Do You Flea Market?

On this episode, we talk about one of our favorite FREE activities that your family can do almost any weekend of the year. And that's visiting flea markets! Do you flea market? If so, where is your favorite one?

*Links to places mentioned in the podcast*

Chicken House - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063577330211

First Monday Trade Days - https://www.firstmondaycanton.com/

Transcript

We're the Essary family, and we are exploring America one destination at a time.  Joyce on this episode, as we talk about flea markets. Let's chat.  

Welcome and thank you for joining us on this episode. As we talk about flea markets,  flea markets are one of those things that you can go to. That's going to have all sorts of things at them. They're going to have goodies. 

They're going to have snacks that are going to have food. . They're going to have a plethora of things. They have so many things that you can look at. There's going to be stalls everywhere. There's going to be vendors that are set up selling their goods. 

It's going to be anywhere from your home goods to the outdoor tools, to gaming, to video games, to movies, to food, such as barbecues or brisket or hamburgers to the sweets, like chocolates, or just some crazy candies that someone thought up.  

We're going to talk about a few that we have actually went to, and that we enjoyed so much. Well, The parents enjoyed them so much. I have with me today. Justin. Our oldest, he is going to be with this.  Because we want to get a teenager, a young person's perspective. On flea markets and what he thinks about them.

So the one thing that we definitely want to talk about is what about the vendors? Like,  what is your favorite type of vendor to go look at? Whenever you go to a flea market? 

It might be the collectors. There have been a few times where I've gone to a chicken house. It's a type of flea market we have around our area. It's called a chicken house, , where. The collectors they would have just lined up on a tables. All the figures are cards they've collected the parts of vehicles, different kind of. 

Tools or.

Random metal pieces lying on the ground, which.  You got it. I kind of have to figure out, like, where did that come from?

Just something to ask myself  while walking through it all.

Absolutely all the collectors that show up, whether that's baseball cards or football cards. Or Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Or they have a knife collection or they're selling some type of. I wouldn't say automobile parts, but there are a lot of tool collectors out there. And I mean, almost any kind of tool that you can think of, whether it's present or past that it's probably out there at a flea market somewhere.  And so, I mean, collectors is definitely one of those things and it's not just , like the knickknack car things that you can hold. 

I mean, people collect hats, they collect, memorabilia from different types of teams . Or even those things where we went to, it wasn't necessarily a flea market, but we did go to a market that had animate. There was a whole bunch of anime stuff there.

There's several things that, you know, we're going to be talking about, and it's not just flea markets, there's other things. So Justin's already kind of mentioned, there is a, another, uh, flea market tree day that kind of goes on in  county.

And it's called the chicken house and it's literally a chicken house that they repurposed into a market. 

And then they have a grew so big that they actually have outdoor vendors now all over the place and they have all sorts of cool stuff. That's there. And mostly markets are going to have really cool stuff, but we're also going to be talking about garage sales 

I know of three cities that they actually have a citywide garage sell. And what they do is they allow their citizens to have a garage sale usually for free. And they set up at their house or at , their place of work. And.  They open it up and they try to get as many houses and many citizens as possible , to sell their goods or to sell their, you know, Unwanted household items or things that they haven't used in awhile to have a garage sell. 

And then whenever you get to go to those. It's not just, you're making a 20 minute drive to go look at one or two garage sales. Usually there's dozens, at least dozens, if not more of different places that you can go to. And they're all selling something different  every once in a while, you can find that special knickknack item that you just don't find anywhere else. So Justin, have you ever found like a knick-knack item or something that was like, that's weird and interesting at a flea market?

So I actually have tail. One would be the.

Different kind of lighters. There are, I don't smoke.

That's a wild thing to save as jail. Uh,  I don't smoke, but I really like the look of some lighters. Cause like, if you look back at like the 1980s or 1970s, To two thousands. There's some wild lighters that would just be cool to have on your desk or in case need to start a quick bonfire or something. Instead of, you know, always using a match. And the second little knickknack.  It's not actually a little, but we'd have to be woodcarvings. 

We went to a flea market recently and there were some beautifully crafted woodcarvings that? Took my father's breath away. And I'm like, oh, that took work and dedication. This isn't like a factory made thing. This was like almost hand done or with a tall. But not by a machine. And , that takes a lot. I couldn't do that. 

So.  Respect to the craftsmen.

I actually forgot about that. And so just recently, so yes, we were in Canton, Texas. Now Kenton has a trade aid. It's called first, Monday trade days. It's hard to describe it. So go on Google. After you get  finished with this podcast. Look up Canton tray days, you won't be disappointed. 

