A NIGHT AT THE AUCTION

Tuesday was relegated as our day/night to go to the local auction. Anstead's is located in the SouthPark/Golden Hill section of San Diego at 532 N. 28th Street.

Not pretentious like Sotheby's can be, this was a real gut-level, move-em-in, move-em-out kind of auction and located not really in the best neighborhood in SD by a long shot (but a far cry from the back alleys of Bangkok or Chicago, for that matter). With these rather dubious qualities, I knew it had to be a good place for treasures...!

We were supposed to arrive at 4pm to preview the numerous box-lots, but didn't actually arrive until 6pm...too late for the box-lots but just in time for the start of the regular auction.

And what an auction it was. For example: Leather couches went for $100 and other furniture sold for as little as $5. My cousin bid on some collectible items like there was no tomorrow and ended up with quite a few nice pieces like a grandfather clock and some nice Asian sideboards.

I only nabbed a group of CDs. I'd love to buy bigger things but I'd have to ship them back to the Midwest. Plus my travel bags are already full and I can only take two pieces on the plane. So it was a bit like torture for me, yet I loved being there.