Florida Keys -- The Big Pine Flea Market Update filmed in Feb. 2019
The Big Pine Flea Market has been in operation at the same location since 1983. It is open on Saturdays & Sundays 8-2 (sometimes a little longer)
Big Pine Flea Market Season: Oct. - May
30250 Overseas Hwy,
(MM 30.5 Ocean side)
Big Pine Key
Website:
www.bigpinefle...
This is an update and/or follow-up to two videos I filmed of the Big Pine Flea Market soon after hurricane Irma.
I filmed the first video less than a month after hurricane Irma. It shows metal framed vendor booths mangled and strewn across the grounds. The footage is but a glimpse of hurricane Irma’s destruction at ground Zero on Big Pine Key. Published Oct. 5, 2017
• Big Pine Flea Market a...
The following video was about three months later and I was surprised that it was even up and running again. Everything had been cleaned up. Vendor’s booths had been fixed and replaced (a few). It was sparse but it looked like it was well on its way to recovery. I found out later in this video that although the physical damage left by hurricane Irma had been cleaned up, the psychological and economical effects are much more long lasting. One insider explained that the Flea Market had far from recovered, especially its vendors. Most of the vendors didn’t even have a place to live and were camping out on other resident’s properties, much less could even think about setting up their booth at the Flea Market. When I learned what was really going on behind the scenes, the video took a dismal turn. But it also became more honest, more “REAL”, which is the word I use a lot in the video. As in the “struggle is real” and “everything is not always what meets the eye”.
• Big Pine Flea Market a...
After watching the above video, you will see why I found it necessary to film one more. I had to show that it looked like more vendors had finally recovered enough to have their booths set up as it was very busy and there were a lot of vendors and customers. There will always be more behind the scenes that the general populous will not be privy to as they are not in the thick of it. So again, keep in mind, this is still possibly an eye candy general perspective.
I never got an insider perspective this time about how the vendors are truly doing 1 ½ years later. Just because it shows the Big Pine Flea Market has come along way, it doesn’t mean that these vendors and other vendors that aren’t there anymore, are back to “normal” like their lives were before hurricane Irma. And I know the psychological, and economical effects of hurricane Irma are still prevalent in the Florida Keys, especially the lower Keys -- Ground Zero. And I bet if I dug a little deeper, these things would come out.
There are hundreds of people (about 100 I know of personally because of a group email I am part of), that have been endlessly struggling with the County and local municipalities over ridiculous fines and permits and other nonsense because of Irma. As if the initial stress of either losing their home and/or having to make substantial repairs isn’t enough! Now they have to be heavily regulated, fined with ridiculous limitations and restrictions put upon them.
And, I do know there are still combined community efforts for cleaning up the canals, Mangroves and other waterways that the government just can’t get to for one reason or the other. These are headed by a lot of wonderful people.
See one such movement headed by Brian Vest:
Website:
conchrepublicma...
I filmed the following video about a year ago during one of the community clean-ups headed by the Conch Republic Marine Army.
• People doing what gove...
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