The Granddaddy Of All Yard Sales

Hwy 127 corridor is the Granddaddy of all yard sales. While headquartered in Jamestown Tennessee, the actual sale starts in Gadsen Alabama and runs clear through to Cincinnati Ohio. 630 miles and 5 states of nothing but yard sales. Its a yard salers paradise. The sale is held once a year and runs for 4 days only from Thursday August 2 to Sunday August 5 (2007) so you have a lot of ground to cover if you want to see it all. Bring a truck, bring a trailer, better yet rent an old greyhound buss or an RV. You'll have a ball plus you'll come home with more stuff than you have a place to put it. Every true yard saler should make this pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime.

Friday July 20

Had to go out of town today to pick up an old engine, since it was friday I decided I'd see what the yard sale situation was like in that town. Going only by the signs I saw on the road, I found 7 different sales all in the same area. There were some good deals at a couple of them. I saw a 32 inch tv for 20 bucks (I already have 3 so didnt need another one)then there was a nice dresser for 25 but since I had a motor sliding around in the back of the truck, I passed it up. On the final yard sale I hit the jackpot. I pulled up and there out front was a pile of stuff with a big FREE sign stuck up in front of it. There was a mens 15 speed mountain bike in good condition, a working hoover vacuum cleaner, and a brand new set of kitchen shelves complete with drawers. I asked the lady if I could have it all and she said she was glad to get rid of it and to take all I wanted. I tied the motor down with a rope and jammed it all in the back of the truck and went home happy. That was one of the better ones.

Disappointments

If you're like me and take your yard sales seriously, you're going to have a few "the one that got away stories". As I said before what I mainly look for is tools, and twice in the past month I have had 2 such instances where a tool I had been looking for was bought moments before I got there. The first one was a table top band saw which costs 120 bucks in stores sold for 25 dollars along with its sister tool a combination belt and disk sander also 25 dollars. A lady in front of me bought them both as I was walking up to them. The other instance was a brass oxy-acetylene torch that sold for 5 bucks.Had I been there just 2 min. earlier I could have walked away with some nice deals. When something like that happens, it ruins the whole sale for me and I promptly leave and go looking elsewhere rather than walk around giving the lucky owners dark looks out of the corner of my eyes. You'll have days like this if you are looking for specific items. Its almost like getting up Christmas morning and finding clothes under the tree rather than the toy you wanted.