I've been to the Barnyard Flea Market several times now, always on a Saturday. I give it three stars for a serious \"hit-or-miss\", and one extra star for plenty of parking and just because I love flea markets and outdoor markets. There's also two produce sellers inside who have great prices for avocados. I love me some avocado, especially at 85 cents a pop! I've picked up a week's worth of veggies for under $10.\n\nThe parking can be a pain unless you navigate the outskirts of the lot. There is really nothing more annoying than gridlock due to 2 or 3 people who can't figure out what the f* they're doing. I realize we're in the \"laid back South\", but some of us don't want to spend our lives idling our cars and holding our breath until we get to move a few inches forward only to stop again. \n\nI've found decent stuff about 50% of the time I come here. It's a good place to find quirky gifts (Beatrix Potter dishware for that random Peter Rabbit fan.. did I just date myself?), or if you need some bakeware. Seriously I found a 9x12 Pyrex for $6. That'd be, what, $20+ at Target? It's not a screaming deal, but you'd have better luck here than at a thrift shop.. and it smells a lot nicer. \n\nAbout 65% of the booths are nonsense: old Avon products and cheap shoes or junk food. Gross. At least 20% of the booths are cell phone cases and accessories. The cases seem pretty cheap and not in the good way, but the cords are legit. Most of them will carry the original manufacturer charging cables for pretty cheap. \n\nI've seen some seriously nice stuff here, like a stone chess set that was just gorgeous. The guy said it was $40, which of course in flea market world really means somewhere between $33-38, or something (I'm not very good at the haggling). I've seen beautiful African carvings, seasonal items (Christmas dishtowels for $2, anyone?), even some pretty decent bookshelves. \n\nI would recommend several things:\n- Right around 9:45-10am seems to be the magic time during the colder months. I think it was more 9:15am during the summer. \n- Skirt the parking lot or pull up right to the building-doorways. It's like people are afraid to go all the way in (just the tip?!?), so I've always found spots here.\n- Bring cash to make your life easier, but do the small bills. It helps if you're haggling not to whip out the $20 bill. At least it helps me feel like less of a d*ck.\n- Get some tamales at Rico's Tamales. It's in the 2nd building in towards the center where the restrooms are. Trust me on this. They're $2 each and they are easily some of the most delicious tamales I've had outside of Mexico and Southwestern America. It's out of a truck and there's a fancy hand printed and lopsided sign. Whatever. Books and covers, you know? They're DELICIOUS.
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