9th and U Street Market or How I almost Got My Ass Kicked

I had really been looking forward to checking out the 9th and U St. Flea Market…little did I know. The photo above almost cost me a serious ass kicking. I’m kind of like Vinny Testaverde, one more ass kicking and it will do me some serious permanent damage. So even though that is not the greatest picture you have to appreciate it just a little bit given the circumstances. You see when I tried to take the above picture the proprietor of the stand beneath it pretty much freaked out. And her very large friend advised me not to take any photos. After some serious pleading – alright fine – crying, I promised only to capture the sign and not any of her merchandise for sale. So please ignore the jackets in the picture for my own safety. Please.

Anyway, the Flea Market is one of the most eclectic markets I’ve ever seen. They sell everything from electronics, to fruit, to socks, to African sculptures, to shoes, to jackets, to canned salmon, well you get the point. Now I took a number of photos which you’ll be able to see after the jump and my suspicion is that this market may not be totally on the up and up. Let’s just say some of these electronics and such may have “fallen” off the truck. That is the only explanation I have to explain the looks I received as I was taking photos and jotting down notes. Well, there is also a very large immigrant community at this market and perhaps, some may still be undergoing some paperwork because the iciness of the stares I got resembled the look on Rocky Marciano’s face when he stared down Joe Louis.

I really don’t know how to sum up this experience but if you leave your camera and note pad at home you won’t have any problems and you can find some pretty interesting items, that is for sure. If you are going for the electronics you may want to bring a certain moral flexibility…