Saturday, October 3, 2009

He Hunts, I Shop ~ A day in Canton, Texas


My husband doesn't really hunt and to be honest, I'm not much of a shopper by most women's standards. I just love the "He Hunts, I Shop" t-shirts that all the big-haired Texas women with their bedazzled camo capris and blinged out Yellow Box shoes wear while maxing out their Mastercards on all the fabulous finds at First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas.

First Monday started out as a flea market over a century ago and has evolved into the world's largest outdoor trade days. It takes place Thursday through Sunday before the first Monday of every month in Canton, Texas. Every month, thousands of vendors from across the country turn this friendly East Texas town into a shopper's paradise where you can find antiques and collectibles, furniture, home decor, arts and crafts, clothing, jewelry, tools, produce, and much more.

I usually drive over to Canton every month to check out what's new and  I never manage to see everything I want to see. It's hard to image how big this thing is! I probably could burn a few hundred calories browsing the thousands of vendor booths if I wouldn't keep stopping to eat all the fabulous food! The food is an adventure all it's own. Of course there is the typical fair food, like corn dogs, funnelcakes and fried Oreos, but you've also got made-to-order fajitas on homemade tortillas, big juicy hamburgers with garden fresh veggies, roasted corn on the cob, Indian fry bread, crawfish etoufee, homemade pies, fried catfish, overstuffed barbeque sandwiches, Pedro's hot tamales and the list goes on!


I can't go to Canton without grabbing a big bag of  sweet/salty/crunchy kettlecorn, swinging by Parrilla's taco stand for $1 fajita tacos with salsa verde and dropping in Paul Michael Company to see all their lastest goodies for the home. Since moving to Texas, I have decorated a large portion of our house with stuff from Paul Michael. Not only is it a great place to shop, they always have complimentary cookies and ice-cold CocaCola! What's not to love?

If you've never had the chance to experience First Monday Trade Days, I highly recommended putting it on your to-do list. You could easily spend an entire weekend there. There's fun things to do for the entire family or it would make a perfect girlfriend get~away.

~Gridiron Girl

6 comments:

jmac said...

STILL waiting for you to take me to Canton!!! and we don't have a Paul Michael. wanna do that too.
Love this post.......

Diana Ferguson said...

Oh yea. Canton is great. I went back in May. I usually get tons more ideas to bring home than actual purchases.

Thanks for coming over. Stay in touch and good luck in my giveaway!

Cathy~Mille Fleur said...

Oh I love Canton...especially this time of year!!!

I love your blog...so glad I stopped by!!!

Enjoy!!!
XOXO
Cathy

Virginia G said...

Oh that sounds amazing. I would love to go.

And when you drag your butt up to the Northeast, I'll take you to the Brimfield Antiques Fair. :)

Clover said...

LOVE your blog!!! So glad to have found it. And please oh please just promise me that someday before I die you will take me to Canton... :)

Jane said...

I love your blog, too! I just found you through jmac's post with your Oreo Cheesecake Cupcake recipe. (My son's gonna be in heaven!)

I have always wanted to go to Canton...never made when I lived in TX... Now I am going to have to fly there. Paul Micheal's looks great, too. By any chance do you know the dealer who had that gorgeous pelican with the fish in its' mouth? I am in love with it!!! and it would be grand for the shop in Mt Dora.

Jane (artfully graced)

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