Fun time visiting LeClaire, Iowa ten miles back over the Mississippi River from where we are staying in Colona, Illinois. Found out after we checked in here that LeClaire is the home of Antique Archeology the American Pickers store featured on the History Channel that we love to watch. We got there about 10:30am since we didn't know that they didn't open until noon. There were already 15 - 20 people milling around taking pictures and peaking in the windows, so we got a few too. Glad because as soon as they opened, it was packed. Couldn't have gotten these. The place is a lot smaller than I thought it was gonna be and packed with stuff. There is only parking for five cars on their lot, glad we had already parked in the downtown public lot.
Since didn't realize that the town is closed on Sundays until noon, we sat on a bench along the Mississippi River for about an hour and a half and just watched everything going on on the water. Lots of boaters getting into the water on this beautiful day.
Walking back to Antique Archeology Ken captured the feel of this little town and some beautiful sunflowers.
Back at the shop, they opened to a flood of people. Not much was for sale, a lot marked NFS "not for sale", Mike Wolfe's personal collection.
Remember this bike?? Mike dug it out of a yard in rural Pennsylvania where it had been buried for 70 years. I remember him saying it would be part of his personal collection and it is.
Mike is definately the motocycle guy !
We learned lots of interesting things about this place. Antique Archeology and a lot of the surrounding property is owned by Mike Wolfe only. Frank Fritz is not a partner in this business. He has his own store in Savanna, Illinois about 40 miles up the Mississippi River and on the other side from Mike's store which is in Iowa. Frank's store is called Frank Fritz's Finds. We didn't get there today. When you see "the boys" bidding on the show, they are buying for their own stores. They are not in either store every day and filming it approximately once per month and the store is closed on that day. A very nice older woman, maybe Mike's mom??? was answering all our questions. It appeared that there was not much for sale. She said that it mostly sells out soon as it is put out on the floor and there is no schedule for that. She pointed to an old bar stool and said that three had recently been put out and this was the only one left. She told us that "the boys" recently returned from a pick in Pennsylvania and so she expected that they would be filming again soon and that new "old" stuff would be out for sale. They do such a great business at the store that they no longer sell anything online. However, if you have something that you think may be valuable, you can email them a picture, but only if you want to sell. She stated clearly that they do not do appraisals. I asked where Danielle fit in. She is an employee who now works from home since Mike didn't like paying her to sign autographs all day. That was said with a laugh. Danielle actually lives and works from Chicago but is at the store for a lot of things like filming and getting appraisals. Actually, any time you see her on the show, she is in the shop. Fun place but mostly what was for sale was Antique Archeology merchandise, t-shirts, mugs, etc. Fun day...
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