As the 2010 Florida winter season gets underway, Cafe Getaway can be found participating in three of Pinellas County's weekly Farmers' Markets:
* The Sunday Morning Farmers Market in Tarpon Springs, corner of Pinellas & Tarpon Avenues (Alt 19), Tarpon Springs; Sundays, 9am-2pm (contact Gerry McLaughlin of the Tarpon Springs Business Alliance at 727-938-0078);
* The Oldsmar Downtown Fresh Market, next to City Hall on State Street, Oldsmar; Wednesdays, 9am-1:30pm. (contact: Laura Mataluni, 813-749-1260)
* The Largo Harvest Marketplace, Ulmer Park, 301 West Bay Drive, Largo; Thursdays, 9am-1pm. (contact: Tanya Fazekas, 727-587-6740 x 5015)
Just this past weekend (Jan 3), we were pleased to be included in the inaugural Tarpon Springs Market, and, given the most un-Florida like temperatures (30s-40s), I think most of the people who attended were glad we were there with our large selection of HOT beverages!
The new Tarpon Farmers Market features a great selection of vendors, including, of course, sellers of fresh produce, a local grower of organic greens (I loved my fresh kale picked just that morning), our favorite fishmonger (they probably don't call them that anymore, but it's too cool a word not to use!), and vendors of local honey, cheeses of the world, specialty breads, and bakery treats.
But filling your grocery bag is not the only reason to come to the Tarpon Farmers Market! Bring the whole family and plan to have your Sunday breakfast there or perhaps your after-church brunch! Or both! The Tarpon Market has drawn an unusually interesting selection of food vendors! Choices ran from pierogies, empanadas, and wood-fired pizza, to Belgian waffles and (my personal favorite) French crepes from the charming La Petite France.
Despite trying to keep to a New Year's diet, Don and I managed to sample them all! 
For lighter snacking there was kettle corn and our valiant friend Bruce of Penguin Ice selling Italian ices! (What's that saying,... "a good salesman can sell ice to an Eskimo!"?)
Market organizers set up tables and chairs so that shoppers didn't have to eat on their feet, and great music was provided by the band The Urban Gypsies. The good news for us at Cafe Getaway is that all of this goes down well with a steaming hot cup of coffee, tea, chai or hot chocolate!
(To view a larger selection of photos from the Tarpon Market, please go to Cafe Getaway's album on Facebook.)
In addition to good foods and entertainment, the Tarpon Farmers Market also had several crafters, plant growers, and other booths about healthy living and the local community.
Farmers Markets like these are, in general, a great way to get outdoors and feel a part of your community. We hope to see you at one of the three markets we at Cafe Getaway attend, but if none are convenient, check out the following link to Farmers Markets in the the Tampa Bay area. The list doesn't seem to be completely up-to-date, but it'll be a great starting point.
http://www.tampa-real-estate-blog.com/2009/03/28/tampa-bay-farmers-markets/
