vendors from all throughout the U. S. and Canada,” Judy says. “It’s as if you’re walking into several hundred antiques shops, not knowing from one to the next what you’ll find.”

The goods: Antique furniture from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, antique glassware, racks of vintage clothing from every period, including shoes and costume jewelry.

Extras: A food pavilion serves home-style breakfast, lunch and dinner; port-a-johns are clean and plentiful.

Sightings: Penny Mar shall, Martha

Stewart, Larry Hagman

NEW YORK

The Garage 112 W. 25th St. ( between Sixth and Seventh avenues), New York, N. Y.; 212-647-0707 Manhattan may be th e country’s top destination for exclusive shopping, but it’s also home to the best flea markets in the Northeast. Those who frequent the flea-market scene in N YC take their routes seriously. In nearly every neighborhood, there are a few blocks of flea marketing to be discovered. The best of the bunch is still in Chelsea, originally home to the Annex Antiques Fair and Flea Market (thanks to yet another residential building going up, it’s moved to Hell’s Kitchen). In the meantime, loyalists head regularly to The Garage, an upstairs/downstairs indoor warehouse where they find a vibrant mix of awesome treasures. A recent visit yielded pristine ’60s carpetbags, a quartet of white vinyl and chrome kitchen chairs, and a fabulous bamboo bar (on wheels!) from the ’60s, complete with original stools. Quality is more on the collector level, so prices are comparable. But rest assured, plenty of cheap thrills are still to be had.