It is the largest flea market in the world. That's how massive it is. And so we ended up going into one of their buildings. They have a lot of buildings there. There's a lot of walking, so just be prepared, but we went to one of their buildings. And.  Why don't we talk about just the.  Uniqueness of flea markets and just the stuff that you're going to find. 

There, there was a person that had woodcarvings and I'm not talking like small little miniature woodcarvings. They had a full-blown Eagle in flight that was at least three feet tall and everything was detailed. The feathers were detailed. Everything was detailed down to the minute detail. And I've said detail way too many times, but it was just that cool looking. 

, it was so awesome to look at and. To respect those tradesmen that spend so much time and effort. On carving something. Or making something out of metal. I mean, we've seen some really weird things made out of metal.  We just got done at a market and they had horse shoes. In the shape of frogs and then they put different instruments in them and made them a band.  That's kind of cool. 

I mean, it was just one of those weird things. Like it took me a second to be like, okay, wait a minute. I know this horse shoes, and I know they're decorated as something. What are they decorated as? What are they holding? And then putting it all together. It's just one of those things that you're not going to find at Walmart. 

You're not gonna find it at Costco. You're going to find unique items at flea markets, and that's why we enjoy flea market so much because  there's so much to see.  And. You know, I want to keep going back to Canton because it was one of our most recent flea markets that we went to.  But it was so massive. 

And one thing,  going garage selling and going to flea markets or farmer's markets or something of that nature. But on your,  walking shoes, cause you're going to walk and whenever we drove to Canton, We drove about an hour and a half. 

It's about an hour and a half out of the metropolitan area of Dallas Fort worth. And.  When we got there, it was roughly nine 30 ish. , we got done with the state fair the night before, and we were like, Hey, we're already here. What are we going to do? It just happened to be first, Monday. 

They just happened to be the first, Monday trades day weekend. And. We were like, well, Canton's only an hour and a half. We have nothing else to do today. Let's go check it out. And we made the trip. And we did have to pay for parking. And if you ever want to know anymore about me and paying for parking, 

go become a patrion and check out  our review of the state fair. And that'll let you know, kind of where I stand on paying parking.  But we got there and.  The parking was relatively close. I'm not going to say it was a long ways away. It was relatively close. But 

just the volume of land that Canton uses for all of their vendors. And it's not like there was a whole bunch of empty space wherever we were walking. Whenever we were walking, it was booth. After booth. After booth.  Item after item after item, there was no empty spaces that was there and this thing is massive and it's packed. 

So whenever we went to Canton, Justin. How would you rate the crowds and how crowded it was?

It depends on where you are at. If you were near the middle, it was crowded. You couldn't see two feet in front of you unless you were taller than everyone else.

, if you wouldn't mind the buildings. It was not as crowded, but there were still plenty of people there. , if you were near the edge, there almost was no one. So whenever we got to, I think one of the ends or edges of  the market. 

We were like almost the only ones there. Uh, except like a few shops. And it was like, oh,  I guess we're at the end. Let's turn around.  And so , we turned around the crowd, staring getting more and more. 

Compact. 

But to how crowded it was to other places I've been to.

It wasn't as crowded as the state fair. 

But it's definitely more crowded than your average Walmart. 

 I think I'd put it in between those two.  Depending on where you're at in the market.  

That's a really good point.  It's going to be more crowded. Than a Sams.  Uh, Walmart, Costco, something of that nature. It wasn't as crowded as the Texas state fair. 

But it was still pretty crowded.  , if you've ever been to.  Buc-ee's one of our favorite stops.  It's almost like that. It's where you go in. You see a bunch of people, but you're not having to rub shoulders against everyone and try to make your way. Now, one thing that I will mention about. Especially Canton, but even other flea markets that if we've gone to that, whenever you do have a large group of people that are there, you're going to have a lot of people that are going to be carrying. Or pulling a cart behind them, or they're going to be on the little buggies , to get around. 

And there were quite a few buggies and carts at Canton. And I think that they were there because , by the time you purchase something, , even in the center, like the woodcarving, the woodcarving was at least half a mile away from the car. There was no way that one of us was going to carry that all the way back to the car and then come back and join everyone for shopping. 

So I do understand people that are really serious about going and looking at for knickknacks or something that they find, or some type of uniqueness that they have carts with them. I mean, people are, are making trades that are willing to Dillon back and forth, and it's so easy just to purchase something and then put it in your cart and continue going to the next stall. And so if you do go. And you have little ones, especially if you have like Jasper for us was 14 months old. 

