Sunday on Santa Cruz at the Connoisseurs Marketplace

By 9:30 this morning, normally sleepy-on-Sunday downtown Menlo was already bustling with the combined traffic of the farmer’s market and Connoisseur’s Marketplace. Parking, tight at the best of times, was such that local entrepreneurs (‘College Tuition Parking – $10’) were attempting to rent out driveways and other available car-sized spaces.

Early shoppers were attracted to a display of hand-painted hats (‘guaranteed not to chip, crack or fade’) and went so far as to try on, but not ultimately buy, one particularly vibrant chapeau. Merchants reported that yesterday’s crowds, and sales, were good.