Rifling through someone’s old stuff on a quest to find something worth your while can be tiring—and discouraging—but once you discover that one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime find among all of the cast-aside clutter, it all suddenly becomes worth it. West Alabama residents and visitors will have 502-miles worth of opportunity to find the treasures they’ve been looking for (or that they didn’t know they needed) this weekend during the Highway 11 Antique Alley May 18-21.
This annual event involves roadside sales across a 502-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 11. U.S. Highway 11, called an “antique” in its own right, is a route that stretches from the southernmost tip of Louisiana to New York State. The Highway 11 Antique Alley sale starts in Meridian, Mississippi and runs northeast along Highway 11 through Birmingham, Alabama; Dade County, Georgia; Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tennessee and up to Bristol, Virginia. As part of the Highway 11 Antique Alley weekend, each town and county along the route celebrates in its own way with festivals, antique sales, flea markets, yard sales, carnivals and other activities.
The idea for the cross-state event was a collaboration among Chamber of Commerce directors from towns and counties along the Highway 11 corridor known as the Antique Alley Association. In its first year, the association had a goal of attracting 10,000 visitors. Exceeding its expectations, the Highway 11 Antique Alley event brought in more than 30,000 people through a three-day period. Adding miles over the years, the sale has since been expanded to encompass four days of road tripping, yard sale searching and antique hunting across the southeast.
In addition to looking for interesting items to take home, the Highway 11 Antique Alley is also an opportunity to explore the culture of the Heart of Dixie and Tennessee Valley. Participants are invited to shop, eat, meet the locals and enjoy the scenery along the way.
Locally, booths will be set up in Cuba in the Old McElroy parking lot at the intersection of Highways 80 and 11 and in downtown Livingston along Highway 11. For more information about the event, including how you can set up a booth, visit www.sumteralchamber.com, or www.us11antiquealley.com!
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