It's places like this that I absolutely adore exploring when I go on road trips.
I came to Kodak, because I'm a wandering baseball park aficionado, and a Smokies game was on my agenda, but I had like four hours to kill before the game was scheduled, and I had concerns over what could do to pass the time. But after I parked my car and walked into the Smoky Mtn. Flea Market, I knew that there was plenty to keep me busy over the next few hours.
Seriously, the second I saw the vendor with the signs that said "SOCKS and AMMO," and then "GUITARS and AMMO" I knew I was in a place where I could easily pass the time.
The property is absolutely massive, and if I had a step meter, I'm pretty sure I walked at least two miles worth of steps perusing lap after lap around the entire place, both on the interior and exterior.
The vendors on the outside of the property appear to be all the variety of used swap meet kind of goods. Seriously, it felt like I would run into Darrell Sheets from Storage Wars, because the outdoor vendors were selling things ranging from tools, original XBOX systems, cast iron pans to all varieties of furniture. I'm curious if anyone would have accepted a "three-hundred dollar bill" if I proposed a negotiation. Really though, all the outdoor vendors were selling used goods and what actually seemed like poached storage unit merchandise, but was undoubtedly a seemingly endless array of things to browse through.
Also, I counted in at least four locations on the outside property, the same mish-mash of Chinese knockoff merchandise being sold. I'd be skeptical of anything electronic, but imitation Crocs, and articles of clothing or tools you might only want to wear/use once? You'd be in heaven here.
The inside however, was where I spent the most time, because it was hot as a sauna on this particular day, and frankly, there was way more variety of things for sale inside than on the outside. Aside from a few "vintage gaming" merchants, just about everything sold inside seemed of the new goods variety, homemade artwork, and an inordinate amount of puppy adoption going on inside.
And KNIVES. Good god almighty, were there an absurd amount of merchants inside selling knives. Come to think of it, there were a good chunk of people outside selling used knives outside, but knives for sale were literally everywhere on the inside. It didn't matter if they were like butterfly knives, replicas of the knife from the Predator films, to crazy Incan knives with ornate handles, there were knives for sale like every five merchant spaces.
The best was one vendor selling knives, swords, and bongs. Seriously, it's like every geek's dream merchant, because you could get Legend of Zelda sword AND a bong, so you can go home and smoke while you play Legend of Zelda, and have something tangible to swing when the hallucinations begin.
But really though, this was a fantastic place to spend an afternoon. I said I had four hours to kill, but after about the third hour, I was like "oh crap," when I realized that the first three had absolutely flown by, and that I should probably wrap things up and get ready to go to the game.
That's how awesome this place was to entertain and shop at.
Long story (i know, right) short: If the zombie apocalypse started, Smoky Mtn. Flea Market is the perfect place to seek refuge at. The place had plenty of close-out food and drink options to sustain one's self with, there are plenty of toys, books and electronics to keep yourself entertained and sane, clothes of varying decades to wear, tools of every variety to be able to utilize, and most importantly the place is armed to the teeth with knives and ammunition everywhere - I'm sure actual firearms can be retrieved from the numerous corpses of people who were visibly carrying.
It's also an awesome place to visit and experience for any time before the zombie apocalypse. read more