A Vintage Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day friends!! I hope you are having a wonderful day with your family and loved ones!

I had a great day, and it's not over yet!! I've been wanting to visit the Vintage Street Market in downtown Grand Rapids for a while and was toying with going today, but all week the weather predictions were making it look like a wash-out. Earlier in the week there was a 70% chance of rain, all day. So this morning, when I saw there was a window between 10am and 1pm where it looked like no rain, Mr and I took off-in the pouring rain.

It rained and it poured all the way there. Several times I was asking myself what in the world was I thinking! I figured no one would be there, because of the rain, and I thought there might even be a chance that it was cancelled because of the rain. Since we didn't have anything else to do, we decided to take the road trip and enjoy whatever it turned into.

Once we got to G.R., I turned a little sooner than my GPS told me to, and we ended up on a long, twisty, turny trip to work out way back. We actually ended up in a perfect, free parking, dirt parking lot, about a block from the sale! We both brought our rain jackets so it was no big deal to walk in the rain. By the time we got to the covered area, the rain started letting up, and it wasn't too bad.

Pretty displays! Lots of Pyrex! Just too pricey for my wallet!

Pink spacesavers--$95 for the pair!

More Pyrex!

There weren't very many shoppers when we first got there, but it filled up fast! By the time we left, the parking lot we parked in probably had over 100 cars, and streams of people were walking from it to the sale. I'm glad we went early!! We actually go there about 20 minutes before it officially started, but most of the vendors were either fully set up or pretty close.

I was shocked at how high the prices were! I wonder if that is just a G.R. thing, or if it is a street market thing...There was absolutely nothing that came home with me-other than a free bag that they were handing out to all of the mothers. I saw a lot of great vintage things, but most things were priced higher than antique mall prices, so I just kept on walking.

It was a LOT smaller than I expected. I wonder if the weather had a hand in that, or if it is usually that small. We wandered around through it a couple of times, just to be sure we didn't miss anything, then we went inside and wandered around all of the marketplace shops.

The coffee shops were the busiest (it was only 10:15), followed by the bakery. I think I gained ten pounds just looking through the glass display case at the decadent bakery goodies!!  There was a meat market where you could buy salmon for $45 a pound and steak for $18 a pound, a couple of restaurant type places-one making crepes to order, and a Mexican restaurant.

This is upstairs in the hallway near the restrooms.

Looking down on the marketplace below.

Giant crepes!

We went to the counter of the Mexican restaurant and I waited for someone to come out. When no one came out of the back (there was a cut-out, so the guy cooking could see me, if he would have looked up.), I kind of wandered around their long counter looking at the sign and at the two workers, one of them actually was bringing things out to the the counter area and going back to the back. Neither worker acknowledged me, until I spoke up and asked the girl going back and forth what time they opened.

She answered, "Now." So I asked if I could order a couple of quesadilla, one steak and one chicken. She said, "What size?" I asked for medium. She asked, "For here or to go?" I said, "for here", and She asked, "What sides." I said, "I don't know, what are your sides.". She pointed to a chalkboard behind her. I had to read that I could choose rice, beans or chips and salsa-she wouldn't say it.

She took my name and we went and had a seat, munching on our chips and salsa as we waited. She called my name when they were ready and as she handed them to me, I said, "Thanks." and she just walked away! Am I missing something here? What happened to customer service? I started out in the restaurant and retail business, and I was always told -without customers, you have no job! This girl could have cared less if I was there, let alone the food I bought probably paid 2 hours of her wages! I'm noticing more and more rotten customer service in many different places. Is this just a sign of the times? Am I just getting old and living in a different era? I hope not!!

I'm sure they get a ton of traffic on the weekends, and it doesn't matter if they are courteous to the customers, but that just irks me to no end! If I ever visit the street market again, I can guarantee I won't eat there-I'll find another place that understands customer service! Too bad I'm not a coffee drinker-one of the workers at one of the coffee shops was on it! He greeted us and asked if we had any questions or if there was anything he could help us with, and we were just walking by-we weren't even stopped or looking like we wanted something!

O.K.-off my soapbox now...sorry!

Since it was still early, we decided to check out a local antique mall. Unfortunately, it was 11am and they didn't open until noon, and Mr. is not a patient man, who is willing to wait for anything, so we headed home. As we were driving I had him find the address for the Lake Odessa Antique Mall, and was pleasantly surprised that it was only 6 miles out of our way!!

I wonder if it is on all the floors, or just the first floor...? I'll have to make another trip to G.R. to visit and find out!

Mr. grabbed my phone and took a few pics as we drove through the city.

Lake Odessa two malls side by side and one more about a block away!

My love for vintage cabinets continues!!

It's hard to believe this set, just like the one I got from my grandma for a wedding present, is now pretty collectible, and considered vintage!!

I think he's planning to make one of these in his woodshop...

We wandered through both Malls and found a new-to-me little antique shop just down the block. We both bought something, and we both enjoyed wandering around the shops. As we were heading home again, Mr asked if there was a Harbor Frieght nearby. We found one...the one we always go to, across the street from The Little Red Schoolhouse!!

As I was waiting in line to pull into the parking lot, we both saw them at the same time...tents & awnings in the parking lot!!! It was their spring parking lot flea market day!!! What a FUN surprise!! Too bad it was raining really hard and most of the dealers were packing up! I went inside and shopped while Mr. visited H.F., and when I came out it wasn't raining anymore and the parking lot was swarming with people! What a crazy, rainy day!!

Look at this AWESOME trailer for hauling tables and vintage goodies to flea markets!!!!

We are back at home, enjoying a quiet house-both our guys are at work. They mopped the kitchen while we were gone-so that was a super nice surprise to come home to!! Everything is blooming like crazy in our yard, but every time I take my camera outside to get some pics, it starts pouring! Maybe tomorrow I'll get some shots...too bad you can't smell the lilacs...mmmmm. It's been a fun, adventurous Mother's Day, despite the rain and crummy service for our lunch.

These are my treasures...I can't walk away from honeywhip jars-when they are in great shape and are a great price!!

It was a spring blossom kind of day today!

 Free bag for the first couple hundred Moms at the Vintage Street Market.