Big Sky National Monument - Stonewall, TX

Lyndon Johnson is not a president often associated with the Antiquities Act. In his term, he enlarged four existing national monuments and established another two, most of which he did only at the behest of others. The exception to this is Big Sky National Monument. Set close to his ranch in Stonewall,Texas, Lyndon used to load VIPs into the back of his Lincoln Continental and go careening across the open prairies that would one day become the monument. He’s quoted saying that he loved seeing the faces of those unfamiliar with the Texas sky, crushed under the weight of it. And admittedly, there is something magical about the skies over the Lone Star State, something countless have commented upon. It’s in every song and story the state has to offer, the wide panorama of open sky that ensures storms can never sneak up on you, that teaches you from an early age how small you are in the world. It’s only fitting that a state obsessed with size would be blanketed by an equally big sky. Previ

Fleakend in Del Rio - Del Rio, TX

Every month, Del Rio hosts Fleakend, 2 ½ days of flea market fun and antiquing. On its surface most of the flea market elements are as expected, but Fleakend differs in two major ways. First, it is an international affair, attracting vendors and customers from both sides of the border, offering up some truly peculiar finds. Second, Fleakend hides its own black market behind its hordes of rusting tchotchkes and knick-knacks.

The illegal market, known as PROVENANCE™, is ruled by one principle, that an item, regardless of its individual, inherent value, contains a true value tied to the object’s invisible provenance. An old baseball on its own might be worth a buck or two, but to know it once belonged to Walt Disney before being acquired by Andy Warhol, Audrey Hepburn, or Hillary Clinton (before passing back-and-forth between a few dozen private collectors) means that it can be valued for millions.

At PROVENANCE™, it is the provenance itself, the volumes of records and stories that are tied to an item which are for sale (while the actual items remain protected and vaulted in PROVENANCE™ deep storage). Recently a gum wrapper from a piece chewed by Saddam Hussein was sold and bought for $14 million.

Practicalities:

Fleakend is held on the second weekend of each month. While most vendors accept credit and debit cards, some still run on a solely cash basis.


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