We Drove, We Shopped and We Survived (barley)!

Well, the adventures of the 2012 Longest Yard Sale are over.  It was a fantastic trip, one that I’m already planning on for next year.  Although I didn’t take as many pictures as I had planned or hoped to (cause I was busy looking and shopping), I did manage enough photos to give you a pretty good summary of our trip.  Sit back and enjoy the tour of my Longest Yard Sale Adventure.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Longest Yard Sale, it is one massive and long outdoor yard sale/flea market event that takes place the first weekend in August each year.  The sale route runs across the country from Gadsden, Alabama north to Addison, Michigan, a total of 690 miles!  The yard sale celebrated its 25th Anniversary this year and celebrations were found all along the route.

I don’t know if or how anyone could fully shop the entire route during the 4 day sale, but I’m sure there are people out there that have tried.  Donna from Funky Junk Interiors traveled from Canada and met up with a group of bloggers to travel as part of a GMC sponsored event.  They started in Michigan on Thursday and made it all the way to Gadsden by Saturday evening (whoo!) but I don’t know how often they were able to stop and shop along the route.  You can read all about Jenna’s yard sale trip and here experience being in the south for the first time here.

The hubs and I started our trip on Thursday by driving to Louisville, KY and staying the night with my brother.  The trip also gave me the opportunity to see my cute-as-pie nephew Derek before he heads off to his first year of college to play football and STUDY LOTS!!

 On Friday morning we made our way to Frankfort, KY and picked up the yard sale route there.  We were only on the route about 10 minutes before we made our first stop!  It was non-stop driving and shopping from there on out so without further a due, here are the pics of our trip with bits of commentary.

 There are really no fancy yard sale set-ups along the route, just lots of tented stalls, umbrellas and plastic tables.

 Just about every open area of countryside had a yard sale set-up.

 This is a view from the road of an area in Kentucky that was set up for the sale.  Many of the farmers rented out their proptery to sellers…a quick and easy way to make some cash!

See that white van in the front…that’s my goal for next year!

And, many of the vendor spots were free!

 There was lots of painted wood pieces for sale.  I suspect this seller makes these pieces themselves, especially since the heart theme was on just about every piece they had.

I loved this painted chest.  I was channeling Miss Mustard Seed when I saw it and imagined what she could do with this it.

 Not my style but there were lots of incredible handpainted pieces of art for sale at great prices.  This Mexican building scene was only $5.00 and would look great as part of an eclectic gallery wall.

These portraits were pretty cool and only $3.50 each.

 If buttons are your thing, there were lots to choose from..most in vintage mason jars.

 There were tons of metal road signs for sale.

 This signed stopped me in my tracks!  Tons of stuff (mostly good stuff)  for $1.00 each.  Needless to say this spot was hopping with shoppers.

 A staple in the vintage product arena, these soda crates were a great find at 2 or more for $8.00 each.  After seeing these the cheapest I saw crates was $15.00 a piece.

And, check out all those wood chairs in the background…all under $25 a piece! If you are into furniture refinishing this area was liking walking into heaven.

 I adore old vintage trunks and there were lots at good prices.  Well worn of course!

 Great bar cart or storage options for cheap!

 If I had room, I would definitely have purchased an old vintage bike.  Some even had cute wire baskets on the front.

 This booth selling beautiful purple glassware was inside a building with over 400 vendors.  I scored some good finds here.

 Vintage Corning bowls were everywhere!  This set was priced at $75.00, really overpriced in my book.

 Lots of retro vintage signs for $18 or less.  A collection of these in a basement game area would be so cool.

 I saw lots of furniture repurposing going on.  Soda crates were used to create this very unique drawer unit with a checker board top.

 This area was in Danville, Ky and was massive.  There was also a full fairgrounds barn to the left that was filled with vendors.

 I saw lots of these vintage oil bottles and most, like this one ($400) had a hefty price tag. Must be highly collectible.

 This was another fairground area in Liberty, KY that had over a 100 vendors.  Just so happened we were inside when a major rain shower hit.

 There were beautiful pieces of antique furniture at just about every stop.  Luckily this piece was inside a building and did not get exposed to the rain like so many pieces along the route.  It was so sad to see rain soaked wood chairs and tables!

 In between stops there was beautiful countryside and mountain views to take in.  Kentucky has such lush green pastures.

Day one we made our way from Kentucky to Crossville, TN were we bunked at a local hotel and rested up for another day of fun.

 

After leaving Crossville Saturday morning, we made our way through several shopping spots and ran into lots of traffic.

A view from the car of all the cars parked along the side of the road.  It was definitely slow going in some areas as cars were darting in an out.

We ran into some major rain showers along the route.  Some people took shelter and others just took it all in stride.  Being from the Seattle area and use to a lot of rain, the hubs and I really didn’t use our umbrellas a lot. {That’s why you aren’t seeing any pictures of me ’cause I looked like a drowned rat most of the trip.}

 One area we stopped at in Tennessee had some old wood buildings on the property.

  I spotted this antique gold leaf wall hanging for several hundred dollars.  I immediately called my mom who owns the exact same piece to see how much she paid for hers.  She bought the piece about 30 years ago in Washington State and thinks she paid around $30 for it.

All along the route even the country fire stations got in on the act!

 This tour bus was from Georgia carrying a load of shoppers.  We saw them along the route and the driver stopped at just about every major shopping area.  I know he must have been tired at the end of the day.

 Bathroom stops were few and far between and most were of the portable kind!

 Right outside Chattanooga we ran into several HGTV film crews filming the Longest Yard Sale special that will air in October.  The two women on the right were one of teams selected to be apart of the show and participate in the shopping challenges.

I never let y’all in on it, but a couple of months ago I was asked by the HGTV production company to submit a video for consideration for the show special but unfortunately was not selected! Maybe next year.

 I saw lots of items that reminded me of my childhood.  These cast iron cornbread pans were hot property and selling for between $25 and $40 each.

There were also lots of cast iron skillets for sale at a premium.  I saw one priced at $165.00!

 

 This was a regular scene…trucks loaded with furniture finds.  This tuck was driven by two women who obviously were on a mission.

 

  Just about anything you can image could be found at the sale.  This lovely metal pig BBQ grill was handcrafted and for sale for $475.00.  Something for everyone!

 I loved the large metal typography letters…rusted and antiqued.  $22 for the small and $40 for the large.

 Lots of seasonal items including these pumpkins.

And, a cool vintage Coca-Cola sign!

 In addition to lots of awesome vintage and antique items there were loads of food stalls selling your typical fair foods like funnel cake, corn on the cob, shaved ice and kettle corn.  It all made for a really festive atmosphere.

During our three-day trip we saw cars from all over the US including Texas, New York, Ohio, Mississippi, Michigan, Oklahoma and even Washington.

Because any and everyone could participate in the yard sale, there was also lots of authentic JUNK to be had.  Many people along the route just pulled stuff out of the garage and attic, laid down a tarp and had a sale. Not totally unexpected because after all the event is called The Longest Yard Sale!

After reaching Alabama late Saturday evening we made the decision to head on home and not go all the way to Gadsden.  We arrived home tired but filled with joy from our experience and lots of memories. The heat almost got the best of us but we survived!

  I’ve already starting thinking about next years trip and am planning a bigger and better event.

Come back tomorrow to see what I bought at the sale, tips I have for shopping the sale & the plans I have for the 2013 Longest Yard Sale.

Thanks for stopping by!

For more yard sale trip highlights, head over to my friend Tina’s blog, Encore Creations to read about her trip from Alabama to Tennessee!