Lexington’s Colt Trolley posted a tweet early this morning, “Ride with us to the Farmers’ Market. 10 am to 1 pm ride the blue route, with a special Chevy Chase extension.”
Really? That sounded too good to be true, but a couple tweets confirmed it: “it’ll stop on the Buddy’s/Beer Trappe side of the street and turn at S. Ashland. No signs. Just wave him down. Driver is Stefan.”
Sure enough, a short time later, the trolley bell started clanging right around Chevy Chase Starbucks just before the trolley came ’round the bend at Buddy’s and turned onto Euclid.
How much? “Oh it’s free,” Stefan says as he places his hand over the coin box, “This ride doesn’t accept money.” What?
One family was already on board, and another got on at Euclid around Dominos. The trolley proceeded up S. Ashland to Main, and stopped just in front of the old courthouse at Farmers’ Market (about a five minute-trip), where more couples were awaiting pickup.
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| Stefan is uber-helpful and full of info |
For the 10-15 minute return trip home, the bell clangs loud enough and long enough for anyone to finish paying for their produce (today, for us, it was just tomato plants) and quickly get back on at Main.
There, another family climbs on because their “kids have never ridden the trolley before.” From there, the route proceeds all the way down Main to Jefferson (conveniently passing Stella’s, Nick Ryan’s, Grey Goose, and Wine Market [plus the Ace office], and then loops back the same way on Jefferson from Second Street. A few work-bound riders shuttled with us down Vine to the downtown hotels and then the transit center, where a confused student got on looking for her dorm. (Stefan dropped her at Woodland and Maxwell and pointed out the dorms visible from there.)
One rider said he’d heard that Council Member Bill Farmer said that the Farmers Market/Chevy Chase extension would be a once a month proposition, but this fantastic idea deserves a regular Saturday route, every Saturday, so shoppers can work this into the habit of their weekly routines. It doesn’t even have to be free (though that’s a nice touch). It’s not unusual to see dozens and dozens of Farmers’ Market regulars at the Chevy Chase Starbucks, and that corridor is a convenient pickup for all the nearby neighborhoods (Ashland Park, Hollywood/Mt. Vernon, Chevy Chase, and Woodland Park).
Because even though walking to Farmers’ Market from east or west downtown is a lovely stroll, the walk home hauling a week’s worth of groceries isn’t nearly as appetizing. This will really be significant once the watermelons and tomatoes and corn and the rest of the heavy produce hits.
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