THE ULTIMATE MCKAY'S ROAD TRIP
WHEN A GENEROUS GIFT SPARKS AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
Greetings fellow travelers!
Let’s talk about a small chain of used bookstores called McKAY’s.
McKAY’s has a handful of locations sprinkled across North Carolina and Tennessee. The Nashville McKAY’s has always been a beloved destination for my peers and I during our college days, and remains so to this day. This year they celebrate 50 years of acquiring and selling previously loved books, records, films, and other forms of cherished media. To commemorate such a milestone, they invited everyone to partake in a little road trip.
July 9th. Drive 1,000+ miles. Visit all 5 McKAY’s. Collect 5 passport stamps. Collect $800.00 in McKAY’s store credit.
You read that right. $800.00 in store credit. That’s per person!
So, a group of friends and I answered the call and embarked on the journey. We drove to North Carolina on July 8th. We planned on heading to the Mebane, NC McKAY’s and work our way back to the Nashville location. Along the way we encountered some lovely sights, such as Pilot Mountain and Mount Airy, NC (the picturesque hometown of Andy Griffith). Our party settled at a lovely ranch-style AirBnB for the night and planned to start our Ultimate McKAY’s Road Trip early the next morning.
On the early morn of our grand journey, we quickly realized that it wouldn’t be smooth sailing. Thousands of eager adventurers had the same game plan we did. Far more people made the trip than we or even McKAY’s anticipated. Traffic around the Mebane location was nearly gridlocked. Crowd control and line coordination at the location was very minimal. We waited hours in line to get our first location stamp, only to be given two stamps and a t-shirt. We were told to skip the next location, which would be the McKAY’s in Winston-Salem, NC, and move straight ahead to the Tennessee locations. This was a sign that things would only continue to escalate as the McHorde moved west.
I won’t go into the details for the rest of the trip, because I slapped together a travel vlog for that exact purpose! Go check it out above or in one of the links below! We continued on our way and drove the entire distance. We parked near the Knoxville McKAY’s right after discovering it was shut down due to multiple participants being treated for heat-related illness. After that we went to the Chattanooga McKAY’s and waited in line for a couple of hours. As the sun began to set, we were given the full $800.00 in store credit regardless of how many stamps we had earned. Our journey reached its end, and we secured our sweet reward. We were overjoyed, and very tired.
This trip was hectic, and escalated far beyond anyone’s expectations. Because of that, I want to highlight how courteous McKAY’s was throughout the experience. While they were clearly overwhelmed by the massive turnout, they remained professional and adapted to the situation. They weren’t obligated to keep this huge promotion going. This small company could’ve easily shut the whole thing down once it became too much to handle. Yet, they pushed on and kept their word. They even made it as easy and accommodating as they could for those that partook. Participants originally needed to visit all five locations, but the stores were incredibly lenient. They allowed us to skip locations, extended store hours, and gave people more than they were required to. At the end of it, they undoubtedly lost millions of dollars in their venture, so I encourage anyone that can to continue supporting this beloved company!
I’d like to give special thanks to the McKAY’s Road Trip Facebook group for their community updates and funny topical memes. They kept our party on track and thoroughly entertained. Thank you to the law enforcement within Tennessee and North Carolina for managing those unexpected traffic jams. Lastly, thank you to my friends that planned our big trip and allowed me to tag along. It was a journey beyond our expectations, but will remain a cherished memory that has left us all a little richer (at all McKAY’s locations).
Thank you McKAY’s, and to the staff of all five locations for your kindness and adaptability in those overwhelming circumstances.
-SAM
“The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.”
- Ashley Montagu