Marian's Hunting Stories, etc., etc., etc...: Canton Flea Market Fun & Adventure

Our Vicksburg Senior Center offered a trip on the "new" City of Vicksburg bus to the Canton Flea Market and was enjoyed by a busload of seniors, yesterday. The arts and crafts in Canton has been going on for 50 years now and I have made several trips throughout the years. It is always the 2nd Thursday in May and in October. It is so huge that you really can't see everything. It was a pretty hot day for the trip but was enjoyed by Mildred and I. She is seen in the above photo with her straw hat on in the lower right hand corner.

Brady, our bus driver, parked in a church parking lot with other buses/vehicles. We all got off and started walking towards the square. We used a corner bank as a marker. We enjoyed looking at all the arts and crafts as we made our way around the whole block of City Hall. I took pictures with my cell phone and will continue to post more pictures tomorrow. We got a Chick-Fil-A sandwich and a drink and walked around looking some more. We decided to start walking back towards the corner bank taking our time but not knowing that instead of walking left of the bank we walked to the right of the bank.

After walking four or five blocks I noticed a railroad sign and I knew were lost. I stopped and asked a guy who was using a business for parking to help us. He immediately got on his cell phone and made a call and told us that someone was coming to get us in golf carts. He then went across the street and got us a cold bottle of water which was so nice and thoughtful. Two carts finally arrived about 5 minutes later and I got in one and Mildred got in other one. We were whisked off to find the church where our bus was parked. We went in and out of traffic, alley-ways, east, west, north and south to several churches and could not find it. I told my driver that I was sorry that I could not remember the name of the church but thought it was the Episcopal. (I wished I had paid more attention to the name of the church where we had parked). I had no idea who was driving me around and finally asked him his name. It was Otha Brown, Police Chief of Canton! I knew I was in good hands and he was desperately on the phone and walkies-talkies trying to help us. At one time we got lost from the other cart but they caught up with us. Finally, we went down a street and saw a church building that looked familiar. When I saw the bus I was so happy. I thank him for his help and hospitality. We both got back to the bus 15 minutes before we were to leave. I must say that it was the most exciting and most adventuresome part of our trip to Canton and I will never forget how concerned the police were for our welfare. Kudos to the Canton Police Department!