Pendergrass Flea Market...

...fleas not included. I have been wanting to go. And now I have. So I can tell you all about what you have been  missing by not taking advantage of the opportunity to take a little road trip. Nothing. I spent more money at the curb store where we stopped to use' always clean restrooms' and I bought myself (secret addiction) sugary/fat-loaded cappuccino than on anything I saw and was able to resist at the 'Worlds' Biggest Indoor Flea Market'. Just off the interstate highway up in north east Georgia, about an hour from the outskirts of Atlanta, headed towards South Carolina. It was a beautiful day, clear blue sky, lots of sunshine.

It was pretty monumental, and just went on and on, almost like a maze, where you could get yourself lost and wander for days - except it is only open on the weekends. So if you do get bamboozled and loose your way, just sit down on a bench and wait till everyone else leaves on Sunday. Then yours is the only car left in the parking lot, and you are ready to go home.

The worst temptation in the whole acres and acres of STUFF was those cute little puppies and rabbits. Especially the tiny little baby rabbits that would fit in your cupped palm. We fell hard for the baby bunnies. And those tiny little dogs, hardly past the wobbly legs stage - all sort of odd combinations of breeds like Russell terrier and peek-a-poo. Cute, funny, charming, precious, tiny little tea-cup sized canines, but you just have to keep telling yourself the puppies turn into Dogs. As well as whine all night, and pee all over the floor.

Hand-made wooden bed frames and chairs, picnic tables. Tires. Bedding. Junk imported from China, with instructions written by someone who was obviously ESOL. Quincineria dresses. Latino eats. Used CDs and DVDs. Jewelry (almost guaranteed to turn your skin green). Jeans and leggings with built- in padded rears. Attorneys handing out flyers, drumming up immigration business. Silk flower arrangements. Nursery trees and shrubs in pots. Stuffed animals. Real animals: chickens, ducks, turkeys. Fresh eggs. Local honey. Recliners, and all manner of over-stuffed furniture.

I go up and down that stretch of I-85 on a regular basis, and have been hearing the billboards calling to me: come on over..., right this way..., just veer off the four lane..., stop by and see us!  And now I've been there and done that.