A Visit to Olde Town Arvada Farmers Market, Colorado

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Now to the post:

On a recent Sunday when there wasn’t much going on, my husband and I looked up the nearest farmers market. Having just moved from Florida, we sometimes forget that farmers markets around here will end in September or October, so I’m trying to remember to check them out while I can.

But I did remember that day! There are several local markets near where we live, and most of them are only once or twice a week. The upside is that they are all on different days of the week, so I could visit one every day in a different location. Sundays are when the town of Arvada has their market, so that’s where we headed. Another reason for that destination was they have a German bakery there, and we wanted to see if it was authentic.

Arvada is a suburb of Denver, lying about 10 miles northwest of downtown. It was founded in 1870 because of the gold rush, and, after Colorado became a state, Arvada was incorporated in 1904. Like the rest of the Denver area, it has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. I’d heard good things about it from my friend Carolyn in Florida, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I was not disappointed.

We drove the 20 minutes to Arvada’s Olde Town district that day and found a parking spot without too much trouble. They’ve fixed it up and preserved the historic downtown streets pretty well indeed:

I’m always charmed by a city’s bronze manhole covers, water main access panels and such. I must have dozens of pictures of them from several countries. Here’s Arvada’s: 

We found the bakery: The Rheinlander.

To be honest, we were not very impressed with the cake we bought from there, though the experience was fun and friendly. Maybe we just chose the wrong thing. The cake wasn’t terrible, just blah, so we’ll go back to try again. They had a big selection.

The farmers market is on the town square – rather small but nice:

There’s a splash pad which draws the kids – seems there’s a splash pad everywhere these days!

I still do not know what this is about – and it’s the padlock that disturbs me most!

The most unusual thing we saw that day was a gathering of furries! It was the first time I’d seen furries in person. They were meeting at a place called, what else, Fuzzies Tacos. There must have been 30 or more people in animal costumes. I did some online research and found that the group’s name is Arvada Tails and they have a monthly meetup and procession in Arvada.

I’m so fascinated by people who involve themselves in this. I wasn’t sure they would mind my photographing them. In truth, many of them approached me, waving and posing for pictures I hadn’t even planned to take! It was a really friendly experience. I remember that most of them were much taller than me – probably the costume? – and I felt a little, well, I guess the word would be “engulfed”. It was a nice, comfortable feeling, though. Another thing that stands out is that the costumes were really quite lovely with bright colors. I don’t understand why someone would dress up and take part in something like this, but I would love the opportunity to talk to someone who does. Any takers?

We also saw an Odd Fellows Hall. I’ve read about the I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) and even saw a documentary about them recently. First time I’d seen a hall, though.

The I.O.O.F. began in England in the 1700s and came to North America around 1819. The organization was formed by people who believed in a supreme being and who wanted to help others in their local community. Apparently this was an odd thing in England in the 1700s, hence the name.

There were other sights and sounds that day, of course, but it was getting warm and we were hauling around a big bag of vegetables from the farmers market, so we decided to head home. But not before I got a picture of this sweet bike!

I really want to go back to Arvada’s Olde Town soon, especially on a weekday so I can get better photos. Also, they have a very well-known Center for the Arts and Humanities a few blocks away that I’ve seen from the road as we pass by. It has an extensive sculpture garden and a very good reputation for its exhibits. As with everything, I know there are also some pleasant surprised awaiting me, too!

Photo for No Apparent Reason:

8 thoughts on “A Visit to Olde Town Arvada Farmers Market, Colorado”

  1. Always enjoy reading about your travels! There’s an exhibit at the Arvada Center called Paper.Works now through August 20. I’m counting on you to visit it for me, not to put the pressure on or anything. 😀

  2. The photo of the pick is so funny! Maybe it’s a giant piggy bank and the money comes out of the back end? Or…. maybe it’s a reminder to people to lock their hogs (as in Harley’s)? Just kidding of course 🙂

  3. Howdy from the furries! Thanks for such a nice write-up about our group.

    If you want to learn more about furries, I recommend the http://www.furscience.com website.

    Furries are fans of anthropomorphic (human-like) animal characters, like Bugs Bunny, Kermit the Frog, Nick Wilde, or Sonic the Hedgehog. Contrary to popular belief, only about a fourth of the community owns a costume (fursuit), because they are expensive and time-consuming to build. The people in costume are called “fursuiters.” The fursuits, badges, and art you see are mostly our own original self-created characters. Most furries have at least one personal character that essentially represents themselves, called a fursona (and some people have more than one)–basically, what they imagine they’d be like as a talking, walking animal character!

    People mostly love fursuiting because it gives them a chance to entertain people and just be silly and carefree. It also allows you to get into the unique “head space” of a character who is different from your everyday self.

    You asked, we answered! 😀

    Thanks again, and happy travels!

  4. Hello! I’m the Arvada Tails organizer for the meet. If you have any questions or just want to chat I’m happy to. Twitter:@chi_pisa_lachik
    Fb: noelle white ( current picture animal skull mask) thanks for the mention! We are glad you had a good experience!

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