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Friends will be visiting in a couple of weeks and Eastern Market has been recommended for our Saturday morning/lunch outing.
I'm mostly concerned about parking (and secret spots, good streets?)
But also is it MOSTLY food vendors, MOSTLY artisans/crafts, a 50/50 mix?
How far is the 'flea market' from there. On the map it looks like a couple of blocks.
Again, we'll be going on Saturday....would likely get there at oh, about, well I'm aiming for 11a. We'd spend the late morning and lunchtime there....until, say 3p. If we have time we'd also walk over to the 8th Street/Barracks Row shops.
Any tips or comments greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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(More background: they come every year for a weekend. We've done Annapolis 2x, Old Town Alexandria 2x, National Harbor once (5 years ago), Georgetown 2 years ago. So I'm always looking for a new 'Saturday outing' we can do (within half-hour -- MAX 45 mins of DC). A co-worker recommended Eastern Market. I hope it's worth it.)
I live a few blocks from Eastern Market and I have a car so I know the parking situation very well. In my experience, even on the busiest weekend days one can always find a street parking spot within about a five-block radius of the market. As long as you're able to walk a few blocks and you're good at parallel parking, you'll be fine.
I don't think there are any "secret spots" and "good streets." Any block could have a spot, any block could not have a spot. And if there were a secret spot with tons of parking, I certainly wouldn't advertise it publicly!
By the way, when I say a "street parking spot" I mean a space that's only about a foot longer than a normal sized-car. If you don't trust your parallel parking skills enough to be able to fit into a spot that's just a little bigger than your car (assuming your car isn't huge), then I don't recommend driving to my neighborhood. Take the Metro instead.
Never had too much success down there for food, Matchbox is probably your best bet. Cute, historical restored houses and nice neighborhoods. I would not actually buy anything from the market, more of a place you slowly browse and just enjoy the sights and sounds.
1) We're leaving for Reston, VA straight from the market so I'm driving and parking. I'm just not a public transit person.
2) Is Matchbox an eatery in the market or a restaurant down by the Barack Row stretch? I thought that strip had lots of shops and restaurants.
Quote:
I don't think there are any "secret spots" and "good streets." Any block could have a spot, any block could not have a spot. And if there were a secret spot with tons of parking, I certainly wouldn't advertise it publicly!
Believe me, I know. But it was worth a shot. I tell VERY few people about some of the places I like. I've got a compact car for just those parking situations. And I can parallel park with the best....think Adams Morgan on a Saturday night!
I'm still hoping to learn more about the mix and types of vendors...mostly jewelry, or and even mix of everything, food, clothes, linens, spices, jewelry...sort of like Georgetown with all kinds of things to browse or buy -- only -- I don't know -- more bohemian maybe? Like I said, I've never been, so I don't know.
If the inside is ALL just fresh grocery (butchers, produce, etc) then that's not really where we'd spend much time looking.
I'm hoping for jewelry vendors, hats, clothes, hand made bowels, vintage linens, fresh and dried flowers, home accessories, and cooked food vendors where we could grab lunch.
I know there's an inside and vendors outside, but could someone give more info on exactly what the market offers.
I don't want this to be a "bust" when we get there.
I don't want the thread hijacked about driving there. I'm more interesting in info about what vendors are there and the kinds of items sold. So the place is worth going to in the first place.
I drive practically everywhere. I work downtown so SOMEtimes I'll park at work, and, IF IT"S CLOSE, Metro or walk to where I'm going. But I can count on less than one hand the number of times that's happened in 20 years.
Also IF that's all we were doing I MIGHT do that, but we may not get to Eastern Market until 11:30 and need to be in Reston, VA by 4:30p. So we need to leave the EM area by 3:30p. Virginia/Route 66 is so congested and or unpredictable it's not even funny so we have to allow for that. If we Metro'd we'd have to get up even earlier to drive into town, go to where I work to leave my car, walk to the Metro to take it across town, get to EM, do our thing there, and leave so we can go BACK to my job to get my car. Plus we'd have to lug or carry anything we bought all that way on the Metro. -- I don't think so.
Look, I guess people who prefer to drive and people who don't just don't approach that issue from the same point of view. Clearly that's so.
So what about the Eastern Market vendors, merchandise, and eateries?
Lots of great food at Eastern Market. Just go and pick what looks good.
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