Best Place to Reconnect With the Past -- and Your Childhood

Blinky's Fun Club, the long-running children's variety program that once found a home on Channel 2, has been off the air since 1998. But the show's star, Blinky the Clown (aka Russ Scott), hasn't been pulled out of syndication. Six days a week, Scott can be found in the very cramped environs of Blinky's Antiques and Collectibles, the itty-bitty shopette he owns and operates on South Broadway. Along with a claustrophobia-inducing assortment of vintage instruments, sporting goods, jewelry, watches, dolls and figurines, photos of Scott in clown mode are also on display, reminding us of the Blinky we used to know and love. Fortunately, there's plenty to embrace about Scott's current endeavor. Just don't expect him to sing "Happy Birf-day" to you. For a clown, he can be rather cranky.