This past Sunday, my husband and I spent part of our afternoon at the South End Open Market at SOWA. The weather was beautiful and we were able to take in everything aspect of the market in at our own pace. I wanted to share the experience with you here on the blog and since the market is open every Sunday, 10:00 – 4:00 from May through October, I thought it might make a great activity for Father’s Day this weekend if your plans are still under debate! At the end of the post, I will share a couple other activities happening this weekend that you may want to consider. So many events, so much time – get out there!
The South End Open Market at SOWA is located in the South End of Boston, Massachusetts and takes up approximately three blocks around its Harrison Avenue location. SOWA stands for South of Washington, the section of the South End that is home to many restaurants, fun retail shops and art galleries…
The market is divided into three sections; Artisan Booths, Farmer’s Market and Food Trucks. We started with the artisan booths as that was closest to where we parked. There was such variety among the vendors. Artisans were selling everything from vintage clothing, shoes and bags to jewelry, imported Turkish towels, leather accessories, stationery, greeting cards, faux taxidermy (stuffed animals!) and even baby clothes.
We purchased these cute harem pants for one of our daughters. We love anything with elephants, a sign of good luck (if the trunk is up!). The booth was run by Himalayan Handicrafts, also a retail store in Provincetown…
I loved this vintage booth by The House of Findings. How fun are those shoes and other accessories that have been embellished with a blue eye motif?
Need a tulle skirt? You can find one here!
I really wanted to purchase the extra large salad bowl on the bottom shelf below from New Hampshire Bowl & Board, but my husband just looked at me with that “really, another bowl?” face so I stepped away from the booth (he was right)…
The booth below is Anchor Claws and I took the picture for my friend, Kris whose daughter loves anything with an anchor motif. That’s what I love about artisan booths – you can usually find something for everybody…
These gorgeous Turkish towels below are imported by Kealty Design. I started chatting with them and the woman on the left is Armenian like me so, you know how that goes. I lost my husband in the process but thankfully it isn’t such a big area that we weren’t able to find each other after a bit of searching…
How cute are these accessories by Shara Porter? See the hedgehog card holder lower right? I took that home for a certain hedgehog lover in our family…
And lastly, the booth below might have been my favorite. Rustic Marlin makes all kinds of wooden signage and accessories right here in Massachusetts. I have already contacted them about a custom sign for me, but look at all the adorable options below! The blocks are only $10 or so and again, the anchors caught my attention for my friend.
And then I took this photo for my friend, Nicole who has a daughter, Madeleine…
At this point, we were hungry. There was one food truck among the artisan booths, but we didn’t want to start with dessert despite the tempting offerings…
So we walked…
Down the length of Thayer Street (had to snap this photo, natch)…
And once we got to the trucks, there were many to choose from. There are two questions to ask when confronted with so many options. First, what are you in the mood to eat, and more importantly, how long are you willing to wait in line for it? Probably the most popular truck there was Roxy’s Grilled Cheese…
Here’s the view from the back of the line…
I overheard a Dad waiting with his kids that it better be a really good grilled cheese! Roxy’s has been hugely popular for some time and even has a restaurant in Allston now.
Bon Me, a truck that makes “bold, fresh and fun Vietnamese cuisine” was also very crowded…
As was Kim Kim BBQ (although reading online, I am not sure they have received great reviews)…
We decided to divide and conquer. I chose to stand in line at the The Chubby Chickpea for a Fattoush Salad and my husband stood in line at The Dining Car for a Caprese salad sandwich, his favorite…
His line moved faster so I switched gears and went back to his truck. He chose their homemade rosemary lemonade which was a great combination and the Caprese sandwich on house made focaccia bread. Not the best shot, but it was very tasty…
I was a little undecided (and somewhat disappointed I didn’t get my Fatoush), but I ordered a grilled chicken salad with homemade guacamole. Everything was completely fresh and tasty and the guacamole had a nice kick to it…
The highlight was The Dining Car’s signature side dish of Crispy Cauliflower…
Fresh florets are tossed with a seasoned corn flour coating, then quickly fried until crispy. That yellow condiment is a delicious curry aioli. This dish was scrumptious! My husband asked me to recreate it at home so below is a shot of my first attempt. We loved the cauliflower but while the sauce was tasty, it needs work. We’re thinking a different sauce might be more broadly appealing. Stay tuned…
As you can see, there is plenty of seating near the trucks and we thankfully found two chairs under one of the umbrellas. Note to the file, if you are sun sensitive, you may want to bring a wide brim hat and some sunscreen if you plan on waiting in line at the food trucks…
You’ve probably seen Batch ice cream in some stores, but they had a truck there too which we passed up on our way to the farmer’s market…
Only to find another vendor, Tipping Cow Ice Cream waiting for us to have a try…
Made locally in Medford, Massachusetts, Tipping Cow was creative and pretty tasty. We sampled their sweet corn ice cream which was surprisingly delicious. At first, I didn’t care for it but it snuck up on me and I think it would make an interesting pairing with a fruit pie. We did opt to purchase two flavors for walking around which were Espresso (delicious) and a Dark Chocolate Sea Salt (also delicious but could not taste any sea salt)…
There were beautiful flowers for sale and many, many vendors of artisan foods. Breads, cheeses, and confections of all kinds were available for sampling and purchasing.
We ended our time at SOWA by making a visit inside to the Vintage Market which was back on Thayer Street…
Lots of flea market type finds here and much smaller than we remembered from our first visit a few years ago. I had to take a shot of these vintage lunch boxes below. I had the same pattern on my lunchbox when I was a child…
We had such a nice afternoon at the South End Open Market at Sowa. If you haven’t been (or even if you have), I encourage you to check it out some Sunday soon!
This weekend, I am heading up to Salisbury with one of my cousins to attend The Vintage Bazaar which I learned about because I am following Matthew Mead on Facebook. I am eager to see his work and what other treasures I might find. The Vintage Bazaar is happening on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend and then again in the fall.
And if Saturday is your day to get out and you love the whole food truck thing, think about attending The 4th Annual Worcester Food Truck Festival. They have a great line up of trucks coming their way!
See you next week!
One Year Ago: My Father’s Jumbo Shrimp with Lemon & Garlic
Val, love this post and particularly because it connected me with your dad’s shrimp recipe. Love the vintage pics. Brings back many of my own grilling memories with my Dad. Can’ t wait to try the recipe this summer for the clan.