An Indiana Antique Road Trip: Two Antique Malls Worth the Drive

Every once in a while, you have one of those magical antique-shopping days where the things you've been hunting for suddenly appear.

This was one of those days.

Our antique road trip took us through Portland and Berne, Indiana, with stops at two large antique malls, a local coffee shop, lunch tucked right inside an antique store, and somehow...several treasures I've been searching for all year.

If you love the thrill of the hunt, clear some room in your trunk and add this route to your list!

Start with Coffee at Bizy Dips

Start your morning at Bizy Dips Bakery & Coffee Shop in Portland.

Bizy Dips is tucked inside the John Jay Center, and you wouldn't necessarily know there's a coffee shop waiting for you inside. The entrance feels more like you're walking into a bank foyer or city hall, but don't let that fool you—they have delicious coffee and baked goods!

They made me a Vanilla Cream Matcha and their seasonal Pumpkin to Talk About Iced Latte, which I ordered less sweet. Both were so yummy.

I also tried the coffee cake and a fruit and yogurt parfait before browsing their little selection of maple syrups, cards, candles, and T-shirts.

Once you're sufficiently caffeinated, it's time to start treasure hunting.

Spend the Morning at Wheel & Spoke Antique Mall

Drive over to Wheel & Spoke Antique Mall and give yourself plenty of time to shop.

This place is HUGE—which is exactly the kind of antique mall we love. There's a great selection, reasonable prices, and enough booths to keep you busy for hours.

They even have a café inside the antique mall where you can grab coffee or lunch without leaving.

Basically, you can just fuel up and keep shopping. Brilliant.

We happened to visit during their fall festival, which we hadn't planned at all. There were food and boutique vendors outside, and the whole place was bustling with shoppers. It made an already fun antique day even better.

And this is where my first big find of the day happened.

The Hen-on-Nest Hunt

Until recently, I never thought much about hen-on-nest dishes. My sister has an amber one she uses as a butter dish that I've always loved, but that was about the extent of my interest.

Then a friend told me her mom had a huge collection but had always wanted a blue carnival glass hen on nest.

Naturally, we started looking.

And isn't that how antiquing works? You see something everywhere until you're actually searching for it, and then suddenly it disappears.

Earlier this summer, we finally spotted THE blue carnival glass hen on nest glowing in a dimly lit antique store...for $100. Too expensive, so we left it behind.

Since then, hens have suddenly started appearing everywhere—and we've discovered just how expensive some of them have become.

So when I found a white milk glass hen on nest for $50 at Wheel & Spoke, I snatched it up.

Then Katie found two matching small Jadeite hen-on-nest dishes for $25 each, so obviously we had to buy matching ones.

What gets me is that pieces like these could be found for around $20 not that many years ago. Antique trends are funny like that. Something becomes popular, collectors start hunting for it, and suddenly the prices climb.

Which, of course, only makes finding one for a good price even more exciting.

Grab Lunch Without Leaving the Antiques

By lunchtime, we were nowhere near ready to stop shopping, which made the café inside Wheel & Spoke especially convenient.

I ordered a club sandwich with a bowl of chili, and both were so good. Katie had the gourmet grilled cheese.

There's a small seating area tucked among the antique vendor booths, so you can sit down, recharge for a little while, and then get right back to shopping.

I'll have to try their coffee next time!

Head to Berne for Cuckoo & Co.

From Portland, continue your antique road trip to Cuckoo & Co. Antiques in Berne.

If you've read some of my other antique itineraries, you already know how much we love this shop.

Cuckoo & Co. is beautifully curated and filled with the kinds of pieces we love finding. Prices can be a little higher than some of the dig-through antique stores we visit, but they're still reasonable enough that you can actually find something special and bring it home.

The owner is also incredibly friendly and always fun to talk with.

And this particular visit finally ended a hunt I've been on all year.

I FINALLY Found My Fairy Lamp!

I've been searching for an amber fairy lamp for what feels like forever.

Unfortunately for me, fairy lamps have also become trendy and collectible, and many of the ones I've found this summer have been around $150. I had decided I really didn't want to spend more than $80.

Then we walked into Cuckoo & Co.

And there it was.

An amber fairy lamp practically glowing at me from across the room.

$95.

A little more than I wanted to spend.

So I did what every antique shopper does when she's trying to convince herself she doesn't need something: I walked through the entire store thinking about it.

And then I went back and bought it.

The woman checking out behind me even confessed that she'd picked it up earlier and almost bought it herself before putting it back to think about it.

Sorry! 😂

After searching all summer, that fairy lamp was finally coming home with me.

And Then I Found ANOTHER Thing on My List

As if finding my fairy lamp wasn't enough, I'd also been searching for a brass door knocker for nearly a year.

Not just any brass door knocker. I wanted one that felt special.

And wouldn't you know it—Cuckoo & Co. had the perfect one.

It's a brass lion head that was brought over from Italy, and I knew immediately it was exactly what I'd been waiting for.

Fairy lamp. Hen-on-nest. Brass door knocker.

Apparently this was my day.

Final Thoughts

This was one of those antique-shopping days that reminds me exactly why I love treasure hunting.

Most of the time, you walk through store after store without finding the thing you've been searching for. Then one day, everything seems to appear at once.

Between the huge selection and great prices at Wheel & Spoke, lunch right inside the antique mall, and the beautifully curated booths at Cuckoo & Co., this route through Portland and Berne makes such a fun Indiana antique road trip.

And even if you don't come home with everything that's been sitting on your antique wish list, that's half the fun.

You never know what you'll find next time!

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