Farmers market and zoo

Early Saturday morning I headed east to spend the day with my older daughter and the kids, while her husband and mine played in a golf tournament.  Our plan was to go to the farmers market at Falls Park, and then to the zoo.   I really love flowers, even though I have very poor skills in growing them myself.  If we hadn't been headed to the zoo after the farmers market Saturday, I would have purchased a big bunch of flowers - and artisan bread, and oyster mushrooms, and maybe more goodies.  

Aren't these sunflowers spectacular?  The biggest vendor at the market was selling flowers and sweet corn. Crazy combination, but they were very busy because their flowers were really amazing. My daughter came specifically for that sweet corn, and the kids enjoyed cinnamon rolls at another booth. 

How about these gladiola?  Every color imaginable!  This flower always makes me think of my mom's flower garden because she grew a lot of gladiolas.  They are such an elegant flower. 

The kids were really intrigued by the different colors of carrots.  The sheer variety of produce was fun to explore.  We have a small farmers market here, but without this much variety.  

My purchase was pretty small - cinnamon rolls for the kids, and this little jar of Corn Cob Jelly.  I haven't had this since I was a kid.  An elderly lady who lived near my grandmother made things like this and Dandelion Wine that she shared with her friends and neighbors.  Crackers and homemade jelly was usually the snack she served with tea or the dandelion wine.  She even let me taste that wine from a tiny little aperitif glass at her kitchen table. 

It was cool and overcast yet as we arrived at the zoo so the animals were pretty active. We had a good time, especially at the bear exhibit watching the bears chasing each other around.  

With the Covid situation we haven't spent as much time with the kids and grandkids as usual.  I did worry a little about going to the farmers market and zoo, but was pleasantly surprised.  At the market masks were very prevalent.  All of the vendors wore them, and a good percentage of the shoppers. Plus people were very polite about keeping social distancing.  At the zoo we didn't see many masks (except for on zoo staff), but social distancing was pretty easy to maintain.  We didn't ride the train or eat at the snack bar, and we took advantage of the numerous hand sanitizer stations everywhere.