Hudson's Surfside Flea Market

I am by no means an expert on flea markets.  Because of my mom, I've been to quite a few, but I don't go often enough to be a great judge of them, and I never seem to find any amazing deals or items.  When we do need something a bit odd, we will visit Hudson's Surfside Flea Market, located just south of Myrtle Beach.

I've been to flea markets* that are largely in the open, with a few self made stalls.  Hudson's is actually a series of buildings that kind of remind me of the barns at the fair.  You go in one end and out the other, with each building joined close to the one end.  There are spots where you go outside to swap buildings, but inclement weather wouldn't stop this flea market.  It's just a shame there isn't air conditioning.  It wasn't even that hot today, but it sure felt like it in there.  A lot of the merchants had fans going, but it wasn't doing much good.

Hudson's is more of a random stuff flea market than an antique flea market.  I know many are hybrids of the two, but Hudson's seems to lean a bit more towards things like kitchen goods, lotions, jewelry, swords, and the like.  There are some anchor "stores" like the one kitchen goods stall.  They've gone so far as to carpet their area, which makes it look pretty nice.  It seems that most of the sellers at Hudson's are permanent.  I know in our visits, it doesn't seem as if much has changed.

We went today to look for some color changing lipstick that my grandmother wanted, but I was unsuccessful in my quest.  I found plenty of other types of lipstick, but none that changed colors.  I guess some things do change, as they had it last year.

On a side note, there is a really messy stall that sells swords, canes, and other assorted junk.  Mark is pretty sure that Excalibur resides somewhere in there, and only the chosen one can find it.  Unfortunately, there isn't enough hand sanitizer in the world to get me rooting through those goods.

If you're looking for a fun flea market experience, you should check out Hudson's.  They have pretty good hours throughout the summer and a vast array of goods.  If you're mainly interested in antiques, I wouldn't bother.  Frankly, the worst part of Hudson's is getting there.  The traffic today was horrendous.

*That is just a terrible name for anything...flea market.  It sounds so unsanitary.