Marie and Glen Cypher, from Gainesville, Ga., shop at a yard sale along U.S. Highway 127 in Sequatchie County, Tenn., during the World’s Longest Yard Sale on Saturday. The annual yard sale began in 1987 and spans more than 600 miles along the highway.PIKEVILLE, Tenn. – A minivan roars up the two-lane Highway 127 bypass with used tires bungeed to its roof. At one of hundreds of impromptu roadside bazaars between Chattanooga and Pikeville alone, there is a gold scale, which works, of course, that is going for $150 flat.
Next to it, a proud Pekingese poses, captured in time by oil on canvas. Why someone had his dog’s portrait painted is irrelevant. It’s framed and looking for a new home at $25.
This is an August tradition. It’s four days of foraging, wheeling, dealing and fighting for a parking spot along U.S. 127, home of the World’s Longest Yard Sale, a 609-mile rummage sale from Michigan to Alabama, littered with junk and treasures.
“Anybody down here have a used radio for sale?” one vendor yelled over the buzz of traffic and chatter along the highway Saturday.
“Not anymore,” Richard Walker replied. “We sold it yesterday.”