Moon Petal

Eclectic Community in Austin

In Austin, there’s a movement by the locals called ‘Keeping Austin Weird’, apparently, there’s another movement wanting to gentrify the city, I do hope Austin stays just as it is. It was my 2nd day in this city and I had a wonderful, interesting and hilarious experiences.

I started out the day at the Sunset Valley Farmers Market; it’s located on the Western part of Austin and close to Hill Country and also close to the industrial, rural side of Austin. I took a few missed turns, before I happened upon a giant football stadium, I was surprised it was only a high school stadium and not a professional stadium. Texas really does take its football seriously, the parking lot of this football stadium is were the Farmers Market is located. There were about 30 to 40 pop-up tents, honestly, I would have thought the market to be bigger.

As I approached, I noted how unusual and yet refreshing it was to see all kinds of people there, yuppies, hippies, goths, senior citizens and everyone in between all mingling and enjoying each others company, and they were all happy and laughing. I would bet if these people met anywhere else, they wouldn’t be so open and friendly, but I guess that’s one quality a good Farmers Market has, it brings people with different points of view about life together; a small eclectic community.

The Sunset Valley Farmers Market had an overwhelming supply of local produce, and all of it was picked that morning. I saw a few grass fed lamb, chicken, beef and bison, but by the time I arrived, most of the meat was sold-out, not that I’d bring any beef back with me to my hotel in Austin, but I bet the meat would have been very tasty when cooked. It was really great to talk to all the vendors. They all were there own producers, there was no middleman there, so each vendor could tell me exactly how they made there products or how farmings been this season. The only thing missing at the market was actual cooked food, something to eat, like a sandwich or soup. So, seeing all this fresh un-cooked produce made me very hungry. I had to leave an find a restaurant quick.

I found this great little sandwich shop across the street and ordered the grilled cheese with bacon, onion and a bag of chips on the side. What was the best part, was my sandwich had all the products sold at the market! Wonderful!

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