TIME TRAVEL AT HIGHLAND ROW (4/10/15)

     On a recent Ponce photo outing I re-discovered my childhood by visiting Highland Row. 

     Located beside the historic Highland Inn, the shop has about half of everything that was mass-produced since the Cold War.  Some items are truly one-of-a-kind.    

     "Both myself and all the dealers purchase and collect the things we love," said Owner Angela Carbon Baker.   "...things that we think are really cool, strange, or just unique." 

     Baker, originally from Youngstown, Ohio, moved to Atlanta for more than just opportunity.  "...there was more great stuff!" she said. 

     She opened the shop in 2004 with just two dealers. "In the beginning, we sold mainly antiques.  It did not take long to realize real antiques were not our market."

     Highland Row now represents 25 dealers and those customers looking for funky, weird and more mid-century items; which may seem "too new, too wild or too fringe" for antique shops.

     It's easy to spend an entire afternoon perusing the many basement rooms, some filled to capacity with kitsch and everything but the kitchen sink. 

      "It makes me feel so good when someone loves the store," said Baker.  "I love the weird eclectic items but it is so great when others say how much they enjoy seeing them too."

     I found some 50-year old Fischer Price toys exactly like the ones I had as a toddler...the airplane and the gas station.  Both were there, neatly on a shelf, seeming to wait for me at Highland Row.  

  "Come out and time travel with us," said Baker. "...there's some great memories here...enjoy, reminisce." 

     Highland Row is located at 628 N. Highland Avenue and is open most days 11am-6pm.

-----Ray Macon