Whenever we went,  and we just carried him. , we didn't expect to buy anything. We really like going and shopping and just looking at everything. But if we were going to buy something, then we still had enough people that were going to be able to carry Jasper or watch after Jasper, . But if you go.  It's a lot of walking. 

, I can't emphasize that enough. How about how much walking there is? And we retired from the state fair, I mean, 277 acres at the state fair. And we almost saw all of it. The day before. So we were a little tired. Our legs were not well rested for walking as much as we did.  Whenever we went to Canton, but it was still a really good time. 

But if you have a small ones,

This is definitely one of those things where you want to take a buggy. You want to take a cart, you want to take a wagon. You want something that you can put them in that is going to save their little feet, or if they get tired, they can take a nap . So.

Just be prepared. You're going to be running into a lot of carts and a lot of buggies, there was this really funny story, right? Whenever we got there, I'm not sure if you saw it or not. Justin. But  we went inside the main civic center. And we walk in, we're just getting a feel for Canton. We're kind of filling it out and see what's going on. 

And , this place has a whole bunch of quilts. It had a whole bunch of clothes. There was a knife collection. It was showing you just a little piece of all the vendors that were going to be spread out through the entire place. But we ended up going in and we're making our ways around and we see people with cars and people are in a hurry to get from one spot to another. 

. But we're just making our way around and we get to this one little corner and there's a stall that's doing. I think it was a fudge or something of that nature. And there were given out samples and this lady with a motorized cart.  Stroh's up and she wants a piece, but she's a little too far away. 

And she actually over accelerates and runs into the stall.

Almost knocks half the stalled down whenever she ran into it. And I was like, oh my goodness. It gets real here in Canton.  

When you go outside. And there's carts. There's. Motorized vehicles , there are people that are moving and whenever you go to something, especially , Like Canton, are you go to one of those places where you know, that they're having a citywide garage sale and it could be anywhere from about a population of 4,000, probably up to around the 10,000 mark that  they kind of put these on. You got to get from place to place and you got to do it in a hurry. And we were leisurely walking. We were taking our time. We knew that we had all day, we weren't in a hurry. We knew how long it was going to take for us to get back home. We weren't  in a hurry to do anything extra that day. But there was some people that were in a hurry. 

How fast do you think a lot of those people were going, Justin?

A lot of them probably averaged out around speed walking. It wasn't like jogging in a park or seeing someone run a marathon, but no one was just leisurely walking  it was speed walking the entire time people were passing us by left and right. A lot of people actually went around that because we were just so slow.  

And then when they stepped ahead of us and then we were like, okay, we took our time, but now we have to go around. 

Do you, because you stopped at the store.  And it becomes like an entire thing where you're just passing people left and right. Everyone's passing Yale. If you're not at everyone's speed. You'll probably be, get left in the dust. 

You could definitely cause a traffic jam. So we were not in a hurry at all. 

We were like, Justin said, leisure pace. But whenever we get out of the color, there was probably two or three groups that got out kind of around the same time that we did. And whenever they pass this, we never saw them again. They were gone after that. Yes, you want to take your time and you want to look at all the stalls, but in order to see all the stalls. You've got to get from point a to point B. 

And so , you will have to walk a little bit faster whenever you're at flea markets. Cause you know, if you want to take your time at a specific stall and Justin stopped several times. I stopped several times. Misty stopped a couple of times. We didn't even know that each one of us actually stopped at some of the stalls because.  It was stalls that we were interested in and maybe not the rest of the group that was interested in. 

And so having older children and having adults along with you, if you want to stop at a stall , and you take five or six minutes, as long as you can see each other, then there's no problem with that because then they can always catch up with you while you look at the particular store that you want to look at. 

Like I stopped at the woodcarving and Misty did not miss the stop that some of the clothing stores. We did not.  Justin was looking at some of the knickknacks and the collectibles, and we didn't stop with him there either. So , you're able to kind of go at a faster pace and then stop at the stalls that catch your eyes. . Do you remember the whole. It almost looked like a village on a hill. The hell like little shops and we were walking up the hill and while other people were walking down, it.

I think there was actually more shopping on the other side of the road that we didn't even go to. Oh, yeah. I looked at the map later and I was like, oh, well, we didn't even look at that section. Cause we didn't know it was there. But even that little, how. I mean, it's almost a little village all by itself. 

