This is the second in a summer series of interesting places to visit in Northeast Mississippi.

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By Ginna Parsons

Daily Journal

WEST POINT - If you like old things and you've got a day to kill, then West Point is the place for you to be.

Six shops selling antiques - along with a few new things and some items that are just downright odd - are all within a two-mile radius.

Windmill Antique Mall, owned by Arlon and Emily Hopkins, specializes in American antiques, collectible glass, Empire-style furniture, Oriental rugs and Victorian pieces. The building, located in a shopping center behind Wendy's, has 16,000 square feet and features nine dealers.

"There are some European pieces that sell real good, but nothing real ornate," said Arlon Hopkins. "We do cut glass and hand-painted and hand-blown glass. And we have china patterns from several European countries, including Czechoslovakia, Germany, France and Bavaria."

Just across the parking lot from the Windmill is Mawmaw's Treasures, owned by Ray and Helen Childress. The building has 6,000 square feet and has 22 dealers.

"We specialize in glassware - Fenton, Fostoria, Depression-era, Duncan Miller and milk glass," said Helen Childress. "We also have European, primitive and American furniture. We try to do unusual collectibles - a telephone booth from a New Orleans hotel, barber chairs, safes, railroad items and old instruments. You've just got to know your customers and what they like. And it's a joy to meet your travelers."

Back out on Highway 45 Alternate next to Hoover's Bakery is This amp& That, a tiny little hole-in-the-wall owned by Wilma Boyd that specializes in costume jewelry.

"I sell more costume jewelry than anything else," said Boyd. "If they're hunting for that little treasure and not have to pay a lot for it, they come in this shop."

Boyd has decorative pins and brooches pinned to dresses on mannequins and egg cartons filled with earrings.

"I probably have more than 3,000 pins and 4,000 to 5,000 pairs of earrings, mostly clip-ons," she said. "There's a pin in here for every occasion there ever was."

Just down the road, on the same side of the street, is a new complex called The Shops of Community Commons, a division of Community Counseling Services, Region 7 Mental Health. One of the shops is Sunnyside Antiques and Gifts.

The 5,000-square-foot shop features fine antique furniture, pottery, sewing chests, Oriental and antique rugs, made-in-Mississippi linens, china, stationery and invitations.

"We have antique and reproduction pieces, American, English and French," said Martha Allen Wooten, the merchandising and marketing director. "We have something for everybody - something for the new collector and something for someone looking to buy only the finest pieces."

If you head back toward downtown on Highway 50, you'll run into Bits-n-Pieces on Commerce Street. Wendy Childress owns the shop, but her parents, Bill and Mary East, often run it for her.

A quick tour of the two-story shop reveals books, record albums, blue bottles, old oil cans, antique clocks, handmade items, hairbows, original artwork and homemade baked goods, such as cupcakes, brownies and cookies.

"We go from junktiques to old, eclectic things people remember from their childhood," said Bill East. "We're kind of like the old-time emporium - new things, old things, used things."

Finally, you have to visit Annabelle's Antiques on Highway 50. This 15,000-square-foot business, owned by Joyce Pierce, opened in 1999 and features 50 vendors.

"We have a lot of shabby chic - painted furniture, farm tables made of old pine," said Pierce. "Some dealers in here have a lot of glass but mostly we have furniture."

The shop also has handmade decorative birdhouses, original artwork, an all-white room and vintage clothing and jewelry.

"One of our vendors has a lot of signs, Coca-Cola machines, primitive furniture, tools, benches, decoys," she said. "The guys really like coming to his booth."

If all this shopping has stoked your appetite, be sure and stop by Nightingale's Pantry on Highway 45 Alternate, about three miles north of the West Point city limits. The restaurant and general store, owned by Judy Nightingale, is a step back into the past.

Nightingale's features breakfast items, made-to-order deli sandwiches on homemade breads, and fresh salads. The Mennonites who run it also sell breads, sweet rolls, frozen casseroles, candy, nuts, gourmet coffee, Troyer cheese and butter, grits from the Grit Girl in Oxford, Bob's Red Mill items, dried noodles, gluten-free items, spices, sauces, pickled items, candles, soaps and lotions.

At an area in the back of the store, you can purchase fabric, thread, buttons, patterns and zippers. They also sell aprons, baby items, cookbooks and kitchen gadgets.

Pick up a snow cone at a little stand in Nightingale's parking lot before you head home and you're good to go for the day.

ginna.parsons@journalinc.com

Where To Go

• Windmill Antique Mall, 415 W. Main St., Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (662) 494-0098.

• Mawmaw’s Treasures, 639 Plaza Drive, Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (662) 494- 0731.

• This & That, 128 Highway 45 Alt., Thur.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (662) 494-1442.

• Sunnyside Antiques and Gifts, 950 Highway 45 Alt., Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (662) 524-4298.

• Bits-n-Pieces, 108 Commerce St., Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (662) 494-7111.

• Annabelle’s Antiques, 1125 E. Main St., Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sun. 1-5 p.m. (662) 492-0473.

• Nightingale’s Pantry, 6162 Highway 45 Alt., Mon.-Sat., 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (662) 494-0150.