Rose Bowl Flea Market

After the fifth (and definitely not the last) trip to IKEA we took to furnish our home, we thought it would be important to mix in a few other pieces, so our home wouldn’t look like the ‘Hey, look what you can do in 800sf!’ display showroom at IKEA. Someone told us there was a flea market at the Rose Bowl. This sounded like the perfect antidote to our pressboard-furnished home!

According to their website, there are over 2,500 vendors and 20,000 visitors  - all converging on the one day a month the flea market operates. There were tons of people there. Interestingly, there were a bunch of Japanese people with large duffle bags buying up vintage clothing AND there was a Japanese shipping company that had a stall set up - so all those Japanese people could ship their wares back if they wanted.

With all those hungry mouths and the fact that we’re in California, you’d think there’d be an array of interesting food vendors. Um, no. The Rose Bowl Flea Market ain’t no Brooklyn Flea. There aren’t any artisanal vendors selling cardamom marshmallows or banana bread caramels or porchetta sandwiches here. What you’ll find is solid street fair food, sold at a premium to the captive audience. Mr. Mari opted for a gyro (we have a tzatziki covered thumb’s up from him) and I got a bratwurst. My onions could have been cooked for more than a flash, but that said, it was pretty good. 

After another two miles of walking, Mr. Mari needed another round of sustenance. This time he reached for a bacon wrapped corn dog. I’m not a huge fan of corn dogs but Mr. Mari enjoyed his bacon on pork extravaganza. Corn dogs seem like state fair food to me. I guess that’s what they’re going for because low and behold, at another kiosk, they were selling fried candy bars and cookies. I would have indulged but I was already feeling tired from the walking and sun and I didn’t think a plate of fried carbs would help. Maybe on another visit.

We managed to find two pieces of fabric and two business cards for a potential sideboard but I was saddened by my food options. What I need to remind myself is that an event is not necessarily an opportunity for fabulous food for everyone - but it could be!