's been a busy month of exciting things happening this August at Katie's Cars and Coffee in Great Falls, Virginia.  The weekly auto drive-in and show has recently grown in popularity this Summer, thanks to more frequent appearances of extremely rare and expensive cars, such as an original Cunningham C2R that first made an appearance on May 25th (and a return trip on August 17th)...

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...and more recently, two separate  Bugatti Veyrons.  The first made an appearance on July 6th, coming from nearby Volkswagen corporate offices in Dulles, and a second, privately owned Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport on August 10th, which flew in earlier this month on a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight to Washington Dulles International Airport, and has been seen touring its way up the Eastern seaboard.  This is the same Veyron which has been spotted in Georgetown, downtown Washington, DC, and most recently sustained damaged in a collision with a truck in New York City, just yesterday.

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All this attention hasn't gone unnoticed by local automotive enthusiasts of car news website and blog, Jalopnik, and this past Saturday (August 24th), a number of Jalops (active members of the Jalopnik community) met to enjoy a Cars and Coffee event at Katie's Coffee House.  Among the group was Washington, DC based Jalopnik writer, Patrick George, who arrived in a Cadillac ATS on loan to him for review.

The group met in the company of fellow car lovers, and toured this weekend's Cars and Coffee offerings, stopping to chat with drivers, and discuss interesting stories of ownership, and automotive history behind some manufacturers and their innovations.

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The meet was an amazing success, only made better by perfect weather.  The group stood for a picture in front of the classic Bently, and parted ways, until the next time we choose to meet.  A special thanks to Nick for helping organize, who unfortunately was unable to attend.

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This blog post has been republished by J. David Buerk onto Oppositelock.  For the full set of photos, view the album at his Facebook Page. All photography is by J. David Buerk, and is copyrighted All Rights Reserved.