They're all individual shops, but they roll. Jack looking things were there. But whenever you actually got into those shops and looked at them, some of them were actually pretty cool. And it's just one of those cool things where whenever you go to flea markets, you're going to find little stuff like this. That will  be off in its own little corner. Cause it was often its own little corner.  It was at one of the entrances where not a whole lot of people used it. 

. But it was just one of those little cool little knickknack areas. There was a place that your mom stops. That had metalworking that was going on there. There was signs that were there , that she was looking at. 

And so , it was really cool whenever you got inside the shops, but , if you don't. Explore a little bit inside of a flea market. You're going to miss it.

Definitely, 

Be adventurous. Explore.  There's no telling what's actually going to catch your eye and make you go, oh, well, Hey. Maybe I do need this,  maybe that will look pretty cool on the fireplace or Hey.  Maybe that's something that I can give to someone else. 

Maybe they're going to like that. Cause I definitely saw a lot of things that my dad would absolutely love there.  But I was like, I'm not making the half mile. Trip back to my vehicle, just to put it in there. And I'm not carrying around. But  we went and , it was definitely starting to heat up. It was warm. 

There wasn't a whole lot of breeze, but it was definitely warm. And I've been to a lot of flea markets. I've been to a lot of garage sales. I've been to a lot of farmer's markets. And there was actually one person for the first time seeing this, he was actually working metal.  Like he had the whole fire going. 

He had it in there. He had a whole little anvil. He was shaping something. I don't know what he was making, but he was making something and it was cool. Just sitting there watching him do his craft.

Yes. I remember that. Oh, that that guy. Uh, perhaps the hand props to him 

 that takes knowledge. I don't have.

I have a friend , who actually wants to go into welding. , I know it's not the same as blacksmithing, but. I mean, you're still working with metal.

, I don't know what he was making. I think it was some sort of.  Pike or , a steak. Maybe.

I could have easily been a spatula. 

There were some,  people who I think he was talking to. Either explaining how blacksmithing.

Worked or as  the craft of blacksmithing.

We can just do the same, like, wow.  You're doing that in the heat of the day.  Had good for you.

, because as dad said, it was very hot.  I was a little grumpy from the heat. I will admit it.  Mom gone to me once.

But, 

, it was definitely a cool sight to see he had a little canopy over his stuff.,

It was a sight to Z at a flea market. Never says something like that before. In flea markets. You never know what you're gonna find. Never do. 

 Anyone who.  Just wants to do a nice little day of walk in and do some window shopping and just go see what's out there.  Find a flea market. 

That's close.  For us, especially here in Texas, flea markets are all free to go to because it's all about supporting the vendors , and shopping local and helping those people out. So. We highly suggest that you find a flea market. Go garage selling, be adventurous, get out there and . Just go look at some stuff. 

Now I will tell you sometimes you're going to be disappointed.   It's like, no, one's selling anything. Good. 

And maybe someone got there first and actually took all the really cool stuff. So if you're going to go  flea market , , get there early, get their Watts. Cool. 

See what you can find. See what's going to work for you. And we enjoy flea markets. We can not wait to actually go to more flea markets. We actually have a plan to go back to Canton. I believe in November or December, whenever it cools down, but whenever it doesn't get too cold in sexist, it really doesn't get , too cold until like January. 

 A couple of things that I will say is. Especially for Canton and even for the flea markets that we've gone to, as far as the chicken house 

whenever we go to these places. They do have not. Like mark security, but people are definitely walking around and making sure everyone is safe. And at Canton at the, some of the larger flea markets that we go to, they actually have emergency personnel. That's their, either their volunteer fire department or their people that have some type of education into life safety. Or lifesaving. Attributes. 

And we actually.

We don't totally know what was going on, but we do know that someone was having some type of medical issue and.  The responders were trying to find them. And they were all in ATVs and they were trying to get to their location and they had first aid kit and everything else with them. 

So it's not one of those places that you have to worry about. Having an emergency and not being able to get back to your vehicle. They actually have emergency personnel on staff and ready to go. So.  I imagine that a lot of  your big flea markets are going to have that anyways, because especially if you do a lot of walking, And especially if you're in the summertime doing these things, , it's going to get hot. 

And some people don't prepare for that. So prepare for that. Prepare to walk a lot.  Prepare.  To hydrate. A lot, because you're going to be walking and sweating you need to hydrate, make sure that you stay hydrated.  If you have a little ones, take a cart, take something that you can pull behind you, or that they can sit in. Uh, to get out of the sun, get out of the hustle and bustle will be protected and can be safe and maybe even take a nap or eat in it. So you'll definitely want to make sure that you have all your PS and QS taken care of with the little ones. And if you have a large group that you're going with, you don't always have to stay. 

