On March 29, 2025, Pirate Adventures coordinated a road trip for Southwestern students to Round Top, TX, for a day of shopping and thrifting at the famous vintage market! The Round Top Antiques Festival was founded in 1968, and occurs twice a year in the spring and fall. During the festival, the town of 90 people receives a few hundred thousand visitors from across the country. The antique show itself stretches over 11 miles on either side of Texas State Highway 237, with dozens of tents and vendors to visit and shop from. 

SU students boarded the school bus that would serve as the shuttle to the market by 9am, and after a mandatory pit stop at Buc-ee’s on the way, students arrived at Round Top, TX by noon. The sun was shining for the hike along the highway, where the fields alongside it were full of tents and booths housing both artisan shops and deals for antiques. There, a huge variety of goods are sold, such as Leather and Vodka, a shop selling reworked Louis Vuitton purses that are newly incorporated with fashionable leather. Another shop, Lady Lancaster, sells beautiful sewn jackets made out of transformed antique quilts. In the center of the stretch, there were a select few places to eat and drink, complete with live music. 

While at the market, a shop that caught the attention of myself and Zaria (our photographer on the assignment), was a booth we both ultimately shopped from: Renferno’s Silverware Art. The business, which has been operational for 15 years, sold all kinds of crafted jewelry, including spoon rings, coin rings, and charm bracelets. We spoke with Jon and Jessica Renfro while having our own custom coin rings made out of coins we picked ourselves! The entire process took less than ten minutes, and the Renfro’s will also take any personal jewelry you already own that you would like crafted into a new piece.

The day of thrifting concluded around 4:15pm, and students, now weary from the trek up and down the highway for antique wares, clambered onto the bus for a sleepy and slightly sweaty ride home back to campus. Overall, students on the bus concluded that the trip was a success, and many students returned home with new vintage or crafted goods to enjoy.