Market Trekking Up North

When we got back home, I knew I needed to lock down some farmer's markets.  Kate & I had less than two months left to do breweries, so I looked over my list & marked the ones I wanted most.

One Tuesday while at Alesmith, I made a couple of Cheezers & drove them over to the market manager at the Mira Mesa farmer's market.  His name was Ron & he wasted no time ripping into the grilled cheeses.

"We have some open spaces right now," he said between bites.  "Just let me know the week of & I'll see if we got room for you."

Kate had emailed the Oceanside Sunset Market & one Monday I made four Cheezers & drove the hour north to drop them off.  Kathy was in charge of the market & being from the Midwest herself, she loved our sandwiches.  

"I don't make the call on which vendors we take.  You'll have to talk to Kim," she said.  Kathy lead me into a conference room where Kim was waiting.

"Well, Zach," he said.  "Your sandwiches are really good, but we already have a grilled cheese vendor.  They've been with us for a few years now.  Have you considered doing a different kind of food?"

"Not really.  We've been doing grilled cheese for over four years.  It's what we're known for."

"If you wanna do this market you'll have to branch out.  What about quesadillas?" he asked.

I played along, shook his hand & thanked him for there time.  I stopped off in Carlsbad on the way home & hiked a trail that went up high into a suburban neighborhood.  The whole time thinking what a waste of time the trip to Oceanside had been.

A couple weeks later, I planned a solo camping & hiking trip up to Palomar Mountain.  I left early on a Sunday morning so I could check out one of Ron's other markets in Leucadia.  It wasn't as big as Oceanside, but there was a lot more foot traffic than at Mira Mesa.  I said hi to Ron, snacked on a few free samples & drove on to Fry Creek campground.

In a just few short weeks, Mad Munch would be back amongst the tents, peddling Cheezers amid the hustle & bustle of tote bagging lookie-lous.  In the meantime, it was nice to take a walk down a trail in a grassy meadow with nobody in sight.