There really are a lot options in Downtown Bentonville now, and I fully expect the area to keep developing and growing. We have our favorite trendy coffee shop (Onyx), my favorite apparel store (Elysian Boutique), and lots of dining options (Table Mesa, etc.) to choose from.
But the one thing that I’ve been waiting MONTHS for was the opening of the Bentonville Farmer’s Market. It’s been on my to-do list, and I jumped at the opportunity when I saw that it was opening for the season this past weekend at 7:30AM. We were downtown by 7:40AM! Although Delyn had to work on Saturday he made time to check out the market with me. We got up, put on some casual clothes, and headed downtown. Despite his best efforts to go straight to the coffee shop, I told him I needed to see the market before it got too crazy (I didn’t know what to expect!). So we made a loop around the square, checked out the local vendors as they finished setting up, and headed over to Onyx to grab a latte and some breakfast pastries. After breakfast, we made our way back over the market—it still wasn’t too busy, but certainly picked up in the hour that we were there. Before Delyn had to leave we took some photos and compared some prices to see if there was anything we needed.
I went home with Delyn briefly and then decided to head back up to the square to see how busy it would get, knowing that they had plenty of activities scheduled for 9AM and after. I felt guilty about the breakfast pastries, so I decided to combine the effort with a workout and I laced up my sneakers to run back to the square. I found it much busier than before. There was a Superhero Cape station, where kids could choose a red or blue cape… I’ve never seen quite so many mini superheroes running around. There was plenty of live music—a few guitarists and a violinist to name a few. There were food trucks of all sorts. There was face painting. There were families hanging out in the grassy areas. It was a very lively scene. I sat in the shade, chatted on the phone for a bit, and people watched. Since I ran there, I didn’t have my camera, but there were so many photographic moments.
I would love to feature some of the local vendors on my blog in the next few weeks. I decided not to photograph any of the specialty items (packaged items, art, etc.) in consideration of the vendors, but with their permission I’m interested in spotlighting their booths along with some background information going forward! Additionally I’d like to get out to the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market and see what’s going on over there… lots to see!