Flea Market Finder

Hi All,

A few days ago I went food shopping and I was thinking of a topic for the blog. Yes, I know, it is an odd occurrence to be shopping and thinking of a topic for the blog... What can I say, I like blogging!

Anyway, while I was thinking about this I was smack dab in the fruit and vegetable aisle. And then it hit me: what about a blog entry on vegetable markets and/or fruit markets?

I went home - after I finished shopping of course - and looked at my list of titles of old posts. Aha...back on 8/13 I already did a post on LI Farmstands...hmmm. I needed a new idea. But a new one was percolating.

What about flea markets? And then I pulled up the trusty old tool, Google. And I did a search for 'flea markets'. And this is what happened.

Click here for a link to Keys Flea Market. This is a state-by-state list of flea markets - which, in and of itself is pretty helpful. What makes the site even more helpful are the direct links to each flea market. Note that the site is a bit cumbersome to use and the links don't always get you to the site you wanted to go to.

The next site is called FleaMarketFinder and on the whole of it seems much more polished and intuitive. While the site does have a list of states to choose flea markets from, the front page of the site has a map of the United States that most users will end up using. In my case, I didn't even realize the site had the list of states until I reviewed the site a second time.

In any event, the map is helpful for new users to the site. Once you click on a state you'll get a list of towns that have flea markets. On the right side of the screen you can click on an icon so you can 'Map It' - which essentially gives you directions to the flea market by opening another window. Note that this site doesn't directly link you to the website of the flea market itself... That is definitely a negative feature of the site.

By the way, if you do a Google search for 'long island flea markets' you do get some results - just super great ones. Click here to see the search results for the aforementioned search. Note that the Google results take you directly to some of the flea markets on Long Island...there are also phone numbers listed in the search.

Good luck and happy flea market hunting during the upcoming fall season.

Finally, if there are any particular topics that you would like me to explore in this blog, send me an email by clicking here. I'll try to respond ASAP to your email.

Regards,
Stu