Find your next treasure at Roadside Attractions: Antiques and Curiosities

Updated

Roadside Attractions: Antiques and Curiosities is in downtown Metamora, Michigan. The shop is a charming two-story historical building that shares the downtown center with The White Horse Inn and the Metamora General Store. It’s a trifecta of attractions in a tiny town.

Roadside Attractions Building
Roadside Attractions south side of building

Not Just Antiques

Roadside Attractions is, first and foremost, an antique store, but it also has new items. The new items are Michigan-made soaps and candles, maple syrup, local honey, old-fashioned candy, and a few more items. The remainder of the store is filled with fascinating antiques.

movies, barware, local honey, mugs, planters and vases

Curiosities Indeed

We found several stuffed wild animals for sale at Roadside Attractions. Several old full-sized gas station pumps and other interesting commercial antique machines. They have a shelving unit filled with glass vases, mugs, and planters of various shapes. One of their best sellers is ashtrays. They had a collection of those and some crosses made from metal related to the Mackinaw Bridge.

Stuffed Sable Bust
View of store from back to front

There’s Even More-A Second Floor

Roadside Attractions has even more exciting items on the second floor, where I found two of my favorites

Second Floor sign and jars on honey on windowsill

My Favorite Treasures at Roadside Attractions

We wandered through the main floor and then headed upstairs. There are so many interesting things that it takes a little while to see it all. I am confident I missed some cool things because there are so many to discover. My favorite things were:

First Favorite Treasure

A light-up standing cigarette holder and ashtray with a lighter. I am not a smoker and never have been, but this captured my attention. The thing I am holding is the lighter. There are two ashtrays, and the silver cover in front is a receptacle for fresh cigarettes. After mentioning my find to the clerk downstairs, he said those have been really popular, and they cycle through them regularly. I guess I am not alone in my interest in this intriguing find.

vintage light-up cigarette stand
Electric lighter of a cigarette stand

Second Favorite Treasure

A loaded case of random matchbooks. So many little matchbooks. The sight of those just brought a wave of nostalgia.

bin full of matchbooks

Two Honorable Mentions

There were two other things that stuck out to me. The first was the beaded doors because I always wanted one of those. The second was the Green glass jars in the photo with the matchbooks. That is some sort of automatic jewelry cleaner. I think I just liked the green glass jars.

Find Your Own Treasures at Roadside Attractions

There is something there for everyone. While we were shopping, a few other people collected their treasures and talked about memories stirred by the items around the shop.

The clerk at the counter mentioned that they get stuff in all the time. New things are coming, and other things are going out to adorn customers’ homes. One description I read on their website was very suitable: “It’s like a museum, but everything is for sale.” I would agree. This store is much more like a museum than any antique store I have ever visited, and everything is for sale!

We definitely recommend a stop in this unforgettable shop. It’s not far off of M24, so if you are headed along that highway, take a short side trip and check them out. If you want to make a full-day trip, check out our itinerary here.