We had heard about this a few years ago but had never actually got to visit it. Well, on our last visit we finally made it. From our home in Clermont it took us about 45 minutes to reach. This distance is not that far but most of the road once you leave highway 27 is single carriageway with speed limits. However it is a very pleasant drive through the Florida countryside. You take highway 27 going north until you reach the 50 then you turn left towards Clermont. You carry on along the 50 until you reach a right hand turning signposted Webster. It starts at about 7 am on Mondays only and the stallholders start packing up at about 2 pm.
On reaching Webster you will see many people encouraging you to park on their property. On our first visit we took advantage of this and parked on land adjoining one of the churches and the charge was the vast charge of $1! However on our second visit we parked a little further away and there was no charge. You can also park on the road.
On entering the market we were astounded by the size of it. Although we had been told it was large we never imagined it would be so enormous. Even in two visits we didn' t manage to see all of it. It was obvious from the sheds that hold some of the stalls that it was originally a genuine farmers' market selling livestock. Nowadays the only sign of farmers is the selling of fruit and vegetables. These were obviously fresh and extremely good value. We were there in December and were able to buy strawberries which were vastly superior to the ones we had bought in our local supermarkets. We also got some really flavoursome cherries.
They seem to sell everything, we even saw a stall for teeth whitening, I was dying to go and ask about it but was pulled away by my husband, a retired dentist! ! It did look very professional so there was no reason to doubt it authenticity. We managed to buy a wide variety of items, including clothes, jewellery, sandals, trainers, tools, fruit, pecan nuts, shrimps and goodness knows what else. Like all markets you do have to check things. Some items were vastly overpriced but others were extremely good value. We found all the stallholders extremely friendly and when they find you are English they always have questions to ask you. The one thing we bought which I thought was worth the trip alone were some pecan nuts. These always seem so expensive back in the UK so not only did we buy some to eat while in the US we bought some back to the UK and by being a little abstemious we are making them last.
All-in-all if you like markets it is certainly worth a visit. We will most definitely be making our way up there next time we visit our villa.
On reaching Webster you will see many people encouraging you to park on their property. On our first visit we took advantage of this and parked on land adjoining one of the churches and the charge was the vast charge of $1! However on our second visit we parked a little further away and there was no charge. You can also park on the road.
On entering the market we were astounded by the size of it. Although we had been told it was large we never imagined it would be so enormous. Even in two visits we didn' t manage to see all of it. It was obvious from the sheds that hold some of the stalls that it was originally a genuine farmers' market selling livestock. Nowadays the only sign of farmers is the selling of fruit and vegetables. These were obviously fresh and extremely good value. We were there in December and were able to buy strawberries which were vastly superior to the ones we had bought in our local supermarkets. We also got some really flavoursome cherries.
They seem to sell everything, we even saw a stall for teeth whitening, I was dying to go and ask about it but was pulled away by my husband, a retired dentist! ! It did look very professional so there was no reason to doubt it authenticity. We managed to buy a wide variety of items, including clothes, jewellery, sandals, trainers, tools, fruit, pecan nuts, shrimps and goodness knows what else. Like all markets you do have to check things. Some items were vastly overpriced but others were extremely good value. We found all the stallholders extremely friendly and when they find you are English they always have questions to ask you. The one thing we bought which I thought was worth the trip alone were some pecan nuts. These always seem so expensive back in the UK so not only did we buy some to eat while in the US we bought some back to the UK and by being a little abstemious we are making them last.
All-in-all if you like markets it is certainly worth a visit. We will most definitely be making our way up there next time we visit our villa.