World's Longest Yard Sale - 2012

How was your weekend, my friends? Our days were spent searching for treasures at the world's longest yard sale. Over 400 miles on the odometer later, I'm sad to say that we didn't come home with much, but had a good time nonetheless.

 Saturday's Route: Outskirts of Dunlap, TN driving north to Crossville, TN.

Pretty much the coolest gimmick for a typewriter ever:  This Royal Swinger typewriter has an AM radio built in! I wanted it. I mean, I really wanted it. Priced at a reasonable $100, and the dealer even said he'd come off that price, but I just couldn't make myself pull the trigger. 

One dealer had a lot of neat signs, pedal cars, and vintage sporting goods, but his prices were way high. The sweet Orange Krate Schwinn Stinger was $950. Yep.

 We parked in a cow pasture.

 Vintage women's clothing in a mobile store. Cute!

 Lunch was a really tasty cheeseburger & tots at Little Maggie's Cafe in Pikeville. This cute restaurant is owned by members of Mr. Cheese's family, and the building was built by Mr. Cheese's grandparents in 1947.

Sunday's Route: Lookout Mountain, TN driving south to Gadsden, AL. We had never driven this route before, and had no idea what to anticipate. For the first he first 40 or so miles we saw only about a dozen vendors set up. But then... 

 Things got a bit more exciting when we arrived in Mentone, Alabama - a cute artsy town.  I'd love to have visited this place on day one of the sale (Thursday).

 We took a wrong turn, which took us off the mountain, but it was a lovely (if accidental) side trip.

One thing that we spotted over and over in Alabama were vendors selling tires. This was the most sculptural tire display.

 Cute little old store - I cannot remember where in Alabama this was, but it was definitely rural.

Although the 2012 yard sale proved to be mostly just scenic driving, the hunt is always fun and it's an adventure to travel down new roads. The tentative plan for next year is to take the trek up north to the Ohio and Michigan leg, where the surely the midcentury treasures are easier to find.

Stay tuned for some exciting news this afternoon...