Holy Cow! Elle and I just got back from 12 hours of garage sale bliss on the 127 garage sale. We found some AMAZING stuff incredibly cheap...and it was crazy! What an adventure! In case ya'll don't know...the 127 sale is "the world's biggest garage sale"...it's an annual event that runs along US 127 from Michigan to Alabama! 690 miles of everything you can think of...like a flea market on steroids! Furniture, antiques, kid's stuff, household stuff, collectables, you name it. I saw everything being sold...from guns, to fancy live chickens, to books, video games, plants, old toys, clothes, craft stuff, crazy stuff, gorgeous stuff, fun stuff....It was a blast! My best girlfriend and her hubby do it every year, and every year Elle and I are envious...cause who doesn't like a sale? LOL. So this year, Elle and I took a ride down to Oxford, OH, stayed the night at a cheap motel, got outta there at 7AM and hit the garage sales! Among the weirder things that happened.... *We got lost on a detour and ended up in an Amish neighborhood! A whole wagon load of adorable Amish kids (and their one sheep!) waved to us *We had a PONY zip out in the road in front of us, pulled over, and captured him for the worried family. *We saw a man on a motorcycle get hit by a car outside Greenville. Thank goodness he seemed to have minor injuries, but it was terrifying to witness. The sales on the 127 are like bizarre tent cities set up in fields...dozens, and sometimes hundreds of people peddling their wares. Sometimes, at the bigger places, there are food trucks selling carnival food. A lot of places have port-a-potties. Talk about hard core garage sales! My girlfriend hit the sales in Tennessee and Kentucky...she said it was crazy busy down there..TONS of stuff. Elle and I thought it would take all day to do 250 miles. We only got about 50 miles done and ran out of time. Would have stayed another night and hit them again tomorrow if our car wasn't jam packed with loot! We barely scratched the surface, too...only went to the bigger places...missed hundreds of smaller sales. If you live anywhere near the 127...even if it's a couple hours drive for you...it is SO worth it! They'll be on all day tomorrow and many will go into the weekend, too. Good Luck!
Word of advice: Pay attention when you're driving. People are driving crazy and are too busy looking at the sales...drive defensively, and slow down. If you've got kids with you, don't park on the side of the road on the 127....lot of people do, but it just isn't safe. There are many places with parking where you can pull in off the road. (and you won't miss the sales that don't have parking...there are SO MANY!) Drink lots of water and wear a hat and sunscreen Enjoy!
That sounds like something we would enjoy, but probably will never do... but sounds like SO much fun!
Was an absolute blast We found: An astounding rock collection...huge beautiful specimens. Elle is in her glory researching them all today. A brand new "The Company Store" white goose down comforter given to a women as a wedding gift years ago who has allergies and could never use it. Still in original packaging with a $480 price tag...and we got it for $15!!! Smells great and looks beautiful. She said she never had it out of the package, and I believe her...still looks machine folded. Shook it out today and it's perfect. Figured for $15 it was worth the gamble...paid off A floor length insulated cloak with a hood! LOL. Red with sheep fur trim, really beautiful. Elle loves going to Renaissance faires and fell in love with it...she swears she'll wear it in public. LOL. Two deer head taxidermies...a doe and a buck. Gorgeous work...the eyes are perfect with the lashes perserved....really beautiful pieces. I'm not into dead animals on my wall....but I figured Hubby might like them in his office. Very much like two that hubby had in his childhood home. He was thrilled to get them. Got a great deal! Antique milking stool that looks amazing on my front porch. It has carved feet! Gorgeous antique rocking horse that I'm going to repaint Native American. Will make a wonderful project. Plan to replace the mane and tail and do some repairs, too....will be amazing when I'm done Found tons of toys and clothes and books for the little cousins. Some beautiful stuff. Found a whole box of English riding gear for one of the cousins who has taken up huntseat riding. Found an antique sewing box for my mom...one of the wooden ones that folds out into tiers...very pretty woodwork. She loves it! Tons of odds and ends. We kinda hit the motherload. LOL!
Oh how I wish I lived close to that sale. I would LOVE to go just to see what they had! LOVE ME A GOOD SALE
It's unbelievable, Mommi. Great place to find bargains and do some pretty entertaining people watching. I really didn't expect the HUGE ones. Fields along the side of the road turned into huge flea markets with hundreds of vendors. Definitely didn't expect the food and toilets! LOL....have yourself an elephant ear and browse! One of the funniest things I saw....was an Amish teen girl sitting at an Amish baked goods booth, looking miserable....completely absorbed in her cell phone! People love to haggle on the prices, too. It's sort of expected. They tell you a price, you counter, they counter back...and you have a sale. Some stuff was priced way too low to haggle over, though....I was shocked at the prices. The lady with the deer heads....I asked her how much they were....and she said $100. I thought that was really low....you can't pick a nice one up on Ebay for less than $300. So I said...Each? (expecting her to say, Yes) I still felt pretty good about that price. She says, "Well I'd like to sell them as a set." (they kinda match and they look fantastic together) So I'm a little crestfallen...because I only wanted to buy one....but I'm still kinda mulling over if I want to spend $200...cause they really are gorgeous) She's watching me doing mental math and checking my purse...and she says, "Well, hon, I'd give them to you for $75" And I'm kinda shocked...she said "them"....so I'm trying to clarify....and I go, "$75 for the pair of them?" And she says, "That's the best I can do today. Come back tomorrow and offer me $50. I'm gonna ask $100 and come down to $75 today. If no one else has bought them for $75, they're yours tomorrow for $50." I'm stunned and say...No, no, $75 is great!.....and took them both. Still can't believe my good luck You can get SERIOUS bargains there. Folks who don't want to haul it all home. People do trades. It's pretty crazy! My friend says the prices in Tennessee and Alabama are rock bottom, and they have a lot of interesting old stuff from forgotten corners of barns. Really cool stuff. She saw some people from the TV show "American Pickers" at some of the sales there buying up a truck load and doing some filming. Had it go the other way, too...lol. I saw this really cool dress length light cotton jacket, but it looked old and had a couple of spots. I asked how much it was and the woman gave me a song and dance about it being from a designer in California, and how could she put a price on it? LOL! So, I said...So, it's not for sale? And she said, how about $40? And I was like....thanks anyway. (I would have paid UP TO $5 for it given the spots, would have used it as a painting smock) I didn't want to insult her and just said...ah, no, it's out of my price range, thanks. But seriously...it HAD SPOTS! LOL!
