SherryCreates: SherryCreates

05/30/2011

From The SherryCreates Artisan Studio ArtFire Blog - Buy & Sell Handmade

Fun At The Spring Flea Market In Historic Brownville, NE

This weekend I went to the open air flea market in historic Brownville, NE with my mom and cousin. I must say we had a really great time.

Where is Brownville, NE

It's in the very Southeast corner of Nebraksa. In fact, the state line is in the middle of the bridge crossing the Missouri River with the state of Missouri being on the other side. I came from the Missouri side and the bridge construction there was bunching traffic up a bit, but the treasures and fun on the other side were well worth it. Its a very small town with maybe 200 people in residence. It swells to thousands during their bi-anual flea markets.

Parking

Oh, my goodness! Parking was a challenge. Everything close was taken...naturally. So I ended up going around the center of town and coming in the back way. I've been there before and I thought I was pretty smart with this maneuver. I parked on this hill which wasn't all that far from where all the action started. However, after walking through the whole flea market on a hot humid day, I realized it was a very steep mountain.

What kinds of vendors were there?

There truly was something for everyone. There were lots and lots of jewelry vendors. I enjoy the handmade jewelry especially, but there were vendors of specific product lines as well. Of course, there were many vintage sellers. If you collect dishes, you would love this flea market. There were tools, army fatigues, leather products, purses galore, and too much more to list here.

The food vendors there were awesome. Pynk Floyd's BBQ is always a favorite. You can also find kettle corn, cinnamon roasted nuts, caramel apples, snow cones, burgers and fries among many other things. If you get thirsty you can quench it with homemade lemonaide, sodas and water. Of course, I didn't sample everything, but I can vouch that the cinnamon roast nuts are crazy good.

What did I find?

I found a really pretty refrigerator dish. It's a rectangle made of blue glass with a clear glass lid. I had one at home, but I love them mainly for summer use when I serve up tomatoes or cucumbers from the garden. I love that little added taste of vintage it adds to my table.

I also got a little gold metal stand that has two enamel butterfly clips. I used the old bartering method on that and got the vendor to come down a couple of dollars.

Then I got a copper colored watch from one of my favorite vendors over the years. It was fun because she recognized me and we chatted a bit. She has some beautiful Native American jewelry and always has wonderful flea market sales. I can always find my true love - sterling silver - there.

At another vendor of Native American jewelry I got a pair of handmade sterling silver angel earrings for half price.

It was so much fun.

Leaves me wanting more.

I always leave flea markets with a firm grasp on when the next one is. Brownville will do it again the last weekend of September.

There's a wish list already forming in head.

Thank you for reading.

Sherry