Alameda Flea Market

So, we've been hearing about this first Sunday of the month event for over a year and FINALLY got to see what all the talk is about.

It had been on my calendar for months, but of course today we were heading up to Sonoma. Sonoma and wine-tasting or Alameda and crap??? Tough choice. Sonoma was cancelled, as Pat was sick, so Alameda it was. Kevin packed up the kid and we were out the door by 10:00 AM. We decided, ahead of time, to put a three hour time limit on this adventure. Good planning on the part of the parents.

All, I can say is WOW! The flea market was located on the runway of the Alameda Naval Air Station and it went on forever and ever and ever. The weather was perfect. It was warm with a cool breeze. I got a nice little tan (tank top) and my face, well....I am not a believer in sunscreen and I should be. With nothing on our agenda to buy, we zig-zagged our way from back to front.

I was immediately reliving two days in my life where I was so overwhelmed that I had a "break

down". Kevin loves to reminisce about these days laughing his way as he retells the stories. The first was when we went to register at Crate and Barrel and the second was when we registered at Baby's R Us. Now, if you are like me and already had everything you needed before you got married, the idea of more "stuff" to put in a two bedroom apartment was just too much for me to handle. I literally passed the barcode reader to Kevin and ran out the door. After a Chai Tea Latte, I came to my senses. For some reason, a reassuring husband doesn't come to mind. Anyway, we made our way through and Kevin got to hold the "gun" and shoot. I think I remember having some say so.

Baby's R Us was worse. Maybe it was the hormones, but I don't think so. Did I really need all this stuff? I was so overwhelmed. Who needs 15 different brands of breast pumps from which to choose? Did I really need all that cute bedding? And if so, how do I choose between the Cowboy, Sports, All-American, Jungle, ABCs, Brown/Blue, Brown/Green or Monkey theme? Thank GODDESS for Carolyn who A. registered for me and B. gave me EVERYTHING, but the breast pump. Thankfully, all I really needed was diapers and wipes. Everything else was extra. Who needs a wipe warmer...not Charlie's butt.

So, you can only imagine the immediate "holy shit, not this again" feeling. However, being older and wiser, I was ready to take it on. I was amazed at all the stalls. We found it all from colorful tutus to gramophones. We found a stall with old Navy steam gages..Kevin loved this. Do you remember when McDonald's or Burger King gave out Disneyland glasses with a meal? I had the Mickey Mouse and the Pluto glass. Guess what was there? Talk about memories. We rounded a corner and I found "my" rocking horse. A gentleman was buying it for $10 for his grand-daughter...kind of scary as it was 30+ years old and looked every bit of it. I quickly asked to take a picture. Like I said...memories.

I told Kevin we could be rich if we had kept all our "crap" from years past. Thankfully, I'm not a hoarder. However, Kevin reminded me of a chandelier that I made him get rid of when he moved in. Then he proceeded to show me the exact one for $450. I guess I shouldn't look at everything as just junk.

I must say, we had fun and the next time we go I want to look for costume jewelry (which is so not me), but I think would be fun to have. We walked away spending a whole $5 each to enter and walked away empty-handed. We did get some ideas for a future house and know that when we get that future house, we will return.

The best part of the day...our rock star, Charlie. He lasted 2 1/2 hours before he was ready to call it quits. While we only covered about a 1/3 of the market, we saw plenty and will enjoy a return trip.