Adventures on the 127 yard sale: Day 3: Albany to Crossville

Editor’s Note: This post is a part of our series on Delilah’s annual trip to the 127 yard sale. We’ll be back next week with DIY projects, recipes, inspiration and business tips. -Nicole S.

I don’t know if it was the time change or that I went to bed really early, but I woke up at 4:30am on Day three and tried to push the hubs to be out on the road at 7:30am. Now that I look back, I’m glad that I did that because we covered a lot of ground heading to Crossville (NOTE: Crossville is pronounced “Cross-vul”). The first objective was to see if I could get a discount on the German beer garden bench/table in the market outside our hotel that I noticed the day before. Unfortunately, I forgot my measuring tape (this will be on the checklist I create for future 127 trippers), I had washi tape that I ran the length of the back of the car and used that to see if it would fit. We were about 3-4 inches over but with the discount, we needed to Make It Work…and we did, although we were going to need to do some reorganizing later.

So off we went to Tennessee, which was about a 10-15 minute drive South. I am sorry to report that much of the northern part of Tennessee was more swap meet style—many of our regular stops came up short. The only stop that was not a bummer was Possum Trot located at Gunter 4926 that I talked about last year. I bought a few old mason jars that were unique but more importantly, we had a quick breakfast at Doris’ place where she recognized us!!!  She gave me her number so that we can call ahead and she can make her yummy Yellowjacket breakfast next year for us. Possum Trot has a few more tables since last time and she seemed to be doing well- GO DORIS!

After that we traveled for a while. Most of this region has zero cell phone reception and little on the finds. It seems like regular vendors that we saw on this part of the route had moved to other markets further South or maybe North—either way they were not in this stretch of the 127 sale.

This stretch I would say has three significant stops, the first of which is in South Fentress Community Park where I purchased four orange metal chairs. This stop is fantastic, there’s a large amount of vendors, more than the year before but parking is tough and now the weather is rain-free (awesome) but super humid with sun (YIKES!!). It’s a rough one and definitely no fun if you are carrying a few bags and four chairs…thank goodness for the air conditioner in the car!

We stopped three more times, visiting a market in Crossville that we would normally visit on Sunday but since we were two hours ahead of schedule since we started at 7:30am, we decided to add one more stop.  I also have a friend in Chattanooga that we are trying to have lunch with at the end of the sale, so eliminating a stop off the Sunday list will help us keep a good schedule as we head home.

I can’t believe we have only one day left!  The trip is almost over!!!

-XO Delilah

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• We always started at 9:30am but starting at 7:30am allowed us to cover more ground and do other things like repack the entire car. The downside is that we were a bit more tired.
• The northern part of Tennessee seems to be a lacking a little, plus bad cell phone reception. Next year we will be blasting through this part….with the exception of Possum Trot- LOVE DORIS!!!
• The Holiday Inn Express in Crossville is really nice and they are remodeling it too! A good stay although it is about two exits off 127.
• The last market we went to in the center of town is moving. I guess the property was sold so don’t expect it to be there in 2016.
• Peavine Wine & Spirits near the Crossville Holiday Inn Express might give you boxes if you need them—they are usually outside to the side. Great for last minute packing help.
• Cancun Mexican restaurant is great for dinner, we have been going there for five years and they have a 24 ounce margarita which is basically a Big Gulp.
• Bathrooms are few (port a potty’s at the large markets) really you only have Possum Trots and then Crossville.

FINDS OF THE DAY:

• German beer garden table + benches (!!!)
• 1960’s metal orange chairs, set of four
• Pink champagne glass set
• Cheap pie tins (two) that I had never seen before
• Seltzer bottle for a friend