Eric Rodriguez

Lovers of yard sales had reason to rejoice this past weekend. Flea Across Florida took place on Friday and Saturday, and Live Oak had many participants who brought their items for sale out to U.S. Hwy. 90. If you missed it this time, don’t worry. The dates have already been set for the springtime on April 10-11, 2020. Flea Across Florida has been such a success that the sale that starts in Pensacola and ends in Jacksonville on U.S. 90 and now happens twice a year.

I had to work Friday, so my shopping took place on Saturday along with what seemed like all the other residents from nearby counties. I got started a bit late for die-hard flea fans, but there were still plenty of items for sale around 10 a.m. near the Farmer’s Co-op. There were cars parked on both sides of U.S. 90, but all of the action at this location was on the south side of the road. I felt sorry for anyone who decided to travel on U.S. 90 to actually get somewhere because between the people stopping to shop and the people just slowing down to do some drive-by shopping, the cars were barely crawling by.

I almost purchased a neat little iron skillet. I thought the tag said 5 dollars, which seemed reasonable to me. The price was actually 55 dollars because that particular skillet was a collector’s item. Since I collect just about everything but iron skillets, I left it there for the next skillet collector to find. There were the usual knickknacks and whatnots, but if you are fond of the expression “when pigs fly,” I saw just the thing for you. One man, who had quite a collection of flags and signs for sale, was also selling small statues of pigs with wings that looked capable of taking flight. There was also a vendor in this area that had enough fishing inventory to open his own tackle shop. If you needed a rod and reel, the fishing line, and a lure or hook to put on the end of the line, he had many types of each available.

My next stop was just west of the intersection of U.S. 90 and U.S. 129, near the courthouse. There were vendors on both sides of the road here, but the majority was on the south side of the road. Imagine a smaller scale version of Christmas on the Square without the road being closed to traffic. You could buy clothes for you or anyone in your family, a bag to put all the clothes in, and some furniture for your new clothes. On the east side of U.S. 90, near the Dixie Grill, there was another set of vendors. There was more for sale in the parking lot of the shopping area across the street from the Brown Lantern.

My last stop was going to be at Live Oak’s every-weekend flea market, The Straw Market, further east on U.S. 90, but it was so crowded it looked like they were giving stuff away. I decided I would go there in a week or two when all of these folks from out of town were not around. I was too tired by this point to even think about continuing my shopping adventure into Columbia County. I will have to rest up, bring more water with me, and start earlier so I can maybe make it over to the next county to see what is for sale over there for the April visit of Flea Across Florida.

Eric lives in Suwannee County and is a public school educator. He is an independent contractor. You can reach him at miamistyle8@gmail.com.