Niles Antique Browsing

Saturday, February 7th. Frank, Alex, and I went to the Niles District in Fremont to stroll along Niles Blvd and browse in and around the antique shops there. The shops had lots of bunny bowls, dishes, statues, and knick-knacks, it being so close to Easter in early May. Alex delighted in noting them and repeatedly declaring "Rah" for rabbit. 

I Googled what was of interest along Niles Blvd and came up with the following list of antique stores and their locations. The Train Depot museum was not open on the day we went but we made a mental note to come back some other time.

Besides antique stores, there were classic vehicles parked along the main street. There was a red flatbed tow truck with a crane dated 1910.

A Ford Model A, most likely from 1930 or 1931 was configured as a fire department chief's car and parked on the main street, Niles Blvd.

At the far west end of Niles Blvd was Skillet'z where we had lunch: a tuna melt for Frank, grilled ham n' cheese for Alex, and a patty melt for me. Frank also indulged in a chocolate milk shake served in a canning jar. The food was comfort food and all tasted great. We will keep this restaurant in mind the next time we visit the area.

Besides, the allure of the antique shops, there is also a definite train vibe to the area. The rest room signage caries out the railroad theme. We will most definitely go back when the Niles Depot Museum is open. I took a photo of the near upcoming dates to remind us.

We also noted there will be a model train event on March 8th. Frank will most likely aim to check in on that. We also learned that is it held quarterly, so if March 8th does not pan out, there will be other opportunities.

The afternoon was pleasant and low key. Another bonus was that we did not buy anything to add to our own "antique" possessions at home. I did not ride home with a Singer treadle table crammed across my lap — since it did not fit in the trunk — as I did one other time, several years ago, from a small town about two hours away. The old fashioned typewriter is also from another antique fair visit. So. Success in Niles. We enjoyed our outing, and there was no "new" item to contend with when we got back home!

Ponder: Remain

It has been quite a while since I have read a book I truly enjoyed. Finally, my drought is broken! I give Remain five stars. Remain is co-authored by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan. Sparks is well known for this love stories, most notably The Notebook (1996).  Shyamalan's talent shines brightly in the 1999 movie The SixtheSense. I was beginning to lose interest in Nicholas Sparks but I am so glad I gave him yet another chance and read Remain, a love story with a supernatural twist.

Remain is the story of Tate Donovan, an adult man depressed at the death of his sister and tainted from an unaffectionate childhood. Remain has the classic features of a love story in Sparks' inimitable style, coupled with the tension and uncertainties of Shyamalan's talents. A successful architect, Tate comes to Cape Cod to design an elaborate summer home for a wealthy college friend. He stays at an old, ornate but deteriorating house, once a thriving bed and breakfast, but now closed. The setting can be quaint, but also eerie. A special relationship develops between Tate and a woman called Wren despite Tate's cold upbringing and polluted attitude about love. I hint at no spoilers here. Read it for yourself. I enjoyed it immensely.

Nicholas Sparks is a very prolific author and I have read all of his books and written a blog post about nearly half of them. I do not know if I grew tired of him, if each novel became too predictable, or if he changed his writing style, but never-the-less, he fell out of favor with me as a desirable author. However, I think I still persisted in reading his novels because of some pernicious obsession that once I had a perfect score going, I did not want to mess it up.  There is a psychological term for that feeling — loss aversion.

Here is a list of all Nicholas Sparks' novels in order of publication date. The ones with stars in front are novels I reviewed in my Wander Or Ponder blog. There are a clickable links to these posts at the end of each line.  The other ones, noted with a preceding series of asterisks, I read most likely before I started blogging. I published my first WanderOrPonder post on 8/20/13. Among the reviewed books, I noticed I gave only two or three stars. Although I have no proof, I believe I liked Sparks' earlier works better, hence my determination to read all his books. Sparks' first novel, The Notebook, though short, was great.

 1.   ************ The Notebook ©1996

 2.   ************ Message in a Bottle ©1998

 3.   ************ A Walk to Remember ©1999

 4.   ************ The Rescue ©2000

 5.   ************ A Bend in the Road ©2001

 6.   ************ Nights in Rodanthe ©2002

 7.   ************ The Guardian ©2003

 8.   ************ The Wedding ©2003

 9.  ★★★☆☆ Wokini ©2003 02/23/17

10. ★★☆☆☆ True Believer ©2005 10/23/22

11. ★★☆☆☆ At First Sight ©2005 10/23/22

12.  ************ Three Weeks with My Brother ©2004

13.  ************ Dear John ©2006

14.  ************ The Choice ©2007

15.  ************ The Lucky One ©2008

16.  ************ The Last Song ©2009

17.  ************ Safe Haven ©2010

18.  ************ The Best of Me ©2011

19.  ************ The Longest Ride ©2013

20. ★★★☆☆ See Me ©2015 04/01/16

21. ★★★☆☆ Two by Two ©2016 12/19/16

22. ★★★☆☆ Every Breath ©2018 11/18/18

23. ★★☆☆☆ The Return ©2020 12/27/20

24. ★★★☆☆ The Wish ©2021 10/18/21

25. ★★☆☆☆ Dreamland ©2022 11/22/22

26. ★★☆☆☆ Counting Miracles ©2024 10/06/24

27. ★★★★★ Remain ©2025 (this post, 2/13/26)

Remain, with five stars was a real winner for me. I will most likely read the next Nicholas Sparks book whenever it is published. Gotta maintain that streak!

★★★★★ Great! Read it!