Adventures on the 127 yard sale: Day 1: Frankfort to Danville

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.

Our first day was a bit of a wash… we found some great items but it was definitely different from past years.

I’m sure it had to do with a storm that was slowly approaching the area. We were tracking the storm since we hit New Mexico and were five days away from reaching the sale. I decided to order us ponchos and rain boots on Amazon and had them delivered to the Brown Hotel. I cannot tell you how thankful we were that I had done that because this is what my weather app told me as we were heading to day 1 of the sale:

But before we headed into the rain, we decided to visit our favorite spot in Frankfort to get some energy in the form of Cajun Omelettes and beer (for me–hey I’m on vacation!) at Rick’s White Light Diner. We had gone the afternoon before after our Buffalo Trace adventure but decided to go again after we saw the diner on Diners, Drive-in and Drives later that evening in our hotel room. Rick was there the following morning and was in perfect form as chatted about the “circus tonight” AKA the political debate, his latest venture—a food truck, and inquiring about California and our lives there.

By the time we left, it was full-on pouring making our first stop a figurative and literal wash—most vendors were waiting out the storm and had their booths closed. Lucky for us, our next stop was the convention center that had about 80 vendors indoors. We discovered this location two years ago and always found great deals there and this year was no exception. I managed to buy a number of bar sets there.

The rest of the day proved little success. One of our favorite stops was covered in mud and there were only a small handful of vendors willing to be open in the rain—you can’t blame them. I did manage to score a great vintage percolator…yes I have one already but one can never have too much hot coffee or tea when having friends over for brunch.

One of the bright sides of having our shopping cut off early was that we were able to spend more time in Danville and we got to visit a distillery that we missed last year. Wilderness Trail Distillery is a new distillery a few blocks outside of downtown that makes bourbon. However, while their bourbon is aging (which takes several years), they produce rum and vodka. We met with the staff and got a quick tour, tasted some samples and of course bought some bottles to bring home…I think our car can double as a small liquor store right now!

After Wilderness Trail Distillery (based on their recommendation and a Google search) we ended up having an early dinner at Cue on Main. I don’t know what else to say but OH MY GOD. This place is a gem and you definitely need to make this a pit-stop or dinner stop if you are in the area. Many of their ingredients are from the owner’s garden, from the mint in your mojito (made with Wilderness spirits to boot!) to the zucchini bread. One of our appetizers were these life-changing fried pimento cheese balls and if anyone out there that has a food stand at the Orange County Fair- GET ON THIS!!!!

So even though it rained, it was a pretty great day and according to the forecast, the rain is over!

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• The Quality Inn in Danville is not the best hotel (although staff was friendly). Our room was a smoking room so if you are not into that smell, I would suggest finding a different hotel.
• Cue on Main: Even if you are just passing through GO to this place. Excellent food, service and drinks. I dare say that this place and Rick’s will be the best food we will have on the 127 and for sure both are on top of the entire trip.
• Don’t forget to go to Liquor Mart, the drive-though liquor store. Pretty good selection and probably the last area to purchase any cocktails if you want to have one in your room after a long day.
• Track the weather a week out from the sale. I used the app Living Earth to find hour-by-hour information.
• Do yourself a favor and prepare for the weather—having rain boots (even though they took up valuable space) is worth it. It takes days for the mud to dry up and I was able to walk everywhere without thinking twice.

FINDS OF THE DAY:

• A set of three Seagram’s Gin cocktail glasses.
• Mini bottle/wine opener key chain
• Lots of rum!
• A vintage percolator that will be awesome for having people over for bunch or for long work days where I drink tea all day.

XXOO- Delilah