mindat Archives - Page 18 of 31

February 5, 2019February 8, 2019

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show – Guide for First Time Visitors, Part 2 (Where to Drink and Eat)

The American Geode team just returned from 4 days at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and here are some tips, hints, and tricks to make your visit to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show FUN, EFFICIENT, and FANTASTIC!

This is Part 2 of a series about how to enjoy the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and related gem and mineral shows.

Restaurant and bar suggestions while in Tucson for the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show:

1. Nevada Smith’s Saloon is one hell of a dive bar. Cheap drinks, very varied crowd of locals, and great food! Nevada Smith’s Saloon is where American Geode watched the SuperBowl this year, and we stopped by there one other occasion. The BBQ chicken and brats we had there were excellent! The wings looked great, and they cook their steaks out on a grill in their patio. If you are an aficionado of dive bars, check out Nevada Smith’s Saloon.
https://nevadasmithssaloon.com/

2. The best bars we found at the the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show were the hotel lobby bars connected to some of the gem and mineral shows on the west side of I-10. While the American Geode team were talking with dealers at the gem and minerals shows alongside the west side of I-10, we took breaks at their respective lobby bars. The bars had great drink specials, and the lobby bars were full of fellow rockhounds. We found it very easy to strike up a conversation, and met a famous jewelry designer, and some other fun folks. The Ramada Inn along west I-10 had a great bar, as well as the other hotels just north of the Howard Johnson, which is where we started.

3. We had a great bar meal and drinks, among a very good looking crowd, at Barrio Brewing Co. It is a little outside the location of the gem and mineral shows, but it is a local brewery with food striving to be locally sourced. The crowd was great looking, the staff were great looking and fun. They have a large cooler covered in stickers of various businesses and bands. We had an American Geode sticker on us, and they graciously added American Geode to their collection.
https://barriobrewing.co/

4. Downtown Tucson is full of bars and restaurants, and fun to walk up and down for a pub crawl. We did not find downtown closely connected to the Tucson gem and mineral shows, but they were full of a lively crowd, many college students, and a wide range of bars from ones with live music, to an arcade with a bar, or bar with an arcade, among other sports bars. The main strip of bars is along Congress and 6th Avenue. American Geode found downtown worth spending an evening if you are interested in taking a break from the rockhound, gem, and mineral crowd.

That is all for this installment of “Tucson Gem and Mineral Show – Guide for First Time Visitors, Part 2 (Where to Drink and Eat).” Keep reading the other American Geode articles for more insight on the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and various Tucson Gem Shows.

American Geode posted some laughable quips about our experience at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show over Twitter.
Read American Geode’s live Twitter updates for some real laughs:
https://twitter.com/AmericanGeode

Got questions about Tucson Gem and Mineral Show? Contact American Geode through the “Contact Us” button on the American Geode homepage: http://www.americangeode.com.

February 5, 2019February 5, 2019

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show – Guide for First Time Visitors, Part 1

This is Part 1 of a series about how to enjoy the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and related gem and mineral shows:

1. Fly in and out of Phoenix. The airfares in and out of Phoenix are much more affordable than flying to Tucson.
2. A car is a requirement, as the Tucson shows are spread out over town. Albeit all the pockets where shows are set up are about 15 minutes apart from one another, a car is needed for the chance you buy a large mineral or work of art, or a heavy quantity of stones, gems, or minerals.
3. The drive from Phoenix to Tucson is about two hours.
4. We stayed at one of the affordable hotels near the Phoenix Airport. The benefit was that the price was affordable. The negative is that there are no shows at the airport hotels, and there are no bars or restaurants, or anything else to do near the airport. So if you stay near the airport for the price point, consider that you will be driving or taking Uber to eat out, or to have some drinks in the evening.
5. The shows are up and down I-10, right where I-10 East turns into I-10 West. At the very first show you attend, grab a magazine, they are readily available, as the magazine published for the shows lists ALL the shows, with maps, and dates.
6. Take cash with you. We have read other articles about using Traveler’s Checks, or other forms of payment, but we simply did not see how that would be better than cash. If you keep your cash safe, don’t flash it, you will be fine. You will be able to negotiate a better price with cash. The same rules about having cash on vacation apply to having cash at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and related shows. Don’t flash it!

