A few years ago I got to go the “The World’s Longest Yardsale” and it was a great time.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the yard sale event. The US 127 Corridor Sale began in 1986. The route starts in covington, KY an runs south to Chattanooga, TN. From Chattanooga the route switches to the Lookout Mountain Parkway and continues to Gadsden, AL. The four day sale starts on the first Thursday in August.
There are over three hundred attractions along the route, providing entertainment for the family. Majestic hills, beautiful scenery, music, arts, crafts and bits of Civil War or Indian History can be explored long the way.
Going the world’s longest yard sale was my best friend’s idea. I had never heard of it before. She had seen it broadcast, most probably on HGTV, and thought it looked fun. She had a RV, so we loaded up my dachshunds and suitcases and took off to Kentucky. It was a grand adventure.
The “World’s Longest Yardsale” will be held on August 2-5, 2007. If you can’t make it in 2007, try for next year. In 2008 the Yard sale will run from August 7-10.
The headquarters for the sale are in Jamestown, Tennessee, at the Fentress County Chamber of Commerce. The world’s longest yard sale spans 630 miles and five states. While exact figures are not available, the sale has grown to be the biggest event of it’s kind.
Organizers of the event encourage vendors to sell antiques and oddities.
Driving along the corridor, travelers and bargain-hunters find all manners of yard sales. Folks along the corridor clean out their basements and sell stuff on the side of the road. The event attracts a fair amount of dealers now. The dealers set up shop in tents and canopies, usually grouped together along the route. There are secondhand treasures along the way and just plain junk.
We learned, talking to the vendors and people in the booths along the way, that the very best bargains are sold very early in the sale. Professional vendors hit the sales early and load up on bargain treasures to resell for a profit. Such is capitalism.
We had actually hit the sale on the second day, by the time we got there. We didn’t find anything that looked like a bargain treasure, not anything we needed anyway. There sure was a lot of interesting stuff though. There were antiques, musical instruments, folk art, crafts and more.
Shoppers should get ready for a leisurely drive. Sometimes the drive was way too leisurely, especially for a pair of northerners. Traffic along the route would slow to a crawl. Traffic can crawl for miles, especially when approaching a town. Vehicles were constantly pulling to the side and pulling back into traffic. There were also long stretches of road with no vendors, where the traffic moved moved normally. In the congested areas it is not always easy to find a parking place when you want one.
As long as you get used to the idea that there is no hurry, you can relax and enjoy the drive.Lovely scenery is visible along the way, particularly between towns, where there are tall trees and mountain roads.
Restrooms are few and far between along the route. Take advantage of them when you get the chance. I recall one lovely church near the beginning of our route, that had vendors in their parking lot, tents with the basic food groups (hot dogs and hamburgers), and clean restrooms that were open to the public. Other than that, restroom stops were confined to the few restaurants we stopped at along the way.
According to the official website, there were over 4,000 vendors set up along the route selling their goods last year. The vendors are a combination of private sellers and professional dealers.
When we covered the road trip, we were curious more that bargain shopping. We had set a goal of covering then entire route, which is really hard to do when traveling at a crawl and stopping to explore. We did manage to drive from Covington, KY to Gadsden, Ala. We stopped along the way at various yard sales in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. By the time be arrived in Gadsden, Alabama, the yard sale was winding down.
Experts recommend selecting a smaller section of the route and concentrating on it. Having traveled the whole route, this is very good advice. Bargain hunters can start at the north end and travel south, from the south end and travel north, of start somewhere in the middle and pick direction.
We stayed in the RV for overnight accommodations, which was really great for this type of trip. There were RV campgrounds along the route and we had no problems getting into a spot for the night, even without reservations. This was a few years ago though. It would probably be best to make advance reservations if t all possible.
Motels and bed and breakfast inns along the route do a brisk business. Some travelers book their motel rooms a year in advance. If accommodations along the way are tough to find, travelers may have success by going off the route, possibly by as much as 50 miles to find a place to sty.
We had a little more trouble finding a good meal when we wanted one. We didn’t find as many restaurants along the route as we had thought we would. For breakfast or lunch we would be really happy to find a pancake or waffle house. We were usually able to find someplace fairly nice for dinner, by getting slightly off the beaten path. I recommend bringing some snack items along to ward off hunger pains and low blood sugar.
While the RV was very comfortable and terrific for overnight accommodations, it was sometimes hard to find a parking space along the two lane route. Parking was tight. There were also tight curves in places. The brand new RV looked a little worse for wear at the end of the trip.
My friend did not make many purchases. I picked up a little more. My biggest purchase was a pair of wooden rocking chairs made by a Mennonite family selling from their truck on the roadside. The rockers were much bigger than they looked, and took up a lot of space in the RV. I actually ended up sleeping with the rockers on my bed.
The sale route runs from Covington, Kentucky to Gadsden, Alabama. the route is a bargain lovers pilgrimage. HGTV Cable television covers the yard sale route. enjoy the yard sale vicariously, from the comfort of your own sofa, as two experts meet junkers, antique collectors, flea marketeers, treasure seekers and collectors. HGTV will chronicle the best, the worst and the screwiest of the secondhand road trip.
The worlds longest yard sales is great fun for dedicated bargain hunters and curious onlookers. Bring some patience and have fun shopping.
