antique city drive

My husband and I have wanted to come here for atleast 2 years now and just never had the time. Well, this time, while planning a "whimsical and quirky" road trip around western Iowa, we added Walnut to the list! Upon entering the town from the north, I was instantly impressed by the nice homes and well-kept lawns on Wednesday afternoon, July 30. Because of our late in the afternoon arrival, we were only able to stop at one shop, but the promise of a great Thursday morning was clearly evident in our smiles as we drove around town! Because of where my husband and I both work, we are used to stores being open way earlier than 9, 10 or even 11am, but that made our shopping options a bit easier on Thursday, due to our time constraints. My favorite of all, was the quilt/fabric shop while I'm sure my husband's favorite was the Granary further on down the street. Regardless of that...if you are planning a trip to Walnut, for the antiques that are abundant, make sure you allow plenty of time and LOTS of money! There ARE good deals there, but just make sure you take the time to look things over and don't settle for the first thing you see. This is small town Iowa like no other. Enjoy!

We have been driving for days and we decided to stretch our legs and saw the road signs for the town. At first glance I found this little town quite adorable. I like the fact that there isn't a walmart or other chain stores in this town and I hope that someday others start to appreciate the history of towns as much as I do. That said, many of the shops were closed (most didn't open until 11am) when we arrived so we started at Sugar Grove first. Offered us 20% off anything we found. The prices were actually reasonable and the store owner was very friendly (liked to show me things-all of which was in my style range) and I appreciated his helpfulness with finding things in his shop. We also got to look at the records across the street from Sugar grove. I liked the retro theme and thought that the prices for the records was a little high. (I've found similar records for $1.50 at another shop in Illinois). Otherwise the concept of the store was neat. We also ventured over to the Granary Mall. I liked the things they had, but the prices were way too high and it felt like we were in a museum (most everything is in cases). When I asked the shop keeper two questions I seemed to be wasting his time and bothering him from his newspaper! Golly, I just like to learn about history and the building interested me as much as the antiques, sorry I bothered you, mister. We were pressed for time, but I would liked to have seen more. Perhaps next time!

Spend a day, and you probably won't see everything. You will find plenty of variety and the unusual, but you have to search very hard to find a bargain. It is possible, and the search may be fun.

We go to Walnut once a year for the Father's Day weekend Antiques Show. If the weather cooperates, it's a great time with lots of quality merchandise, nice people, good food and a pleasant atmosphere. Shops in town have wide range from junk to quality, can be a bit pricey. We always seem to find something, and the show weekend draws dealers from all over the country. We met a neat guy from Phoenix on this last trip, and saw other from the Dakotas, Michigan, Wisconsin and many other places.

Low key and relaxing to stay in town and shop and dine out. Not far from the big cities, just enough to get out of town and not travel for days.

Great annual Outdoor Antique Sale. Quaint town, beautiful scenery, good food- you must have pie! A fun trip for the whole family.

Just wanted to voice my experience of the Best and the Worst shops to visit, purely based on the character of the shop owners.The absolute Worst was a shop called Sugar Grove Antiques. The owner wears all black, all the time, and he is the coldest shop owner I've ever encountered. When I attempted to ask about an item I was interested in, his response was rude and snippy. Alright, I thought... I will look around a little more and maybe find something else that I liked. Maybe that was something dear to him??. Yet again, when I attempted conversation with this unfriendly bald fellow, he gave me the cold shoulder and even started to have a fiery tone. I was nothing but respectful, and was not interrupting anything. This guy needs to realize if he doesn't sell things, he's not going to be there very much longer! It doesn't seem like he fits in with the rest of the stores - probably because of his attitude towards the customer. The BEST shop was definitely the Village Blacksmith at the South end. The older gentleman that was there (I assume he owns the place) shared many stories and took the most time out of any shops to really get to know what I was looking for. He had a wide variety of antiques and it seemed like he had a true passion for it. Hope this helps anyone trying to plan their visit. Definitely steer clear of Sugar Grove and be sure to stop in to the Blacksmith.

If you enjoy looking at antiques then this is the place for you. We enjoy just browsing and looking for a new "old" treasure to take home. I did on one occasion get an old steamer trunk. It was painted an awful color of olive green, and we stripped off the paint as best we could and it revealed that the trunk had writing on it and it was from an old hotel dated back to the early 1900's. The brass lock added to it's charm. It is my favorite antique that we have found so far.

great for antiquing, lots of everything, the bakery goods in town was excellent, although the outdoor junkfest was a disappointment

Fewer stores every year, but ones that were still open had nice selection, for the most part. Biggest drawback was that stores did not accept debit cards. They may sell antiques, but this is the 21st century! We don't carry a lot of cash when travelling so had to limit our purchases. Most stores would take checks, but don't carry many of those any more either since debit is so much easier.

Walnut Iowa, just of I-80, used to have a nice little downtown that was well-kept and had many antique shops and a couple of cafes. Obviously, most of the shop owners have given up. The downtown is shabby, with many storefronts empty or with stores that are never open. In addition, other than Forget-Me-Nots and the Granery Mall the stores are crowded, the merchandise dirty, the cafes are long gone and the place just projects the overall impression of a town that has seen better days. This is really too bad, because I used to love to stop here when traveling, but these days I rarely bother and even when I do stop--it doesn't take more than an hour to hit the stores that are still there (and are worth going in to).

I love to go antiquing and you will have a fun day of it when in Walnut, IA. There are several - many - antique stores on "Antique City Drive" (Walnut's Main Street) to go into. You park the car and just walk up and down the streets and casually go in and out of the stores. You can spend all day doing this as there are many antique shops (and a few other novelty stores - definitely go into "Forget Me Nots" ('Gifts, treasures, and decor') and "Robert's Treats and Treasures", an ice cream and bakery store that is very delicious). It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon when we "antiqued" in Walnut this past weekend and for being such a small town, it's definitely big on antiques and conveniently located off of Int. 80 on Exit 46 in SW Iowa. Don't miss this town if you're an "antiquer" like me!