At a flea market off of Highway 129 in
Knoxville, Tennessee, cars pack into the parking lot. So much so that
vans and trucks with lift kits pull over on the shoulder of a side
street and park. In recent years, the flea market doesn’t get a ton of
business on Saturday, but on Sunday, it’s saturated with people. These
are not Tennessee church people, though if you head far enough into the
rows of flea market vendors, you can buy prayer candles with Mother Mary
on them, six for five dollars.
At the top of the hill, attached to a chicken and
rabbit stand is a small shed. Unlike ninety-five percent of the other
stands at the flea market, this one has a screen door, with a sign fixed
to it that reads “Burglars and thieves watch out for flying objects”
and a drawing of a pistol pointed directly at its reader. If you want
to buy a chicken, you should go around to the other side. This is an
entrance for friends. Friends looking for something they can't (really)
get in a liquor store: authentic, old-fashioned, Tennessee moonshine.
Inside the shed, usually, is one of the few people left making and
selling it the authentic, old-fashioned, Tennessee way.
More @ Esquire
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