Matthews, Indiana, is one of those sleepy country towns hidden amid Hoosier cornfields. A highway doesn’t run through this small burg. The only claims to fame the community has to boast of is a covered bridge and some enormous grain silos. There was once a restaurant that served a good breakfast located there, but it closed years ago. Nobody visits Matthews without a good reason. Rooster and I woke up and put 702 Massachusetts Ave Matthews, Indiana, into our phones GPS on a cloudy Saturday morning with plans to pay a visit to New Cumberland Antiques.
The twisty road called Wheeling Pike runs through Matthews. It is one of the favorite routes for bikers in the area. The curves between Matthews and Muncie make riding this road fun. Rooster and I are not strangers to the small Indiana farming town. The ride to Muncie is one of our favorite adventures. We’d also visited the covered bridge as one of the stops on several motorcycle charity runs. We searched online and discovered Matthews was home to New Cumberland Antiques.
Our experience at New Cumberland Antiques
When we pulled up in front of the ancient-looking storefront, we couldn’t wait to get inside. The tiny space the store occupied held several surprises. It looked much larger from the outside. We encountered two rooms filled with a collection of old relics.
Old black and white photographs in wood carved frames hung on the walls. An assortment of pie and muffin tins, old china, and quilts probably purchased at estate sales sit in no certain order on chairs and tables in the rooms. Rooster found a toy cash register he thought about buying. He decided not to because it was missing some of its keys. Teapots and a crystal candy dish caught the light streaming in through a curtainless window. Antique furniture scattered throughout the room tempted a person to put down a large amount of cash to give them a new home.
In conclusion
Rooster and I didn’t spend much time inside New Cumberland Antiques because there wasn’t enough merchandise to hold our interest for long. We decided to look for the covered bridge. Rooster drove past the sign pointing us in the right direction, thinking he knew a better way. We ended up lost on some unfamiliar country roads with no satellite signal. When this happens in Indiana, the only thing you can do is drive until you come to a populated area. We didn’t find the covered bridge, but we did find an ethanol plant.
Exploring the covered bridge will have to wait. I discovered Matthews has a Covered Bridge Festival scheduled for the 9-10-11 of September in 2021. This sort of adventure is what Rooster and I do best. We’ll keep our ear to the ground. If it doesn’t become a victim to COVID cancellations, Rooster and I will make a return trip back to Matthews. The festival sounds fun.
Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh. To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.
Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!
Antique shops are fun to go through but unless you are looking for something specific they tend to look the same to me. If I had a huge old house I would love to fill it with antiques! I hope you get to attend the festival and see the covered bridge!
We started visiting the ones in our area because all the museums are closed due to Covid. My husband and I like to look at stuff from the past on our adventures. I’m a history nerd, and Rooster goes a long for the ride.