I was surprised and a bit confused by some of the things I saw this weekend, we went to the Mistletoe Magic Holiday Show in Morehead City and the Farmer's Market in New Bern. I'm a bit late on this but I had a couple of other ideas already planned for posts so as to not get off track I'm doing this now. If you are in our area you are welcome to go and make our own decisions about these two locations everyone's opinion is different and you are encouraged to visit these locations and come to your own conclusion.
We took a morning off to run away from the farming and canning for a bit this last weekend. We were thinking about applying to a Holiday Show down on the coast as a vendor for next year. Neither of us had been so we thought we would check it out first and see what it was like. Would our items fit in or would it be a waste of time. I also wanted to check out a local farmers market that was sort of on the way, at least we had to drive through the town it was in.
Neither one ended up being what I though it would be.
I'll start with the New Bern Farmer's Market, which we hit first. It's easy to get to and in a historic district but parking left a bit to be desired. I was thinking Farmers for Farmer's Market but out of about 25 Vendors there were only 3 and one was only selling sweet potatoes. I know it's late in the year but there really are some great veggie coming off now, and the selection with one vendor was really nice, so I guess it was good for him! The others were a very diverse group of crafters. Handmade items from Jewelry to Sheep milk soap. Christmas is right around the corner and I think that might have had a bit to do with the variations of vendors available. I'd go again to see what the spring or summer is like.The weather was wonderful for the ones outside and there were even a couple of real food trucks standing by, one with Vegan options, too. I was impressed by that! I was impressed with the size of the crowd too. And shockingly enough there wasn't a Jam or Canning Vendor in sight. We'll have to check it out but I might be back for more than a visit.
Then we head over to the Holiday Show, it was totally not what I expected. As we walked up we saw a few vendors outside, one was for novelty cutting boards, something we use quite a bit and after seeing them I'll pass along the link. I'm all about shopping local but this deserves a shout out. Pig Cutting Boards are too cute and handy, too. Then there were a couple of vendors that would fit into what I would say was the handcrafted category, but they were mainly stuck outside like an afterthought. One person was selling knit hats for kids for 5.00, I know it wasn't a wool hat or expensive yarn but goodness you can undercut yourself, I saw people browse but no sales for her. We then ventured in, there was a 3.00 fee for entry and that was the only money we spent. I did see some very nice turned wood bowls but they didn't even have a business card available. Chris does some wood turning and has promised me a yarn bowl but it never hurts to have a back up plan. The building was pretty small and there were some nice booths but I was surprised to see one for Rainbow Vacuums and then one for Verizon. Seriously if you needed a filler couldn't you have put the other vendors inside. I know it didn't tout itself as a craft fair but as a Holiday Market, but in my opinion Vacuums are not what women are wanting to find under the tree. And as far as who was shopping the majority were woman with a a few significant other males dragged along. We can mark that one off the list of possibilities.
All in All it was great to get out of town, to enjoy the sunshine before this cold snap takes over again and I learned a few things, Sunday was back to the grind, finishing up the last of the apples for Apple Butter, working on Holiday gifts and orders and working in the garden. We'll have to rake soon, since the pecans are falling and that's a whole new adventure waiting for us. Enjoy your week!
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