This market is relatively good.  Contrary to popular belief, the two sides of the street are different flea markets.  One side is Decker's flea market and the other Foster's flea market.  I'm just reviewing the Foster's side here. LOVE the fabric store there.  They have a good selection, friendly owner and a frequent buyer card.  She is open to suggestions on things we need that we can't find. There is also a wood worker there, right in front of the fabric store, actually.  He has nice hand made items and some crafty, rustic decorations, quilts, etc.  Like his stuff, too.   Inside there is a jean salesman with lots of cheap items, but hard to find your size.   There is a local fruit/veggie store in the front that is open on the weekdays, also.  They have lettuce, tomatoes, fruits, local jams and jellies.  Good stuff.  Good prices. There are a few "stores" as opposed to just locals selling their garage sale items, etc.  There is a leather shop, several antiques places, a rug place that is reasonable. However, once you have walked it a couple of times, you know it and all of its stuff inside.  The stock really doesn't change all that much.  That can be good if you are looking for something - you'll know right where to go.  However, I can't see us locals going there every weekend just to walk around and chat.  For travelers coming in, it would be nice.  Again, they close up EARLY.  They start opening and having breakfast served as early as 7 am or so.  They close up around 2 pm.

animalengineer

Blairsville, GA

I've never been a flea market person, but I do visit Foster's Flea Market when we travel to Murphy, NC for white water rafting. We rent a cabin and bring loads of great food, and I stop by the flea market to get fresh, local produce. Foster's is right off Highway 64 which is a key road in the NC mountains. 64 is the route where you go white water rafting on both the Nantahalia and the Ocoee. Murphy and the flea market is between the two destinations. Just look for Blainsville Hwy (also 29) and turn. The flea market is right there. You can see it from 64 if you're looking. When we first started going to Murphy, Foster's was open only on the weekends. It's still a weekend-mostly stop, but the large, front produce stand is now open 7 days a week. A few other shops in the big building are also open, but most of the stands are closed during the week. About anything you can think of is sold at Foster's flea market. You may have to look around. It's quite a jumble of stuff. Mostly we pop in an look for farmers with fresh items like melons, corn and tomatoes. Three years back I did manage to buy a bird at the flea market. This was unplanned, of course. Joe Bug (the parakeet) is my baby though, and I'm really glad I bought him. He was hand fed by the girl selling the birds, and he is a real "people" bird. He lets himself out of the cage to come find me and sit on my shoulder. This week we bought new, baby potatoes, green beans, cantalope, garlic, onions, peaches and honey. One vendor had the darker honey with the comb which is what my youngest son adores. We made a second run to get him another jar and also got a jar for the neighbors who fed all our critters while we were gone. Some of the tables begin packing up around 2 or 3 p.m., so be sure to go pretty early. Some of the vendors are open later, but it's more fun to see the whole selection. There's a snack bar at Foster's. It's just the regular quick food items like hot dogs and nacho chips. There are not a lot of places to eat in the mountains, so it could double as a meal stop though I'd prefer to get fresh fruit and vegetables from the farmers.  

CyndiA

southern, NC