The World’s Longest Yard Sale: Pickin’ Adventures

The World’s Longest Yard Sale brought us through three states and breathtaking country sides.  We traveled even farther this year into Tennessee and could have made it to Kentucky if we had a little more time.  The thing I love most about The World’s Longest Yard Sale is visiting and supporting small towns and exploring places you may not ever visit if it weren’t for the sales!  People come from all over to sell or to buy each year, and it’s fun to meet them and we have certain houses, shops and restaurants that we stop at each year.  For us, this has become a tradition that we look forward to each year!

I’m teaming up with Jackie and Liz again today and this time it’s all about yard sales or thrift store finds!

I filmed stories each day during the trip about our adventure and it’s saved in my highlights titled “WLYS 2019” if you want to check it out on Instagram.  You guys voted for me to go live in a poll I did in stories, so I did because I love ya!  My socially awkward self went live twice – and while the first one was waaayyy awkward – the second one I thought went well.  So, let me take you along on our 2019 adventures of The World’s Longest Yard Sale!

Day 1: Gadsden, AL to Signal Mountain, Tennessee

Gadsden, AL – Noccalulla Falls

The starting point of The World’s Longest Yard Sale is in Gadsden, AL at Noccalula Falls.  We drove up the first day and had a late start to the sales this year – but that didn’t stop us from finding great treasures in Gadsden!  We actually did really well there this year at a couple of the houses around in Gadsden.  Find the Old Teele Young Barn, which is a few blocks away from Noccalula {there’s a Methodist church nearby} and there are a lot of houses around there that will have yard sales.

Tip: Follow the traffic – because that’s probably where the good sales will be.

The first purchase of the trip was a pair of vintage windows {like I needed more 😉 } for twenty bucks!  They will make an appearance on the blog later this summer.  Next, we ventured a block or two up towards the Old Teele Young Barn where we quickly found the most adorable purchase of the entire trip: a vintage red Radio Flyer tricycle for my nephew!  I also found a vintage amber Clorox bottle from the 1920s that I plan to use for the fall at the same house, so we made a deal with the sellers for both.

While Mr. Sweet Southern Oaks was loading up the Radio Flyer tricycle into the truck, I walked around.  Instantly, I spotted a pair of vintage Santa mugs – a dollar for the pair.  So, hubby had the cash and I had to hang around the table, hoping nobody snatched up the mugs before he came back.  I actually felt bad only paying a dollar for the vintage Santa mugs, because the ones I’ve seen at antique stores are expensive. After that we walked around a little longer then hopped onto the interstate and headed North towards Chattanooga.  You may remember that we took the scenic route on Lookout Mountain last year into Fort Payne and Mentone.  We decided to skip it this time because we didn’t have much luck last year.

WLYS Tip:

It’s best to always have a plan of the places you will stop, the area you want to cover each day and stick to a schedule because there is so much to see.  This helps you to decide the route and you can have a plan in place on how long it will take to travel to each stop and it keeps you from wasting to much time in one area.  There will be places you don’t stop at and you’ll quickly start doing “drivebys” and if the sale looks promising, you stop.

Signal Mountain, TN

We made it to Signal Mountain after lunch and we spent the rest of the day there.  Picker’s Field, Mountain Top and Lone Oak Community Center are the major vendor stops in Signal Mountain.  The major stops are “tent cities”, so a lot of times these are dealers and you may pay antique prices.  However, use the major stops to plan your route because houses along 127 will have their own sales at yard sale prices.  The tent cities may have higher prices, but we do find unique treasures and great deals there each year.  Plus if you’re looking for something specific, vintage or antique, the tent cities are the best places to find what you’re looking for!  We always stop at the house with the aqua VW to buy World’s Longest Yard Sale t-shirts in Signal Mountain.  I also picked up some more vintage amber bottles there this year.

We headed up a little into Picker’s Field and bought a few baskets to create a basket wall.  At Mountain Top I debated on buying some corbels… you guys know I love architectural salvage… but I decided against them.

Why? Who knows.  Maybe the heat got to my head and convinced me not to buy them. 😉  Always buy the corbels, k?  By the time we got to Lone Oak Community Center most of the vendors were closing down for the night, so with that we drove into Chattanooga, checked into our hotel and went to get tacos at Taconooga.

