Monday, September 30, 2013

Street Vendors

Atlanta, a village some six miles to the south, is a quaint  place with a number of beginning-of-the-twentieth-century buildings in the business district, but few businesses to occupy them.  But the people valiantly soldier on, making an effort to keep their place attractive.

For the past forty years, the last Saturday and Sunday of September (or thereabouts) have been dedicated in this town to "The Earth Festival."  It is, of course, another small-town Indiana street fair, hosting vendors from miles around.  We have attended, at least one year in the past, when we had to walk through driving snow to get back to where we had parked our car.  This year, though, was perfect, weather-wise, for the sun shone brightly on the festival, the temperature was pleasant, and a good time was clearly being had by lots of people.

BBBH and I rode the scooter to Atlanta, walked the streets, and in her case, the lady talked to some of the vendors, and yes, bought stuff.  But no more stuff than we could carry home on the scooter.


 Like fruit flies to pears on the ground, people seem to be attracted to cheaply-made and over-priced merchandise.  Find Waldo?  No, find BBBH.  She is in this picture.*

Some of downtown Atlanta's old buildings seen here behind the street vendors.

 People are also attracted to over-priced junk food.  There were actually lines at some food stands.

 As I snapped this shot, I thought, "This will be the best picture of the day."  I think it is.  This residence is on the Tipton County side of County Line Road and just two blocks from "downtown."  There is a kid peeking through the curtain of the window, stage right.

Someone  always seems to have a set of old wheels.

*BBBH is just about to disappear behind the utility pole in the center of the picture.

6 comments:

Vee said...

Fun activity for a Saturday! I like street fairs, but only for a short period of time. Some of the snacks they sell are a little "over the top" - deep fried everything.

Grace said...

Love the car! I think the one thing I miss about living in NYC are the street fairs - as soon as the weather starts warming up, for the price of a subway ride, you can amuse yourself for hours...and they usually have an international flair as well. In the Fall they used to close down 5th Avenue and have a street book fair!

Secondary Roads said...

I found her, but I had to bigify the picture to do it. That looks like a fun day.

vanilla said...

Vee, fun for a brief time. Couple hours is sufficient. Avoided the "over the top" snacks by eschewing all food offerings.

Grace, a street book fair! Now, that would be exciting. Camera can't resist old cars. Saw a nice '54 Ford drive past the house this morning, but no picture this time.

Chuck, it was a fun day, especially in that we only stayed two hours.

Lin said...

I like street fairs to people watch. :)

Looks like a great day!

vanilla said...

Lin, people-watching: the only valid reason to attend a street fair, imo.