Hitting the Highways On the Hunt

Hitting the Highways On the Hunt

(photo credit: Facebook.com/127Sale)

It’s that time of the year again when highway yard sales beckon. Many of us who love antiques have mixed feelings about them. The traffic can be rough. Cars will stop in front of you without warning even when they don’t have that “I Brake for Yard Sales” bumper sticker. Parking at the side of the road or in fields can be a challenge. And there’s so much stuff! “Stuff fatigue” and indecision can set in pretty fast.

But, oh my, we can’t help ourselves! After you’ve been to a few of them you know that some super bargains may exist in the oddest places or you may be able to find something that speaks to you of your past. Besides, it’s an adventure, a time to meet very nice and some very interesting people. It’s a part of Americana that harkens back to the old Market Days of times gone by.

It’s also a time when we need a game plan, a strategy.

Our own strategy involves spending more time at areas between main highway access points and where there’s a low to medium number of vendors. We have a particular fondness for areas around churches or firehouses where fees go to non-profits. As always, we head to the booths and tents in the back and in the corners. We also don’t buy anything that isn’t a really good bargain or that we don’t need. Last year, at the Highway 127 yard sale, we found a booth with good china and glassware on the grounds of a church near tiny Dunnville, Kentucky, south of Danville. One of our few purchases for the day was there, an antique English transferware comport at a very good price. The booth, operated by an Ohio dealer in an RV, was at the back of the cluster. To get to it we passed a tent with lovely but expensive Aladdin lamps, another selling old tools that were being purchased by Amish farmers, and more than one selling vintage odds and ends.

So, yes, we’ll be “on the road again” for some upcoming highway yard sales. We can’t resist the adventure!

Here are some that are coming up. We recommend that you check the websites for updated information before heading out…

We’re sure there are more around the country. They sound fascinating. Dusty will try to head to Eastern Ohio sometime during August 7-9 to check out what adventures the Lincoln Highway has to offer! It might be a good time for a trip to theMuseum of Ceramics in East Liverpool, too!

It only takes a sense of curiosity, maps or gps, the ability to keep your eyes on the road while hopefully having someone else pick the good spots to stop, cash, water & snacks, sunscreen, a hat & umbrella, a tape measure/book of marks/magnifying glass, old flat shoes, more cash, an empty trunk or back of an suv or pickup, the ability not to take yourself too seriously, and the ability to decide between “going on” and “turning back”. Hunts are always like that.
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