Archive for April 2015

My cousin and I went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market for the very first time yesterday! We saw all sorts of shabby chic furniture, antique collectibles, and unique vintage clothing. I even managed to haggle down the price on a set of photo slides from the 1950's (2 for $3!). While I do admit that the venue was pretty huge, I don't think it was necessarily worth the $8 admission fee. I guess I'm more used to going to flea markets that cost $3 or less. Those admission fees add up haha! Regardless of the price, I'm so glad that we finally got to see and experience the Rose Bowl Flea Market in person!

Here are a few things that I learned from my first trip to the Rose Bowl Flea Market:

+ Parking - When we got to Pasadena (around 9:20am) the line to get into the free parking area was already backed up! I noticed several cars parking on the other side of Seco St. so I decided to do the same! It was totally the right decision because the Rose Bowl was only a short walk away and we didn't have to wait in any lines to get in and out the crowded parking area!

+ Haggling - I read a number of blogs that said that you should always try to haggle and they were right! When I tried to purchase the photo slides, the vendor wanted me to pay $5 while I only wanted to pay $1. We ended up meeting in the middle at $3 which was fine with me!

+ Lunch - If you're extremely frugal like me, then the best thing you can purchase for lunch is a yummy $2 hot dog. There are hot dog stands scattered throughout the flea market. Everything else is about $8-$10 which was just a little too much for me (especially on top of the $8 admission haha). Also, you should definitely eat lunch inside of the stadium. One of the highlights of our trip was sitting in the stands with a view of the entire football field. When will you ever be able to say that you ate lunch inside of the Rose Bowl while it was empty?