Lakeland - St. Petes - Ocala : Jan 18-22 | |
My desination is that large flea market at Webster so I have to get going at the break of dawn.
Next, a decent breakfast in Eustis at McD's.
I then take US 441 west towards Lewisburg. On this stretch I find myself cold as the sun hasn't warmed things up yet. A car does a left turn in front of me but I keep my cool. Of course I'm used to traffic doing that to me once in a while and I'm still alive. A fellow rider next to me thinks I should be p'o'ed. US 441 takes me to FL 44 which then takes me to US 301 which I can then take south to Webster. FL 471 finally takes me the flea market grounds. I've been there before so I remember the convenient bike parking at the front. I'm there early so there's only one other bike parked there.
Now, this is a huge flea market, especially on a holiday weekend (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), and I could spend all day walking the fields but I don't have all day and I plan just to spend the morning. The idea is to thaw out and by the time I leave it will be nice and warm :-) I walk towards the back fields where all the antiques and collectibles and vendors with older stuff is found. This is where the American Pickers would go. Of course they drive a van and pick up bulky items. I ride an MZ, and I think you can see how much room I've got. So I'm going to be a very picky buyer, LOL. I'll take more pictures than anything else. So, here's what the back fields typically look like, we've got some ironwork here, way too bulky to carry on my motorcycle.
Now a table of glassware. I don't need Frank and Mike to tell me this stuff is uncollectible common junk. Besides it's way too fragile to haul on my Baghira.
These license plates (car tags) make a nice array of color on the ground.
Aha! Something Tiger! Now I wish I had my car and some way of carrying this neat wooden tiger picture home. It was only $5.
Chuck Westphal who sets up each week, has his dog.
Now back to the front where I parked, I see more bikes have joined the fray, including this unusual V-8 trike.
You may be wondering by now if I actually bought something. Well, yes. In the back field I saw this neat porcelain Hawaii route sign. The guy wanted $95, and thought it was a reasonable deal but c'mon, I'm on a motorcycle. However, after walking up and down two more rows, I thought this has got be worth at least that to some collector of route signs (and I'm going to be meeting Jeff Francis, collector of such, later in the day). I offer $80, the seller takes it. Next I buy some bungee cord and I'm ready to strap it on the back of my MZ:
Chest protector on, I'm ready to rock and roll and hit the road but I hope not literally. I ride down to St. Petes and meet up with Jeff, to see if I really scored big. I feel like Mike and Frank already!
There's another flea market, smaller than Webster, at a drive-in just up the road which I check out. I'll have to walk brisky as I don't have much time. At least I can easily park my MZ.
Thankfully I don't find anything worth buying. Now the plan's to take FL 44 to US 19 south to St. Petes. Of course I couldn't help notice this desination sign with an odd-sounding destination.
US 19 south to St. Petes is almost a mistake. It's freakin' slow with very heavy traffic. I stop at a Wendy's for a much needed break.
Other than that, I was basically looking at strip mall after strip mall. Really built up and I was still a fair bit north of St. Petes. \ Fortunately the highway became an expressway which allowed me to hustle along at a great pace. I finally get to Jeff's office and warehouse within the time he told me to be there, so the gate was open.
Fortunately Jeff was impressed with my find of the Hawaii porcelain sign that thankfully survived my hustle down US 19 intact. He gave me $150 for it. Paid $80. Ka-ching as they say on American Pickers. Made $70. Not bad for a morning of walking a flea market. After I was done at Jeff's it was starting to get dark, and I returned back to Craig & Kathy's in Bradenton. Fortunately it was warm enough, I didn't need to turn on the heat, like I needed last night! Click here to follow my trip down the Gulf Coast to Punta Gordo then up to Arcadia |