A very hearty Monday morning to you all. We enjoyed another great weekend in the neighborhood although it was full of high temps and humidity. Hopefully you found a cool spot to relax!
This weekend I took a day and headed up Highway 127 to travel a portion of the World’s Longest Yard Sale. The annual event takes place the first weekend of August and is basically what it is titled: A yard sale that extends 700 miles from Alabama to Michigan and for the most part follows Highway 127 from Gadsden, Al. to Addison, MI. The yard sale was started in 1987 by Mike Walker, a Fentress County executive to encourage travelers to get off the interstates and take advantage of the scenic routes and city’s that are being by-pasted. Along the route you will find everything from family yard sales to sites hosting professional vendors selling everything from clothes to antiques. It is a junk collectors dream come true.
Given the distance the sale covers your hardest decision may be how long you are going to spend on the trail, where to start and where you might find the best deals. For season shoppers, you get to know where the best vendors set up their tents but that in no ways means you aren’t going to find some real treasures along the way at the “home sales!” We stared out by stopping in Mentone, AL and proceeded to head up Signal Mountain to Chattanooga and then dropped down to Dunlap, TN picking up the 127 trail and ended up in Pikeville, TN realizing that our one day trip was coming to a close with the setting sun.
Whether you are a serious collector or a browser there is something for everyone. The better part of the trip may be the people watching and eating the local food being offered in a festival like setting. The day started out slow ands basically we finished the day in Pikeville finding the mother-load of locations with vendors selling everything from hand-me-down clothes to tools to antique toys and peddle cars. From a people watching stand point we can across a vendor site where a lady of substantial curves was showing off a miniature burro, a kangaroo and a set of monkeys. Like I said, something to be had for everyone.
Exhausted from the day and heat we finally decided that it was time to point our car south and enjoy much of the scenic drive that Highway 127 had to offer on the back roads of Tennessee. We did not spend a lot of money, but we had the best time talking with vendors and bartering for the the few items we did feel inclined to have to bring home. Although we did not fill the car up we did come away with some priceless memories. Many thanks to Laura, Edward and Adina for inviting me along. Start making your plans now for for August 1 – 4, 2019 (http://www.127yardsale.com/)
Happy Hunting!!!!
