Columbus, New Jersey

I’m happy that Paul and I are able to enjoy all of the great places in New Jersey before we leave. New Jersey has so much beauty, it’s not all the smog, pollution, and traffic that Newark and the surrounding areas have to offer. We’ve been able to do so much in Jersey this summer, getting to the beach, camping and hiking in the mountains, enjoying all of the fairs and festivals, and I was even able to get Paul to see Bruce Springsteen for his first time. We’ve been making progress with framing out the rest of the trailer’s kitchen, and we have been saving as much money as we can, like squirrels getting ready for winter. Over the weekend we enjoyed some time at the Columbus Flea Market in Columbus, New Jersey. If you are in New Jersey, New York, or eastern Pennsylvania you gotta check it out.

Columbus Flea market is located right off the New Jersey Turnpike. The market has several buildings and loads of outdoor space for daily vendors. The best time to catch the outdoor vendors is on Saturdays and Sundays when the weather is nice. We went on Saturday and the overcast skies seemed to have scared a lot of vendors away for the day. After exploring some of the outdoor vendors, head inside. Inside you can find loads of stuff, from airsoft guns to clothes & shoes, from packaged goods to delicious homemade foods. There is a lot to see at this Flea Market, they have a produce and fish market and some really great stores with good prices, but my favorite part of this Market is the Amish Market.

The Amish market is a deli, bakery, pretzel shop, ice cream shop, sweet shop and two stores selling homemade goods. While the goods and foods here all come from the Amish in Lancaster, Pennslyvania, the people working here are not Amish. After doing some research I found out that the Amish work closely with their Mennonite neighbors to sell goods, and help bring money into their community. The Amish Market is open from Thursdays to Saturdays, and they serve breakfast and lunch daily. While Paul opted for some tacos at the other end of the flea market, I treated myself to a chicken lunch. This lunch was huge, a half chicken, green beans, mac and cheese, and a homemade lemonade came to $8.50, and it ended up being my dinner too. We usually stock up on all kinds of goodies at the bakery, but Saturday we stocked up at the deli. We were able to get some farm fresh bacon (3 different kinds), sage sausage stuffed mushrooms, and a stuffed pork loin. We never leave this place hungry.