26 posts and no one has asked the most important question yet. Which show has the better hotels?

York is in the same situation with the outdoor flea market. It's odd, everyone says they want an outdoor flea market but when they are given a choice, most people take the inside flea market spots. I assume having rain on the York show weekend for 5 or 6 years in a row has something to do with that.

The fairgrounds had multiple issues with the outdoor grilling. The open flame near their building was one but another was the liability of what happens if someone would get sick from one of the burgers. The odds of that happening are remote but it is a completely valid concern. Every organization nowadays fears lawsuits. Technically according to their rules you could still do the tailgating thing if you used some sort of grill that didn't have an open flame, allowed the PA health dept to inspect and approve your kitchen, carried a million dollars in liability insurance and had approval from the Fairgrounds.

As has already been pointed out, flea markets in general have been in decline. The old time operators sitting on large stashes are almost all gone. 20 years ago the flea markets and the back of magazines like Pingame journal were the only places to find the oddball part and there weren't people reproducing parts. Nowadays, you can fire up Ebay and find almost any part.