I reached a bit of a shopping milestone yesterday.

(And yes, I think there is such a thing).

I am, as you might know, a dedicated antiques lover (and buyer).

I’ve been collecting for years — and years — and writing about it for … let’s just say a pretty long time.

But I always had a not-so-well-kept secret. I had never been to Brimfield, the famed antiques show in Massachusetts.

I know — you can gasp. It’s like a diehard Yankees fan never having been to Yankee Stadium, a theater lover never having seen a Broadway show. You get the idea.

I think I’ve done pretty much every show in our three counties, some once, others every time. I also hit Stormville a few times each year, have done the Jersey thing with days in Point Pleasant Beach and Red Bank, even making a weekend (and story) of the mega-indoor show known as Atlantique City in Atlantic City.

I’ve poked around shops in Delaware, Connecticut, Las Vegas and come to think of it, England and Ireland ages ago.

But I had never done BRIMFIELD.

Thanks to a whirlwind trip yesterday, though, I can now proudly say “Oh, yes, Brimfield…” and speak from experience.

I was one of 25 shoppers who boarded a bus in Nyack yesterday morning and spent the day at Brimfield.

See?

(I normally wouldn’t post my own picture but Maureen Caunitz of Nanuet urged me to pose for this commemorative shot as we took a late-afternoon lemonade break by this lovely garden-antique booth).

Anyway, the day was the annual trip organized by Jo Ann Basile, a veteran dealer who’s now managing Mary Grace’s Antiques in Nyack. She’s been doing the trip for nearly a decade, started when she had her own shop, Jo-Antiques.

She has a group of regulars (including Caunitz) but there were a few newcomers, as well.

I’m writing a story about the adventure — so look for it in the paper a bit later this month. I won’t give too much away, but just wanted to share a few thoughts (and some of the zillion pictures I took, too).

The market, which dates back to the 1950s, runs three times a year, in May, July and September. It’s a series of nearly 20 fields that line the two-lane Route 20, each opening up a different day of the show week to provide some excitement (we went on the opening-day for May’s but hit a few other fields, too).

It was a blast. We were to meet in Nyack at 6:15 a.m. — can you believe how empty the village looked?

We boarded the bus, with Basile offering a welcoming selection of doughnuts.

The ride — a bit more than two and a half hours — went fast. We arrived and spread out, seeing some great things, after just a slight delay on the main road (traffic can back up for miles, they say, so we were lucky):

I found something right off the bat, an elf for one of my sisters who collects these little guys. It was marked $3.50, got it for $3 and figured it was good karma to have my first purchase be something for someone else, right?

Here, is just a bit of what I saw, in no particular order:

And surely not to forget Al and Joellen Finnie of New Rochelle, who had a booth in the Quaker Acres field:

We had a lunch break, passing by some options and food courts,

for the famed hot dogs:

I got some great things, including this bracelet that I just love:

Also had the “classic” experience. I was headed back to the bus with some of the group. We were pretty much done, but I looked to my right and a booth in the distance just “called” to me. I practically jogged to reach its Shabby Chic-style designs.

I went in and was loving all of it but not wanting one thing in particular.

Until I rounded the last corner at the back of the booth. And I saw this picture.

I immediately knew I was getting it and was thrilled to hear it could be mine for $25. Nothing fancy, just a lovely still life with magnolias that fits into my color scheme. Sold!

We finally met back at the bus — all having an impromptu “show-and-tell” session before loading up and heading to a local restaurant where — get this — the building’s top two floors are an antiques center.

You gotta love it.

And you know I took advantage of extending my shopping day. I found these two great pieces of costume jewelry, including a Trifari sample piece complete with original tags ($20) and this old-school suitcase for $6.

As I carried it back into the restaurant (we ran up to shop between ordering and the food being served), I looked like I had run away from home.

And Brimfield was, come to think of it, the ideal place to run to!