Alameda Flea Market

Alright people.  

If you haven't been to a flea market you are missing OUT!  

I don't mean the weekly flea market where you can buy a churro, tied died tee and a confederate flag.  I mean an antique and vintage goods flea market.  

It's a whole other flea market world. 

Literally hours of fun if you like to peruse other people's stuff 

in hopes of finding something fabulous that you just can't live without, 

and then haggling with the seller to try and pay the price you feel comfortable with.  

{I still need to work on this last part}

Aaanyway ~ the first Sunday of every month just such a flea is held in the town of Alameda, on a mostly abandoned naval air station.  

It's across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco and only about 40 minutes from my house {without traffic :-)}.  

It opens at 6:30a 

{yes. AM.  You have to get there early if you want first dibs on all the best junk!} 

and costs $15 to get in.  

I've been several times and most recently took my friend Holly for her first trip.

I woke up at 5:20a on Sunday morning.  

Dressed myself in clothes I laid out the night before, slapped on a smidge of make-up {so as not to scare others} and headed out the door to pick up Holl.  

This is how the sky looked just before the sun came up.

I pulled over to take this picture.  

I know it robbed us of vital junk hunting time, but it was pretty and I thought it was worth the loss of a couple minutes.

Holly jumped in the car, we stopped for coffee and then headed South to Alameda.

{Quick digression ~ I80 says it runs East to West, so I guess technically we headed West.  But to me, it feels like South. So there}

We parked, paid and walked in.  I had to give Holly a primer on flea marketing.  

Here is my advice ~ it's simple, but helpful if you've never been:

**Remember where you parked your car by remembering the row letter.  

In our case it was row 'J'

**Follow a pattern through the market so you can see everything without 

skipping rows and having to double back.

**Keep track of items you would like to return to by noting the row letter and stall number.  This is especially important if you have purchased 

something that you will be returning to pick up later.

This particular flea market letters the rows starting with 'A' 

and I've personally wondered as far as row 'FF' 

but I think it extends further than that, particularly in good weather.  

Each lettered row has three sections.  

It's a BIG momma.

Here we are walking through the parking lot.  

The view from this market is of the City's skyline.  

We have a spectacularly beautiful City. 

I for sure have left my heart in San Francisco several times.

Here's Holly, coffee in hand!

This is when I schooled Holly on how true veteran junkers 

handle their business at a big flea market....

The bring a cart with them.  

Or at least a big bag.  

We had none of this.

Clearly, not professionals.

I love how some booths are merchandised beautifully ~

And then others are not...

I imagine there were clothes under the garbage bags, but I didn't dig around to confirm.

We came across a booth that sold nothing but glasses ~

And we had some fun...

Look!  It's Tootsie!! {Although I hope I look a bit less like a man ; )}

Sally Jesse Rafael

Then we found these babies.  

I guessed they were vintage because of the Playboy bunny on the arm & I've never heard of Playboy sunglasses.  

They were super cute on Holly but when she asked how much, 

the seller confirmed my suspicion that they were in fact vintage 

{from the '80's.  That's vintage now...awesome} 

and told her because of that, he wants $95 for them.  

95 Smackers?!?  

Too much...thank you! 

We moved on to clothes ~

I started singing "Come and knock on our door...  We've been waiting for you"

And I'll likely be Mrs. Roper for Halloween this year 

because I'm totally in love with the mu mu 

We found some burlap bags ~

Holly would have had to have her purse alter if she'd bought this cutie. 

It was clearly made for taller people

We found things that were nostalgic ~

{Does Andy seem to be getting fresh here?}

{It's a rotary!}

Things that were beautiful ~

We saw things that were sweet ~

{I loved how this couple looked like they stepped out of 1950}

{And how this little cutie was trying out the vintage trike.}  

We found {and smelled} food.  Lots and lots of F.O.O.D!

{This was a very extensive and diverse menu, kabobs, gyros, teriyaki, fish...

always scary to me}

{Look at how happy she is to be getting her Creme Brulee}

And finally, I found something to buy ~

This chair is my next project.  Let's see how long it takes me to complete it!

Find a Flea Market near your house, 

grab a friend or willing Husband and make a day of it. 

 You will be happy you did.

Hugs,

Carrie

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