Side-by-side. If they  stop at a market or they stop at a store that doesn't really interest you. Then kind of make your way down a little bit. So Misty actually stopped at one for quite some time. Actually. No, Justin stopped at one for quite some time. And it was one of those where he was really looking to buy something. And so Misty stopped with him. 

I had Jasper and Ariel with me. And it was like, okay, Jasper's not going to stay in one spot the entire time. So we actually put him down and we roamed, I think. Four spots away and four stops back. And so , that was , our Trek is I kept him moving.  In that location because.  He wasn't going to stop just that one stall and take his time and look there.  So be prepared if you have little ones to kind of cater to them a little bit.  But if you have a large group and you have an older group, don't be afraid that one or two people might stop at a stall and then you go down and then  regroup after that. Definitely don't leave each other. 

Cause that  takes out a lot of the fun. 

 Well, yes, because suddenly you're looking for, , your party and you're like, wait, where are they all go?  Override. And then you're going to spend all your time looking for each other and not really looking at the stalls and what the vendors have for you. 

Try to stay close together, but you don't have to stay like. Shoulder to shoulder with each other.  The other thing that I would say is wear proper shoes.  We didn't have the greatest shoes on whenever we went. Which is really bad to say, because we went to the state fair the day before. So we knew that we were going to be walking a lot just at the state fair. And , our feet survived that day. But then going to Canton. Well, Ariel just, she didn't have the right shoes on and her feet were hurting her. Justin was getting hangry. And so he was getting tired and he was hungry.  And he was getting angry. That we were walking still and not eating somewhere.  

But we make. 

We did have a good time. We really did. We really enjoyed it. Even as a family, all the way from the oldest being me all the way down to the youngest being Jasper, we really did have a really good time. I wish we could have stayed longer and actually looked at everything.

If it wasn't so hot, I would agree with you. But it was a hot day. If we could have brightened like an umbrella and that's stupid to say, but just then they have some shade with, or a very large hat, just Aaron now. Funding for the shade. 

But  it's Texas. 

And . Although it was October.  It was still hot. I mean, we were still in the mid nineties whenever we left at about , 12 30. Whenever we left, , it was crack in mid nineties. So it was hot. It's in a huge field. There was no breeze. 

But if you were able to get inside one of the stores. You were kind of okay, because you had the shade, but whenever you got out to look at all the vendors that were out in the open area, If you didn't have shade. Yes, it absolutely got hot. So just be prepared. You might have to fight some stuff you might have to, you know, put on insect repellent or sunscreen. But . 

, it was very enjoyable for us.  We are looking to go back very soon. The only do it once a month. So you kind of have to pick when you go. But , it was worth it.  We love all the flea markets and the farmer's market. I know that we didn't talk a whole lot about those, but farmer's market and looking at it, all the food and the bake goods. That people have. 

So I just got done with another market. It wasn't a farmer's market, but it was just a market. And there was this lady that was selling baked goods and she had an oatmeal cream pie that was. Ah,  It was one of the best ones that I've ever tasted. And there's other people that have some food and I really like farmer's markets because they give you like the fresh produce. 

Yeah. And so I know that Justin is a big fan of BLTs. And whenever you can go to a farmer's market and get that farm fresh. You know, , right off the vine tomatoes and lettuce.  Oh, my goodness.  They make BLT so much better than what you can get at a store.  But farmer's markets are definitely also one of our favorites. 

, we like going and shopping. We like being adventurous, to be honest, we like going and checking out things and just seeing what people have to offer. Because you never know. 

I would say that recently our family has become.  Much more adventurous 

What it means is we take a whole lot more weekend trips than what we did. 

Usually we take the big two week vacation. We go to some  destination and we have ourselves a grand and wonderful times and , we usually take a vacation around the kids' birthdays. We usually take a vacation around Misty's birthday. , but now we're starting to do a whole lot more traveling. And that's the whole reason for the podcast, because we want people to understand that no matter where you come from, no matter.  How much money you have, there's stuff for you to do in most flea markets, or most markets are free to go to and you can still . Make wonderful memories with your families and you never know, you might find that one item that starts a hobby. 

You never dreamed of. 

 📍 That'll be something that you can pass on to generations. 

So join us next week. As we talk about things to know before visiting Texas.