That is all for this installment of “Tucson Gem and Mineral Show – Guide for First Time Visitors.” Please read our other articles that cover where to eat, drink, what to do at the shows, and what to do after the shows.

Got questions about Tucson Gem and Mineral Show? Contact American Geode through the “Contact Us” button on the American Geode homepage: http://www.americangeode.com.

January 1, 2019January 1, 2019

Flea Market Memories from the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market

With December 30, 2018 closing of the Hell Kitchen Flea Market, American Geode wanted to share some stories about our time at the famous flea market.

The buyers, early birds really, start arriving at the flea market around 6am, just as the flea market dealers are unloading. This way the buyers can get good deals, and ask for a discount in return for buying a piece before the dealer ever has to set up their table. One time American Geode was setting up, and a dude dressed all in black, who looked like he was returning from being at one of the clubs all night, walked by our table. I think the guy was tripping, or wigging, or rolling by the looks of his eyes, and his acute fascination with geodes.

He asked dozens of questions, and followed our answers by replying “Cool!” Finally, he said “How much?” We said $20, and he grabs a wadded up, rolled up $20 out of his pocket, hands it to us, picks up a golf ball sized Indiana geode, and continued down 39th street, to 10th avenue. I am fairly certain that when he woke up early that evening, and he found a round rock in his pocket, and a missing $20, he is going to wonder what the hell happened.

At another flea market day, we had something special in addition to our classic Indiana geodes for the crowds. We had a large taxidermy bear, intact from the waist up, with both paws extended in “attack form,” and a growl on the face of the Cinnamon Bear from Canada. A gentleman came by, interested in it, and started telling us that he recently broke up with his boyfriend, and he wanted to complete remodel his apartment to look like a Victorian England parlor. The Victorian England parlor style is filled with many different objects of curiosity and rarity. Think the parlors where Sherlock Holmes lived and worked on cases!

The gentleman had no way to carry it back to his apartment however, so we figured we had shared a fun, and funny conversation with a nice New Yorker, and left it at that. About an hour later however, the gentleman returns with one of those giant blue plastic and fabric bags from Ikea. He was able to fit the bear halfway through the bag, enough to sling it over his shoulder, and we watched him proceed to walk down 39th, toward 9th, with a growling bear sticking out of his bag over his shoulder!

American Geode will always remember our time at the famous Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market, a memorable, historic institution that we are sad to see close down, but thankful for the memories, and the help getting American Geode’s gem, mineral, geode, fossil, and curiosity business off the ground!

December 3, 2018January 1, 2019

On-line mineral dealer American Geode

Welcome on-line mineral dealer American Geode!

American Geode are explorers, prospectors and fair traders who bring to market masterpiece geodes, museum quality minerals, rare fossils and one-of-a-kind collectibles. Pennsylvania fossils, Indiana geodes, and Herkimer Diamonds are specialties.

With an office in Midtown, Manhattan, by appointment only, American Geode is an on-line mineral dealer that brings rare natural geodes, museum quality minerals, and superb fossils to the New York market and clients who include serious collectors, academics, and interior design professionals.

American Geode’s marketplace on eBay

Read what clients have to say about American Geode!

By appointment only! You have many choices when you seek a mineral dealer, and American Geode hopes you choose American Geode!

We are a source of geodes, minerals, gems, and fossils for collectors, academics in geology and paleontology, museums, and even interior design professionals. Rockhounding for unusual geodes, beautiful minerals, rare gems, and beautiful exotic crystals with positive energy keep us motivated. Some of our favorite finds are Indiana Geodes, NY Herkimer Diamonds, Connecticut Garnets, Kyanite, and Apache Peridot. We use a variety of tools for rockhounding including crack hammers, sledge hammers, demolition hammers, and 65lb jackhammers (lots of rockhound hammers) as well as diamond saws and soil pipe cutters. We enjoy researching and mining rocks and roadtrips while rockhounding across the USA.

