It is illegal for residents of Kansas to win dairy products in national trivia contests. Who knew? I didn't. Proof you learn new things everyday. I digress.
Yesterday was a great day, it was hotter than hell, but it was a great day. One of my BFF's came to town and we did absolutely nothing productive. We watched a movie we had been wanting to see - it was pretty good. We went swimwear shopping - it was depressing. We enjoyed flavored shaved ice - it was heavenly.
The flea market topped the cake.
My sister had noticed an ad for a Topeka flea market on television. "We should go look," she said. "Maybe they'll have something cool."
I don't usually take in flea markets because garage sales are just as productive and I already have enough junk. Unlike a garage sale this Highland Park flea market is a several day a week venture.
My first red flag of the afternoon trip was the dumpsters littering the parking lot, that should have been my cue to just skate through the lot. I parked. My second red flag should have been the organization of treasures in the front of the store (resembling an old Ace Hardware). Things were randomly piled and a couch sat in front of the door next to a recliner with all the cushions piled haphazardly in a pile. This was about the moment I wondered just what in the hell we were doing there. To be honest I think we all thought that.
We couldn't help ourselves, we just had to go in.
There were more ficus trees in the store than good buys. Yes, I said ficus trees. The same trees you see in the corner of office's, they were sitting at random and even on top of junk. Ficus to the ceiling - literally. We walked past the slightly used aquariums, with the rocks still in them. The smell resembled a rabbit barn, at first, and then the odors tended to change throughout the building (I'll get to that in a bit).
We walked through the fifty or sixty over priced mattresses and stacked headboards and bed frames. There was a stuffed goose mid flight and a mounted fish that obviously came from an estranged ex-wife because no man worth his salt in dead animals gets rid of taxidermy. That shit is expensive.
On a hot day it was hard not to see the appliance section, it was the most populated with sweaty people just standing in front of the running air conditioners sitting on card tables. Just plug it in and fire it up right there on the table top. I was shocked a fuse wasn't blown. We diverted to the tools section and I now know where I can pick up a great doorknob if I ever need one and I suppose it probably has a great story behind it. Maybe the ex-wife changed the locks and brought in the doorknob with the goose.
The furniture was fun to look at, especially couches covered in pet hair and what looked like a stain resembling cat poop or dog vomit. At a garage sale the previous owner usually tries to clean that up, not at the flea market. All sales are final.
As we ventured to the front we noticed a brand new ice cream maker for $27.95. Funny, you can pick one up at wally world for ten bucks. We stopped to look at the china and breakables and that's when my sister stopped and sniffed the air.
"Do you smell that?"
"Smell, what?"
"That smell," she said. "Is that pot?"
Someone or something was having a little smoky treat in the fake jungle at the front doors. I'm not sure if it was the wooden Indian chief and his peace pipe or if it was the Dauber looking guy coming in with his microwave. Maybe the microwave was a duel purpose appliance in his home, I'm not sure.
We hauled out of there fairly quickly. When we arrived back at the truck an empty car was running next to us. It had a tiny spare tire and it was idling pretty fast. The driver door obviously didn't work because the driver slid through the bucket seats before the passenger got in after. They had purchased some sort of treasure, but we didn't stick around long enough to notice what it was.
I believe we'll hit the classifieds or garage sales the next time we're in the market for junk.
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