If you happen to be in St Petersburg, Florida, for a weekend, you’ll find the very essence of the city at the corner of 1st Avenue South and 1st Street. The Saturday Morning Market is a St Pete local’s favourite weekend ritual, having become a city staple over the past 24 years.
As the early sun warms the waterfront, I walk towards the Al Lang Stadium parking lot, an unlikely but fitting home for a market born of a creative and sustainable city by the water like St Pete.
Canvas tote on my shoulder, sandals on my feet, I head towards the coffee truck run by a Florida roastery, and begin my morning with a nitro cold brew topped with almond milk – a perfect start to a brisk and sunny spring Saturday.
I start my Saturday Morning Market exploration at a booth with bags made from vibrant recycled sails from local sailboats, run by a mother-daughter team who have woven their passions – art and marine science – into handy waterproof bags. Nearby, I spot hand-screen-printed tea towels that would make an ideal gift for an art and nostalgia lover.
In an example of creative re-use, multi-media cat art – using old book paper as a canvas – catches my eye, while at the end of the row of stallholders, a maker has turned locally felled trees into satiny wooden bowls. In St Pete, art and sustainability go hand-in-hand.
I pick up some stationery at a paper design booth, where the artist shares her creative spark via hand-drawn designs that grace everything from note cards to bookmarks – just the kind my child will claim before I can wrap them for him.
Nearby, I taste some sweet local honey, harvested this winter by another mother-daughter duo, who light up as they explain how their bees seem to know exactly when to appear in their backyard – the source of most of their harvest – with a nearby park supplying the rest.
As Rebecca and her mom share their delight in the whole whirring, buzzing operation, I’m reminded of what locals and vendors alike call the market’s most special gift – the people.
Thinking about the evening meal, I wait patiently in a queue for the mushroom seller, along with regulars presumably seeking their weekly oyster and maitake. I join the line and choose some locally grown Italian brown mushrooms for our dinner tonight – earthy and savoury, they will be lovely with our pasta. I will complement it with fresh salad vegetables from the farm stand ahead.
As I walk towards the rest of my dinner ingredients, I’m stopped by a new healthy treat spot – dairy-free, refined-sugar-free and gluten-free nut butter-based chocolate. The macadamia nut butter they use is so smooth and irresistibly rich.
I buy some dark chocolate pistachio bark to nibble on, the perfect accompaniment to my quickly disappearing morning coffee. This market tends to inspire something creative, nourishing and purposeful with each visit, and today is no exception.
Next, a diversion towards the locally grown exotic fruit. My family has been buying delicious lychees, custard apples and longan from this booth for a few years now. The vendors always take a minute to share the joys of fruit and stories of the trees with the children who stop by.
The air smells of fresh produce and spring blossom, and hums with the sounds of folk discussing the freshness of the organic carrots, green beans and cherry tomatoes. The smells here are of freshly-dug soil and the sweetest flowers.
Having made it to the farm stand, I buy some fennel, sweet peppers, and purple radish for a salad to enjoy alongside our mushroom pasta, and pick up two kinds of basil – Italian for tonight, and Thai for another day, when I will make some basil fried rice with a fragrant green curry.
Towards the centre of the market, the band kicks into an upbeat tune, and as the music picks up, people start settling into seats at the round tables. Then the smells arrive – bringing in the scents of world cuisine – Ethiopian spices, freshly baked empanadas, savoury Brooklyn-style potato knishes and a variety of sweet baked goods – a melange of culinary delights in one parking lot.
I decide on some tamales – where the smiling lady at the counter makes me a plate of tangy carrot salad, black beans and a chicken tamale. Nearby, I get a fresh coconut, savouring the sweetness of the water inside as it complements my well-seasoned meal.
Around me, kids bite into ice cream cones, and dogs have their own little meeting at knee height, leads wrapping around table legs, making the market a truly family-friendly social gathering.
Finishing up the last of my meal as the band plays on, I am satisfied and content. The market has done its job once again – reminding me of why I call this place home. Canvas tote full, I make one last stop on the way to the car: a bright bunch of farm-fresh flowers for the dinner table.
