8 States
4 ½ Days
3,007 Miles
54 Hours and 20 minutes driving time
14 Restaurants
4 Bakeries
4 Ice cream shops
1 Soda fountain
Holiday weekend = Filling in The Map
Friday, September 4th, 2015
Founded as a railroad town in 1868, Sebree lies in a secluded area of western Kentucky.
The last time I was there Bell’s Drug Store closed. I watched the lady cut oranges and insert them into the antique lever operated squeezers to make Orangeade.
This citrus treat was refreshing on a 90 degree day.
Sebree Dairy Store’s parking lot was full so popped in for this pathetic attempt at a banana split. Where are the bananas?!
Breece’s Café has been a fixture of Centerville, Tennessee’s town square since 1939.
Look at that glorious pressed tin ceiling! The light fixtures! The old clock! And the cabinets along the left. It even smelled old.
Meat + 4 (this is the South!). Salmon Patty, Creamed Sweet Potatoes, Steamed Cabbage, Pickled Beets and Purple Hulled Peas.
There should be a Constitutional Amendment that you have to get pie in places like this. Cost for the whole meal? $8.38.
Saturday, September 5th, 2015
On the road by 5AM initiated the ritual of countryside and small town; repeat. Passed through Hamilton after sunrise.
The last time I rolled through Cullman it was late at night. And their bakery was closed.
The rumor that I sucked the cream cheese out of the center is a complete fabrication.
The courthouse in Ashville.
Gadsden’s inviting downtown is on a hill above the Coosa River.
Jacksonville’s town square has pennants for Jacksonville State University.
Anniston is a sprawling vibrant town with a fairly active downtown.
Wedowee straddles a boulevard with the ubiquitous in the South Confederate solider memorial.
Opelika is near the Georgia border.
Eufaula became my favorite town in Alabama.
Clio. All of it.
Luverne. Yeah, I know, the water tower told you that.
Sunday, September 6th, 2015
The presence of water increased near the gulf shore by Mobile.
Monday, September 7th, 2015Late on the night of December 1st, 2004 I parked the rental (it was a Benz) in a deserted downtown Selma and walked to the bridge where the civil rights march started on March 7th, 1965. Today it was crossing it from the other direction so that bridge framed downtown.
Apple Fritter for the RDA of fruit.
A contrast of residential choices in Demopolis.
Downtown Demopolis was an pleasing amalgamation of old buildings, new shops, empty storefronts and agreeable landscaping.
As The Map confirms I’ve spent a lot of time in The South. The recent Confederate flag controversy made the omnipresent crossed stars more noticeable, when before it was just background. Then there is every town having a statue of a confederate soldier honoring their dead. Is the next firestorm to knock all these down?
A lonely stretch of country road is made whimsical with art made from hay bales and junk.
Eutaw. Covered sidewalks will always be photogenic.
In York both sides of the tracks are bad.
Laurel in east central Mississippi.
Centrally located Collins' flowering main streets slopes down to the railroad tracks.
IMHRO (in my humble and right opinion) Theodore Roosevelt was one of the three greatest men of the 20th century. Part of his lore is after an unsuccessful hunting trip to Mississippi he was presented with a captured bear cub on November 14th, 1902 in Onward and refused to shoot, saying it was unsportsmanlike. The tale quickly spread by newspaper about the big game hunter being kind to an infant bear and a Brooklyn shop owner created the….Teddy Bear.
Remote Rolling Fork is a contradiction. Dilapidated homes sitting next to meticulously maintained ones. A lifeless, yet compelling downtown.
Dusk breaking on The Delta.
Monday, September 7th, 2015
Finally! The hotel’s location in downtown Greenville provided something to look at during the morning run instead of strip malls and big box stores. And that run found the once grand downtown now populated with empty storefronts. Because everyone shops at strip malls and big box stores.
And at 4AM it was already very humid.
Jim Henson was born in Greenville and spent his childhood in Leland.
A beacon of happiness in a dark morning.
A series of poor bergs in The Delta along highway 45.
A tradition to visits in the south. Just two days later this omnipresent chain served their billionth waffle. Notice the grits have more butter than grits.....
Let’s see....5 times in Memphis...I think? As you can see their Labor Day 5K was going on so I did my duty to evaluate the fitness of the ladies. Most passed my careful inspection.
Crossing Old Man River from Missouri into Tennessee.