Day 2: Dunlap, Crossville and Clarkrange, TN

On Friday morning we woke up early and drove further north.  Our goal was to to do Dunlap and Pikeville, TN in the morning and make it to Crossville and Clarkrange, TN in the afternoon.  We found a barn sale in Dunlap, but no finds there. We went a little farther, somewhere along 127, between Dunlap and Pikeville, there was a historic house that had been turned into a cute antique store with lots of sales going on!  If you saw my stories, you know that I fell in love with this beautiful antique door original to the house at that store…. and a vendor had a pair of similar antique doors.  Oh my historic house, architectural salvage, old door lovin’ heart squealed with excitement when we first (well, really Mr. SSO) spotted the doors!  Man oh man, we were going to buy at least one of the doors.  After all, it was fate…

The Antique Doors

Now, these are antique doors and were very unique, so we were prepare to spend a little more than usual.  We’re thinking between $300- $500 for one door, but we were going to buy it! We both knew the door would complete our purchases because we’d probably spend the rest of the cash buying the most beautiful antique door!

I know, that sounds crazy to think we would spend that much on a door – but this wasn’t any old door.  This is a grand antique door with custom, hand carved patterns and ornate detail.  We knew that very door would go on our future farmhouse fixer upper and that this was the time to buy the grandest door I’d ever seen.  So while I guarded the door from anyone else snatching her up, Mr. Sweet Southern Oaks finds out the price of the door.

Mr. Sweet Southern Oaks walked back to me, his eyes met mine, and I instantly knew that we weren’t getting the door.  Alas, my heart was broken and it was destined to become one of those pieces that got away, but will always wish I had.  Do you know how much the seller wanted for ONE of the doors?!

$2,500 for one door!  That’s like two thousand more than what we were planning to spend.  So with that, the seller should just pack those doors back up and go try to sell them somewhere else.

We had spent the morning pickin’ with no luck and a little broken hearted because of this door.  We bought a desk that worked perfect for a friend of mine and got it for a great price.  Next year we will probably skip Dunlap and Pikeville, but you never know.  I mean, what if the doors are waiting for me there next year (at a better price)!  😉

Crossville and Clarkrange, TN

From there we drove further up 127 and headed into Crossville.  Lots of sales were going on there from tent cities to houses filled with unique pieces.  There was even a vintage fire truck turned into an ice cream truck in the middle of the sales!  So cute!

In Crossville, I went live again and showed y’all around the sales.  Walking, talking, holding a phone and carrying on a conversation, reading responses and looking for finds (all while looking totally normal! 😉 ) was hard enough to do, so I didn’t get many pictures around here!  In Crossville we snagged a vintage typewriter and a vintage mantel.

From there we hopped back on the interstate and headed to Clarkrange, which was about 30 minutes from Crossville.  It was bumper to bumper on 127 and they say Clarkrange is one of the best stops in Tennessee.  We got to the first major stop in Clarkrange and bought some vintage spindles for three bucks a piece!  I know they will add texture and dimension to flatlays and vignettes.

A huge thunderstorm rolled in and the vendors quickly started to cover and pack up their stuff. We sat in the truck for a little bit hoping the thunderstorms would stop, but it didn’t.  A little farther up 127 we went to look for a general store someone told me about on Instagram.

The Cumberland Mtn. General Store

The Cumberland General Store was really just a darling antique store with the cutest ’50s style diner in the back.  I got a caramel milkshake and this will be our stop for lunch next year!  We didn’t get to really pick in Clarkrange because of the thunderstorms, but next year we know to factor in more time at this location.  Plus we know it’s close to Kentucky!  From there we headed back to Chattanooga and got supper at Sticky Fingers.

The next day we got brunch at Maple Street Biscuit Company before heading back home.  And with that, another road trip at The World’s Longest Yard Sale came to a close.  Each year we go a little farther North and next year we plan to make it into Kentucky!  Don’t forget, you can check out my highlights {WLYS 2019} from this year and mark your calendar for next year!  The World’s Longest Yard Sale is always the first weekend in August (Thursday – Sunday).

The World’s Longest Yard Sale 2018 Series:

• The Pros Guide to Yard Sales
• What to Bring to The World’s Longest Yard Sale
• Pickin’ at The World’s Longest Yard Sale {Day 1}
• Pickin’ at The World’s Longest Yard Sale {Day 2}

Now, let’s check out what Jackie and Liz are sharing this week!

Jackie at Jackie Can’t Blog: Thrifting with the Ladies

Liz at Living with Liz: Night Stand Up-cycle

Chat with me in the comments or connect with me on social media!  Use the hashtag #sweetsouthernoaks on Instagram to share inspiration from the blog. As always, feel free to find me on Facebook or Instagram. I’d love to chat with you about all things home décor! You can also pin with me on Pinterest for even more inspiration for home décor, recipes and more!