This show has been going on 42 years, and this was the first time they cancelled the Saturday of it because of imposingly bad weather. Ironically, I had left Tampa early Friday morn and headed up to Cedar Key to do a shoot before traveling back east to Gainesville.
When I arrived at the show location nobody was around. So I checked my emails and saw that they had cancelled the Friday setup andSaturday Show because of bad weather. We were to setup Sat. After 5pm and have a show on Sunday. Bummers!
I drove back to Tampa, a two hour drive.
So Sat. I left home at noon in a pouring rain,heading to the show. Being the first of the month, all the snowbirds were heading north out of Fla. The interstate was clogged with traffic and the weather sucked. It took me four miserable hours to get there.
Thank God it was a mellow setup. They had a free dinner on Saturday. I finished setup and drove for 30 minutes to my hotel in Ocala. Sunday morn was clear and chilly, needed a vest. Show started offically at noon but I opened at 10am. Made my first sale at 10:30.
Crowds finally showed up around noon.
Sales were pretty much low end for most of us. I only saw two big packages go down the street all day.
I made decent money for the day, but it was way too much driving. I won't do that again.
This is nice little show but I would come any great distance to do it. Too many exhibitors for too little sales.
Comments
We drove from Michigan twice to do this as a stand alone show, once upon a time. Talk about being eager! I remember they had nice prize money and the first time Norm got a prize. Lovely town, nice art in the show, fun to do.
Btw, I was in Cedar Key last month. Stayed at the Island Hotel, saw this cool sepia toned photo on the wall in the hall. Took a closer look. Guess who shot the photo? Nels Johnson!! Nice photo, Nels. I'll post it soon.