That cool early-morning bite still hung in the air when I pulled into the lot, and the smell of breakfast was already drifting across the gravel. Rows of folding tables stretched out in every direction, and people were unloading crates of tools, dishes, and clothing like they had done it a hundred times before.
What surprised me most was the sheer number of shoppers, more than three thousand people on a typical weekend, all moving through the grounds of what was once a popular drive-in theater. I came looking for nothing in particular and left with a bag of odd little treasures I did not know I wanted.
The energy here is different from a mall or a big-box store. People move at their own pace, vendors chat with customers, and kids point at things with wide eyes…