Tales from the Highway

Highway 127, that is.  Home of the World's Largest Yard Sale!

I have been wanting to do a little part of it for ages now, so it's about time we made it happen.  The damn road comes within a half hour of Louisville, after all,  People from around here go ever year.

I really didn't want to get out in the traffic and crowds, so we headed to a large stop in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky that boasted over 400 vendors, indoors and out.  There honestly weren't anywhere near that many sellers, but we also went on Sunday.  I could see there being a lot more folks earlier in the week.

I wanted to get to a spot where I could do a lot of shopping, but also get some last day bargains.  I think that definitely happened.  Five minutes after we got there, I was hauling stuff to Mazda.  I really wanted to get several larger pieces, and limit the smalls to either items that I don't have any (or many) of or things that were way too cheap to pass up.  I did pretty good on both fronts.

This amazing rusty old trunk had all kinds of vintage papers in the bottom of it.  I'll have a little more on them later.

It also had four different price tags on it--one on top of the other--reflecting price changes throughout the sale.  The one of the bottom was for ten dollars.  On top of that was an eight dollar sticker.  Then a five dollar sticker.  Then a seven dollar sticker.  Yes, they went back up on the price again!  I don't know what that's about.  I offered five and they took it.

This chair and plant stand came from a woman who said that they had just put her mother-in-law in long term care and were selling her things.  She was distressed that she still had so many large items left, so I tried to help.

My school desk inventory has dwindled down to two, so I let myself get this puppy for five bucks.  It's one of the biggest and sturdiest I have ever found.  My big ole butt can fit in it!

And finally, the smalls.  There were dollar tables and quarter tables and free tables galore, and I was right there in the middle of them.

You know me and the Fisher Price toys.  Can't pass 'em by.  The tall one is called a "Tumble Tower."  You move the marbles from level to level by pulling and pushing on the levers.  My brother had one of these when he was very young.  I enjoyed playing with it too.

This was the only book I bought, believe it or not.

The bridle and bit were in the rusty trunk, along with the black ledger book.  Some of the pages are a little water damaged, but it's still cool.  That trunk yielded some of the best finds.  The small things are printer's blocks for photos.

I really don't need any bottles right now, but these were only a quarter each.  I know everyone likes to go for the older bottles that may have held medicine or liquor, but I have a real soft spot for every day consumer containers of useful products, particularly when they still have the labels.  I remember my mother using Dippity Do in a jar like that.  I was most tickled to get both a glss Bayer aspirin bottle and a glass St Joseph's aspirin bottle, with caps.  The stopper in the larger One-A-Day bottle is glass.  The white bottle with the pump is for Jergen's lotion.  My grandmother always had a bottle of that on her dresser.  I also got some smaller jars that I am keeping to put buttons and such in. 

I really liked wandering around and looking at all the goods for sale.  It reminded me of the roadside country flea markets I grew up with.  I've spent time at those kind of places with both my parents, my grandparents, and even my great grandparents.  Good memories.

The heat was just awful, as it has been most days here, with stifling humidity.  I'm glad we didn't plan on doing any more stops.  I'm not sure I could have taken it.  I was worn out by the time we got home from dealing with the heat.

I don't know that I'll ever be expanding my 127 shopping beyond that one stop.  I prefer my highway sales happen in cooler months, like the Highway 60 in October.  Nevertheless, a good time was had by all.