MOUNT VERNON — Carla Lowe of Mount Vernon, and her mother, Trudy McClintock of Shelby, are veteran flea marketers and yard salers. But seasoned as they are, they had never seen the likes of their first Highway 127 Corridor Sale, also known as The World’s Longest Yard Sale.
This year’s event was the 19th annual, held Aug. 3 to 6. The 450-mile-long sale begins in Covington, Ky., follows Highway 127 south to Chattanooga, Tenn., then switches to the Lookout Mountain Parkway, crosses the northwest corner of Georgia and ends in Gadsden, Ala., after changing highways a few more times.
The Fentress County Chamber of Commerce in Jamestown, Tenn., is the event’s headquarters and lays claim to originating the sale in 1987 when its county executive came up with the idea. According to chamber literature, he wanted to prove that the area’s back roads have much to offer visitors and that the interstate highway system is not the only means of travel available.
Residents who live along the highways participate but vendors come from far and wide to set up in parks and open lots. Shoppers arrive from all over the country, and from other countries, as well.
“We drove 1,100 miles,” said Lowe. “But we never got stuck in traffic jams. Highway 127 is four-lane and most people parked on the side of the road and walked.”
Although there were plenty of warning signs cautioning drivers to watch for pedestrians and slow down, the pair had a scary moment when a driver who motioned them to cross in front of his car moments earlier was rear-ended by a car traveling too fast. They were standing 6 feet away.
“It sounded like a bomb going off,” said Lowe. “We were a little shook up.”
But everything else about their adventure was perfect, including the weather.
“You’ve never met so many friendly people,” said McClintock. “They’d say, ‘Where are you from?’ and ‘How far did you come to get here?’”
Lowe’s favorite find was an 85-pound cast iron pig at the very first sale at which they stopped.
“I almost paid $100 for it,” she said.
“Our philosophy is, ‘If it’s meant to be yours, it will be there when you get back,’” McClintock explained.
Sure enough, the pig was marked down to $50 on Saturday and the sellers even loaded it for them.
Lowe’s best bargain was a J.W. Collector Club mini Longaberger basket for $40, which she values at $100.
McClintock’s best was an old fire truck peddle car, worth $250, for $25. Her favorite finds, however, were a McCoy bulldog cookie jar remembered from childhood and an old “Leo & Sons Barber Shop” sign with a pointing hand.
How did they decide who would snatch up an item they both coveted?
“We have a thing,” said McClintock, “that whoever sees it first has dibs on it.”
“We have the same taste but we know which one’s house needs it most,” added Lowe.
They drove McClintock’s husband’s 15-passenger van and “had it filled,” said McClintock. But for transportation between sales, they rode a red tandem bicycle from the 1960s.
The bike and its baskets adequately handled the load because, said Lowe, “We only bought what we knew we absolutely wanted.”
The shoppers were well prepared for their adventure, taking along flip-flops for comfortable walking and a cooler with water, pop and snacks. Plenty of vendor food was available but they didn’t partake of much because as McClintock explained: “You get to garagin’ and you forget to even eat.”
Their only regret about this year’s World’s Longest Yard Sale? Losing out on a 6-foot-5-inch suit of armor that they wanted but decided to wait on. When they returned that evening, the vendor was closed.
“Oh, well,” said McClintock, “there’s always next year.”