November 3, 2018

New England Gem and Mineral Show! Save the Date!

New England Gem and Mineral Show! Save the Date, Spring 2019!

North Shore Rock & Mineral Club Show May 4th & 5th 2019
DEALERS:
ABROMS ANTIQUES & JEWELRY
AMBER AMERICA
AYS – INTERNATIONAL
CRYSTAL CACHE MINERALS
EMASS
EWING’S LAPIDARY
FANTASY IN GEMSTONES
FOWLER’S WIREWRAPPING
GOLD-N-GEMS
HIGHLAND ROCK
JESSIE’S GEMS
JNL MINERALS
LA PORTE DU SAHARA
LET’S TALK JEWELRY
MALACHITE AND GEMS OF AFRICA
NATURE’S COLLECTIBLES
ROCK & BONE MINERAL SHOP
ROCKO MINERALS & JEWELRY
RUSSELL GEOLOGICS
SANTERRES STONES ‘n STUFF
SHAMAN’S DREAM
STONETRUST
Stu’s GREEN MOUNTAIN MINERALS
THE MUSEUM PIECE
VILLAGE SILVERSMITH
WARREN GONZALES
WELL-ARRANGED MOLECULES
WHITNEY’S ROCKS TO GEMS
YANKEE MINERAL AND GEM CO.
WHOLESALE
Portal Crystal Gallery
FORMOSA BAY
HOWARD SCHLANSKER
JOHN W. CORBIN & SONS
VILLAGE SILVERSMITH

The North Shore Rock and Mineral Club will be hosting the 56th annual NEW ENGLAND GEM & MINERAL SHOW: Saturday May 4, 2019, and Sunday May 5 at the Topsfield Fairgrounds, Coolidge Hall, on Route 1 in Topsfield, MA. Retail and wholesale dealers, minerals, fossils, beads, gem stones, jewelry, lapidary, exhibits and mineral and fossil identification. www.northshorerock.org
Club Purpose: The North Shore Rock & Mineral Club was formed in 1958 to stimulate interest in the collection of minerals and to disseminate knowledge of minerology, collecting and classification of materials and their application to the arts so that greater pleasure may be derived from these hobbies.

Membership: Annual dues are $10 for an individual and $15 for a family or couple. New members must attend a monthly meeting to join.

Monthly Meeting: Club meetings take place the third Friday, September through June at the First Church – Holland Hall, 1 Arbor Street, Wenham at 7:45PM.

Pebble Pups, Our “Children’s Group”: Dedicated to the introduction of rocks, minerals, and fossils. During our monthly meeting all children are invited to join Pebble Pups Leader, Tom Rich, for special projects, learning and fun.

Field Trip: Club members enjoy many field trips during the spring, summer, and fall months. Day and longer trips (usually occurring on traditional three-day weekends) provide members the ability to collect specimens and directly learn about geology.

Mineral Matter: The official newsletter of the North Shore Rock & Mineral Club is published and sent to the membership each month, September through June. To receive a single copy of the newsletter send an email to nsrmc@verizon.net.

Annual Show: The Club hosts it’s Annual New England Gem & Mineral Show the first weekend in May at the Topsfield Fairgrounds on Route 1 North, Topsfield, Massachusetts.

Website: www.northshorerock.org

Affiliations: The club is affiliated with the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies (EFMLS), The American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS), and The Association of Mass Mineral Clubs. The club abides by the AFMS Code of Ethics.

If you would like more info on local Mineral shows and rockhound clubs click on our News page for up to date listings and links to Gem Show, Mineral Show, and Fossil Show announcements. We update our rockhound news twice an hour and showcase the top mineral shows and rockhound news in the USA and the World. Also, follow us on Twitter for even more rockhound events, commentary, and laughable quips from American Geode.