Cottin’s Hardware Farmer’s Market

There are several Farmer’s Market locations in Lawrence and have been for many years, but Cottin’s has always been my favorite. Cottin’s is a fourth the size of the big Saturday morning market, but it excels for several reasons.
First, the downtown market (if you talk to the vendors) is rife with minor infighting, rules enforcement and headaches for some of the vendors. That with the big crowds and you get a lot of grumpy people selling their products. None of that here. The family that runs the hardware store is always present and has a great attitude – and it shows in the vendors and the people that show up every Thursday at 4:00 p.m. with a closing time of 6:30 p.m.
And what’s this? The Free State Brewery has a booth so it’s part happy hour, part social gathering, part simply a good time. Oh, and the music is scheduled months in advance and rotates so you don’t have to suffer some of the awful stuff that frequents the downtown market ad nauseam every week. I even prefer most of the vendors here and it’s a delightful mix of interesting small businesses, few of which frequent the downtown market.
Always something cooking as well so a good place to grab an early dinner, have a beer, chat with some friends and just enjoy the afternoon. This is really what a Farmer’s Market should be in my opinion and why I’ll keep coming back as long as it’s here.