Northern Alabama

Our next MMAP project is in Talladega, Alabama, about a four hour drive from home.  It is close to Anniston, where I was working with the youth group from church (see July blog).

 Alabama is so close, but we have spent little time there, and have seen very little of it.  So I decided we needed a little vacation on the way. When I did some searching for campgrounds, I found Point Mallard in Decatur.  Over the Labor Day weekend,  Civil War Re-enactors were going to be there.  So we left a week early so we could be there at the same time.  It was a beautiful park, with the Tennessee River bordering it.

We visited the encampment, where they had several demonstrations,

joined the ladies tea (and even won a drawing and received a pint of home made Muscadine Jam!) at the open air chapel

and watched the re-enactment of the October 26-29, 1864, battle at Decatur.

On this day, the confederates won the battle....

and at the end, both sides saluted all fallen soldiers, from all wars, with 21 guns.

                       
                        We attended Sunday morning service, conducted by the                 re-enactors, at the open air chapel at the park.

The songs we sang were from the confederate songbook; accompanied by two violins and a cello; and the preacher had a good old-fashion sermon!

When we disconnected the jeep, it was making a high pitched squeal from the rear left tire.  But Friday afternoon of a three day weekend is the worst time to find an available mechanic!  I talked to the service manager at a local Jeep dealership who told me they were open on Monday, but had a full day of work already, but he would listen to the noise to determine if it was something major or not, and if needed, they could work on it on Tuesday.  We decided not to drive it around, but just sat and relaxed at the park the whole weekend.  With the activities going on, it was nice not to leave anyway.  Monday morning we took it in (and of course it did not sound as bad as the first day) and they drove it and told us it was dust from the road that accumulated and crystalized, and after a while it would subside!  (And it had!)  We do hear it a little once in a while still, but at least feel like we can drive it!  They didn’t even charge us for their time.

Monday afternoon we left the mid state area and headed east.  On the way, we stopped at the Unclaimed  Baggage Center in Scottsboro.  A very interesting place!   It was very large, and very crowded!  We were amazed at what they had in there!  Some of it is from unclaimed freight as well as personal luggage and belongings. 

We spent the rest of the week at DeSoto Sate Park, located on Lookout Mountain.  I thought the majority of Lookout Mountain was in Tennessee, but 80% of it is in Alabama.  We really enjoyed the cooler, low 70’s temperature!!

On Tuesday we drove along the Little River Canyon Rim Road, 700 foot above the river.  This rift is a National Park canyon area, and is the deepest east of the Mississippi.

Besides taking some short hikes, we stopped at turnouts to capture the magnificent views of Little River Falls,

including view from the top loooking down the river,

and from the north side, looking up the river, 

and Grace’s High Fall, a seasonal waterfall, and Alabama’s highest waterfall,

and the river far below.

Birds flew out from the cliff below us,

and Mushroom Rock in the middle of the road.....about 30 foot high!

On the way back, we drove through Dogtown. Besides old buildings like this,  

on three different occasions within a few miles, groups of dogs were just meandering down the middle of the road.  They knew they owned the road, and there was no question in our mind where the name originated!

We also stumbled across the BBQ Place.  It was a very small cafe, but super busy.... found out why!  Great food, including the batter covered fried potatoes called JoJo’s which were fantastic!  Found out they are on the list of 100 dishes in Alabama to eat before you die!  

Wednesday we checked out a small town called Mentone.  Paul’s uncle and aunt live in Mentone, CA, so we had to check it out.   

On the way, we stopped to see the DeSoto Falls.

We stopped at Miracle Pottery, just to check out the unique pottery (no pics allowed), and stopped at the Sallie Howard Memorial Chapel

It was built by Colonel Milford Howard as a memorial to his wife, around a huge boulder.  

Thursday I promised Paul he did not have to go anywhere.  But close to the campground, we did take a walk on a trail to check out the Civilian Conservation Corp Quarry 
(Paul's idea, really!).

The park was developed by the CCC during the 1930’s, and it is evident that a lot of the buildings in the park were built with rocks mined here!

Miles of exploring, three books read by Paul, one by me (almost!), and vacation is over.  Time to report to the project!